A couple of very interesting pieces on Power.

The FT’s Lucy Kellaway is quoted on the BBC news site discussing “power poses” and the effect of flattery.  She references a recent article in the Economist which discussed a new book by Jeffrey Pfeffer entitled “Power: Why Some People Have It- and Others Don’t”.

When I originally read the Economist article, I ordered Pfeffer’s book and it is a fascinating read which I would recommend to anyone intent on building a career within an organisation.  You can get a taste of it in a blog by Pfeffer on the HBR site.  What I most like about the book is that it reflects “real life”, underpinning it with research.

Rather than the “do a great job and look after your people” line taken by traditional management texts, Power explores the behaviours which we all recognise from people around us and explains why they work, and how to make them work for you.  In that sense it is a fantastically refreshing approach, albeit one which is likely to pop any lingering bubble of idealism which the less cynical may still hold.

And of course, while we tend to associate power and power plays with the internal workings of organisations, the subject is equally relevant to those trying to achieve things with organisations, like independents, freelancers and smaller businesses.

Well worth a read.

Business Strategy, Freelancing, Organisational Humanity, Portfolio Career, Sovereign Individual