Personal Power and Influence

Am I comfortable using influence to gain personal power? It’s a bit of an odd question that I am not sure I can answer as it is asked. Do I use influence to gain personal power? Yes. Am I comfortable with it? I am comfortable only so far I need to be. In order to be a good case manager I need to be able to put my clients at ease and have them believe that I care about them as people; not just another file in my computer. I also need to have community resources in place to help my clients. These other agencies and employers need to feel that I have an interest in their operations so they trust the clients I send them are a good fit for THEIR organization. In a lot of ways it is a performance art. Just like the entry I wrote a few weeks ago about “working a room” it’s a performance art mixed with sincerity. I do care about their lives, needs, and goals. If I didn't I would not be as good at what I do. I've discussed my philosophy on work being part of our identities so it is important to me that I am recognized for work I do well. Therefore I HAVE to care; it’s my job to care. If it wasn't my job to care I might not care as much, but I will say this: I have learned that caring goes a long way towards making me a better person. And above all else, I strive to better myself as a person not just as a worker.

So how does all of this tie into personal power? When I perform my job well I gain influence. To perform my job well I have to care about others. In the professional world I have learned that caring about others builds goodwill. Can this be seen as a negative? Yes I think it can. This is where power and influence can quickly take a nasty turn and it’s why office politics is such a touchy subject. I strive to never advance myself by hurting others. But if I get a promotion where others competed for the same slot, by definition I have advanced where they haven’t. However, if I can improve a program or gain an edge for my clients through my influence with others, I consider that a good use of influence.

Like it or not, we do not operate in a vacuum. We live and work in a world that in which we are increasingly connected to each other. To be sure there are good and bad connections but even in the professional world our success is largely dependent on others. We don’t have to like it but we do have to accept it. Anyone that does what I do for a living will tell you the most qualified person is not always the person that gets the job. It’s the person that fits with the organization the best that is usually picked. In order to sell that principle in a job interview you need to be personable and take an active interest in the company (people) by whom you are being interviewed.

Personal power and influence are tools and like most tools they depend on the wielder. However, unlike most tools you can’t escape influence and personal power. Humans are social animals and it’s going to happen. Much gnashing of teeth has been done regarding office politics but once again, it’s going to happen. One must decide how they intend on using personal power and influence. I choose to try and do the best I can for my clients; in doing so I also help myself. The quality of my work speaks for itself and the quality of my work is largely dependent on my ability to use personal power and influence. Let me be very clear: I don’t always like it. But I have a job to do and as long as I have a job to do I will do it well. It’s a tricky subject and I don’t feel like I've adequately covered the topic but personal power and influence mean many things to many people. I’m learning how to balance my work life and my personal life. I've been very lucky lately to have someone in my life that has been providing me feedback on keeping those two things separate. In many ways a lot of this is still new to me and I’m learning as I go. Because personal power and influence are such personal topics they are dependent a great deal on the individual. I am doing my very best to leave things better than when I found them.