You Can Change Other People

CHAPTER 12DON'T RELY ON YOUR POSITION OF POWER: ARE YOU WILLING TO TRY SOMETHING?

When you're the boss and technically don't need your employees' permission to offer guidance, advice, and help, you should still get it. As we've seen, presuming permission creates resistance by degrading their ownership over the change, reducing the likelihood that they'll follow through.

And, truth be told, you generally have way less positional power than you think. Employees can often ignore you without consequences. Or they can leave. And they can do the bare minimum to avoid getting fired.

Don't (Permission assumed):

LAMONT (FRED'S EMPLOYEE):	Aisha hasn't given me her reports yet, so I can't get you the white paper by the Friday deadline.
FRED (LAMONT'S BOSS):	Let's talk about how you can be clearer in setting expectations.
LAMONT:	OK, sure. [The forced yes]

Do (Permission sought):

LAMONT:	Aisha hasn't given me her reports yet, so I can't get you the white paper by the Friday deadline.
FRED:	Do you want to think this through together?
LAMONT:	[Relieved] Yes, that would be great. [True permission]

What if you ask permission and don't get it? You are still accountable for your employees' outcomes. If you're a manager, you suffer if your employees aren't appropriately productive or collaborative.

So what's the way out?

HOW TO USE POSITIONAL POWER IN THE WORKPLACE

When you're the boss, you have positional power—people are supposed to listen to you because you're the boss. But wielding ...