Understanding and Changing Your Management Style: Assessments and Tools for Self-Development, 2nd Edition

Chapter Four

The Bases of Power

The Uses and Abuses of Influence

Power arises from our need for dominance, but it is important to make a clear distinction between raw dominance, as seen in nature, and power that is an acquired skill and a craft. Like any craft, the use of power can be improved through practice and conscious effort; even those who have low dominance needs can improve their ability to influence others. Attending consciously to how we gain and use power is a key step in developing an effective management style, but it is important to keep in mind that it is independent of the other building blocks—it does not flow from psychological types, needs, or conflict styles. Instead, it is a learned response that depends on conscious acquisition ...