Power up! 12/27/99

Power up!

Let's face it. The CEO's secretary often doesn't know the difference between a network card and a credit card. Yet after the CEO himself, she's the most powerful person in the operation.

Who else, after all, has such easy access to the head honcho? Who else knows the important things, such as what, where and with whom he likes to eat? And is there anyone with a better handle on what the CEO is thinking than the person who watches everyone come and go from his office?

Sadly, you might never accumulate as much power as that secretary. Still, resolving to increase your power and influence in the organization is a good way to start the new century. This is especially true if your career is progressing at a baud rate of 2,400 while those with questionable work habits and less impressive résumés have been passing you by at T-1 speed. But how? Power is an odd mix of perception and reality: The secretary is powerful not only because she has access but also because everybody knows she has access. But power doesn't always come with the position. Just because you're one step below the chief technology officer doesn't mean you have a commensurate amount of power. And if you don't have it, you can't go out and get it as quickly as, say, you could bring a new server online.

Power sources

Typically, power is bestowed as a result of an achievement or series of them. Maybe you guided the company through a seamless transition from PCs to thin-client technology. Or perhaps you have developed a specialty in virtual private networks just as your firm was transitioning to one. But you sure as heck didn't get power by failing to distinguish yourself, says Shaun Kelly, a senior search consultant at EDP Staffing Services in Newington, Conn., and Network World's Career Doctor.

"If you are one of those people who shows up to work and that's the best your colleagues can expect of you, it doesn't matter if you're there for 20 years," Kelly says. "They won't look up to you, they'll just look at you."

So go out and show some moments of brilliance. But keep one other thing in mind in this tricky arena: Power is often seen as something that we acquire through action. Yet there is something of the Buddhist philosophy at work, especially in the higher echelons. Sometimes, the best way to gain power is to give it away.

gogan pic

And sometimes the best way to gain it is to change the way you're perceived. It worked for Jim Gogan, director of networks and communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gogan has found that by improving how others see him, he has increased his actual power. A few years ago, he began teaching a continuing education course called "Protocols and Network Management." In a world that prizes academic credentials above all else, Gogan's move was a smart one. Now students, faculty and staff are more likely to listen to what he has to say.

"It's one thing if you say something as a staff member about how a certain technology has to be installed," he says. "It's another thing if you are saying it from the faculty pulpit."

Winning the power game

Establishing yourself as an expert is one of the quickest ways to boost your power supply. Technology folks have always suffered in the power game because they've been seen primarily in a support role. But those who have gained more power and influence for their departments have realized that the best approach is to make their organizations critical to the business itself.

kump pic

Look at what Ray Kump has done at Mitsubishi Electric Automation, a maker of products that automate manufacturing processes in Vernon Hills, Ill.

When Kump, the IT director, launched an SAP enterprise resource planning implementation two years ago, he hired people from the business side to oversee the implementation of particular modules. A key manager from the repair side of the business joined IT to oversee the service and repair module, while a former planning manager is handling the planning and manufacturing module.

The people who are filling the posts came with little technological experience. But that hardly mattered to Kump. He knew the modules were sophisticated enough that they only required manipulation of the business logic rules within SAP, which could easily be done by someone without a deep technology background. Kump also gave them the title "business analyst" to emphasize their importance to the company as a whole.

"Now when they speak with the senior managers of the business units they support, it is a collaboration of ideas," he says. "They have become business partners blending their understanding of Mitsubishi's methods and processes with their knowledge of SAP application systems."

Kump says the move has strengthened the role of department managers, as well as of him and his division. "Now senior managers rely on the IT support structure for problem resolution and strategic planning," he says.

Michael Hinkle-Morrison, a former chief information officer (CIO) and now an independent consultant in Dallas, agrees that making your organization critical to the business is key to improving your power. He believes that his early experience marketing Unix and PC products for Texas Instruments made him more powerful and influential when he went on to serve as CIO in other fields. It also didn't hurt that he went back to school for an MBA.

"It forced me to think nontechnically and to be able to talk and act the language of net present value and things like that," he says.

The subtext is "respect." Gain it, and you've got power. Lose it, and watch it slip through your hands like sand.One way to gain respect and increase the power of your whole organization is to follow the advice of the mentor who once told Hinkle-Morrison: Power is what you give away.

"It's called trying to let go of your ego and not thinking that you can control everything," Hinkle-Morrison says. "It means putting faith in and giving responsibility to people and holding them accountable."

Ceding power to others can be nerve-wracking for insecure technology managers who see themselves at the top of a hierarchical ladder. But doing so increases the confidence of those around you and can enhance the influence of the entire IT organization. Hence the idea that power is something that you give away.

Which is all well and good. But you can't give it away until you've got it. And let's face it, the best way to do that always will be by impressing the boss. Fortunately, there are endless ways to do that.

You might try getting yourself on a committee that the CEO is on. Or shop around for a problem that can be handled with a simple solution. After all, nothing breeds success like success, and confidence doesn't hurt.

If all else fails? Well, EDP Staffing's Kelly has a daring idea. He suggests getting to work early and parking in the CEO's spot."When the guy comes looking for you, you better be doing 18 things at once and be so productive that he'd want to move the car for you," Kelly says.

This, of course, is a risky maneuver. Try it only as a last resort.

Duffy is a freelance writer in Somerville, Mass.

Related links

Yes - working well on a team does spell success
Network World Fusion, 9/20/99.

Career planning - it pays to visualize where you want to end up
Network World Fusion, 08/09/99.

How to achieve success on the job
Network World Fusion, 08/02/99.

Biting off more than you can chew
Tips on managing your to-do list.

Monitoring your career progress
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