Power and Influence

by John P. Kotter

In today's complex work world, things no longer get done simply because someone issues an order and someone else follows it. Most of us work in socially intricate organizations where we need the help not only of subordinates but of colleagues, superiors, and outsiders to accomplish our goals. This often leaves us in a "power gap" because we must depend on people over whom we have little or no explicit control. This is a book about how to bridge that how to exercise the power and influence you need to get things done through others when your responsibilities exceed your formal authority. Full of original ideas and expert insights about how organizations?and the people in them?function, Power and Influence goes further, demonstrating that lower-level personnel also need strong leadership skills and interpersonal know-how to perform well. Kotter shows how you can develop sufficient resources of "unofficial" power and influence to achieve goals, steer clear of conflicts, foster creative team behavior, and gain the cooperation and support you need from subordinates, coworkers, superiors?even people outside your department or organization. He also shows how you can avoid the twin traps of naivete and cynicism when dealing with power relationships, and how to use your power without abusing it. Power and Influence is essential for top managers who need to overcome the infighting, foot-dragging, and politicking that can destroy both morale and profits; for middle managers who don't want their careers sidetracked by unproductive power struggles; for professionals hindered by bureaucratic obstacles and deadline delays; and for staff workers who have to "manage the boss." This is not a book for those who want to "grab" power for their own ends. But if you'd like to create smooth, responsive working relationships and increase your personal effectiveness on the job, Kotter can show you how?and make the dynamics of power work for you instead of against you.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Self Help, Psychology

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

John P. Kotter, world-renowned expert on leadership, is the author of many books, including Leading Change, Our Iceberg is Melting, The Heart of Change, and his latest book, That's Not How We Do It Here!. He is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School, and a graduate of MIT and Harvard. He is co-founder of Kotter International, a change management and strategy execution firm that helps organizations engage employees in a movement to drive change and reach sustainable results. He and his wife Nancy live in Boston, Massachusetts.

http://www.kotterinternational.com/ab...

Reviews

[Ian Fleischmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kotter argues that many people in the workforce are either cynics or naïve; both believing that failures to get things done are due to incompetence or malice on the part of individuals when, more often than not, some existing organizational relationship is overly stressed by the potential change. Good managers, according to Kotter, will develop a detailed knowledge of the formal and informal power structures throughout an entire organization (and beyond) and act accordingly within those power flows to accomplish tasks and drive change. This is an idealized situation for sure. By definition, it is impossible to fully understand the interdependencies in a complex organization (otherwise, it wouldn't be very complex, would it?). To learn all these complex relationships, Kotter advocates being a receptive follower, a peer mentor, a bastion of technical competence, and a good leader to subordinates. In essence, don't be an uncooperative jerk and do a good job.

On the whole, Kotter's argument is sound but deserves a caution that any attempt to manipulate social relationships in a complex organization will probably fail in that it will not produce the exact desired output. A substantial part of this effort should be grooming your bosses in how to manage perceived failure (or in prepping your backup career for when you bet everything on a flawed idea). Entertaining read because of the anecdotes and vignettes, but short on substance.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

why the hell didn't I read this 15 years sooner

[Iain Hamill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels rather dated now, as many organisational cultures have moved on from the American 1970s corporations.

Still many helpful concepts as clearly human nature hasn’t changed - mainly:

- A lack of good ideas is rarely the issue
- Good leaders need to be aware of the lateral dependencies involved
- Good leaders are always aware of where they are on the lifecycle of leadership.

[MU · Rating 5 out of 5]

So relevant, even today

This book was written in the 80s, and yet, the concepts are so relevant and still apply today. This is especially true in so called ‘developing’ countries that in many cases are still stuck in syndromes and problems more ‘developed’ countries have learned to deal with.

A must read. Kotter is a legend.

[Darrell E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is good, the second half is rather boring. I think most of his lessons would be fairly obvious to anyone who ever commanded an HHC.

[Ashton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading these insights from Kotter for my leadership class! Lots of new perspectives on power dynamics within organizations and how others can use their power!

[Strick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that I probably should have read a long time ago.

[Terry Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to read and keep my interest....may do this as an audio book and see if this will help.

[Andy Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

great.

[David Mayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended to me by an Intel colleague, a Harvard MBA who took Kotter's class, it has remained one of the most important and pivotal books on leadership I have ever read. The "greed is good" generation of HBS students took his class believing they would learn how to kick ass and take names, and instead they learned the importance of humility. Everything in this book remains as valid as when he wrote it 30 years ago.