All language subtitles for KFavrow PMGT840 Assignment #2

Hello, my name is Kate Favreau, and
today I'm going to talk about positional

versus personal power.

So one of the things that the basis of
social power by French and Raven kind of

noted was that all power, no matter what
type, depends on the perception of the

recipient of that behavior. So power
really comes in all different forms, but

depends on what the recipient is
perceiving is happening.

So let's now talk about positional
power.

So some of this language comes kind of
directly from the slides, but it's also

related to those kind of subtypes of
power as well.

So a title or role is obviously aligned
to legitimate power, meaning it could be

the CEO or the project manager.

As the basis of social power told us,
these kind of depend on cultural, social

structure, and legitimizing agent for an
organization. Obviously, that could be

the rest of the organization believes
that this person, the CEO, has an

on the rest of the company.

The other thing when we're talking about
reward power is certainly positional

power can leverage those rewards, but as
the basis of social power talked about,

it kind of depends on the perceived
strength of it into whether it's

not. If a person believes that the
reward is really, really worth it, then

positional power might come into play.

If they don't, then if they think that
the strength of that reward is pretty

low, that reward power might not make a
lot of sense based on that perception.

One thing to also think about is this
could be temporary.

So the project manager could be just for
one project. That means they're only in

a position of power for that one thing.
But maybe in another part of the

organization, they have no positional
power.

You also might assume, or we might all
assume based on those roles and social

structures, that expert power goes with
positional power, but that's not always

the case. The CEO isn't always the
expert in what's going on. They may just

the ability to direct or give orders. So
that expert power doesn't always go

with positional power.

And then this connection power could
come into play, especially if maybe it's

whole bunch of senior vice presidents
who are all connecting and understanding

that what they say can then be powerful.

to the whole organization.

And maybe if the senior vice president
that's working on a project with me is

able to go to the executive team and
kind of exert that connection power to

better resources for the team or
something like that, then those

into play.

When we start to talk about personal
power, we really talk about this expert

power, this referent power, and this
informational power, right? So whether

that experience, and when we talk about
experience, that's versus the absolute

standard of the rest of the group. If
everybody in the group all has the same

amount of experience with the activity,
then the expert power goes away. So

really it's thinking about how is this
person different than the standard by

rest of the group.

This trusted relationship also becomes a
kind of referent power.

that is trust and admiration based on
who the rest of the people know this

person to be.

And then has information, right? If you
know something about someone's personal

life that you can help them, or if you
know something more about the certain

aspect of the project, then that
information power really comes into play

this personal power.

Once again, all of this is based on
perception of teammates, more so earned

given, right? Personal power comes with
all of this experience, information, and

trust, which is really hard to just hand
to someone or put them in a place of

positional power.

And it's a little bit more stable
because it's harder to take away, right?

is really about who that person is, how
they have grown, how they have built

their careers and things like that. So
it's a little bit harder to just say,

nope, you're no longer in that role
because whether they go to somewhere

whether they do something else, everyone
still has that kind of perception of

trust or experience or information that
goes along with that.

So when we talk about the power utility
and leading project, I use Adriana

Girdler's five leadership skills for
project management.

The first one is share the vision,
right? This typically comes more in

positional power.

Once again, do the perceived role of
that position, right? If you have the

person in position of power saying,
here's our vision and here's what's

forward, that can typically be more
aligned in that area. Certainly can come

into play with personal power, but
really, to me, it seems like it's more

position. power knowing how to delegate
so this can be great if you're in

personal power but really when it comes
to positional power that's where others

in the organization based on that
cultural norm of that social standing

understand that this person can tell me
how to change my priorities or what to

focus on whereas if it's just personal
power that becomes a little different

Being a problem solver. So this
sometimes may fall to those who have

power if, once again, those positional
power holders don't have the expert

power.

Certainly the positional power can be
the expert, and so they can really help

solve the problem.

Or maybe the problem isn't having to do
with expert power. It's having to do

with prioritizing time or something like
that. So being a problem solver can

kind of go into the different places
here.

Staying calm and collective.

Once again, if somebody in power for the
project or for the organization doesn't

do this, it does make it harder for
others to exhibit it. It adds urgency.

adds stress. It adds all of those
different things.

Certainly, if the positional power
holders do exercise this, then those

downstream may have better ability to
kind of work within that.

And then team building. This falls to
both positional and personal power

You know, all of those different
elements for a good team are needed for

personal and professional power or
positional power.

So three ways that I kind of pulled out
to improve personal power is to show up

for others. This goes back to that kind
of referent power of being a good

teammate, getting trusted, listening,
helping when possible. If you have that

expertise or if you have that
informational power, how can you kind of

up for others when maybe they don't and
be able to kind of build that trust.

Being accountable and meeting deadlines
and doing what you say you'll do. Once

again, this is just another way to build
trust to show that maybe you have that.

informational or expert power if you're
able to do these things that you said

you would do.

But if you're not, this is number three,
right? Know your stuff. So do that

research. Become the expert if you can.
Have the information you need.

Continue to grow and be able to pay
attention and know what works and

you can build that referent power to
observe and evolve and help the team

So that's my presentation.

Thank you.