Strategy 2: Not in Charge? Employ Persuasive Techniques

Overview

Many people say that they would like to institute more effective teamwork and the benefits of constructive decision making in their organizations, but they don't believe they can do anything about it. They aren't in charge and don't want to ruffle other people's feathers. These situations call for persuasive teamwork—effective ways to promote positive dynamics without triggering divisive power struggles. The people you live and work with need you to take the initiative to make this happen.

Even if you have little or no positional authority, you have the opportunity to bring the ten-step process into your workplace as well as other areas of your life. In fact, people who are not in charge often have the most freedom to take action. Here's why.

Many of the fears that arise in organizations are ego-driven. At the top levels, people want to project the image that "I'm in charge. I have the answers." They want to justify their authority. When tough issues arise, such people are at their most vulnerable. They worry that they won't know the right answer or might take the wrong path, and wonder whether others will follow their lead. When people are this fearful, their need for control soars.

People at lower levels rarely suffer from illusions about their degree of control. They have a less self-assuming posture: "I'm just here doing my job." They don't have the inflated egos that often plague people who exercise positional authority.

But even most of the high-level people—managers, elected officials, and community leaders—know that they're not completely in charge. They do think, however, that employers, voters, or neighbors expect them to have the answers and take care of the problems, and they feel trapped. Other people's expectations crowd out their hopes and initiate the self-defeating cycle of fear.

Some of the toughest situations arise when each person involved in a particular issue has positional authority, but no one has definitive control. For example, division managers from marketing and R&D need to work together to develop a new product but neither one has power to direct what the other person does. Both people have risen through the ranks as the result of their ability to get things done in the area where they are in charge, but now they can't make anything happen together. Patience wears thin, tempers soar, and tough issues fester.

In truth, control is an illusion. CEOs report to boards of directors. Boards of directors are accountable to shareholders. When it comes to dealing with the toughest issues, no one is really in total control.

Although you may not be in charge, a few simple techniques can enable you to be an agent of hope in fear-filled situations and shift the dynamics to a positive course.