Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Personal Power

Here is the good news—we are all powerful people, but not because the organization suddenly encouraged empowerment or because we got promoted. We are all powerful in our own way and always have been, but perhaps we didn’t know how or why and didn’t know how best to use it. We need to make sure that we feel good about being powerful and get over any hang-ups we might have. Learning where our personal power comes from and how we can use it to make things happen is more important now that we are working cross-functionally. We want to be powerful to affect positive change; so, it is appropriate that as the “good guys,” we work on this.

• Research where your personal power comes from.

• Look for diagnostic questionnaires on the Web.

• Worry less about whether it is power or influence, and focus more on if it works.

• Look at the people in your workplace. Take each person in turn, and think about where his or her power comes from. Notice the similarities between folks, but also notice the specific differences.

• If your colleagues were doing this same exercise about you, what would they say? Go and ask them what they think. The answers will likely be as fascinating as they are useful.

Our charter needs the acceptance that it is okay for us to be powerful. We also need a commitment that we will to continue to acquire power and use it wisely.