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  • We understand the world through the stories we tell about it.

  • And power seems to always be on our minds.

  • Of course there's, “with great power comes great responsibilityfrom Spider-Man, while

  • the book Animal Farm hasabsolute power corrupts absolutely.”

  • And Game of Thrones is just a bunch of power struggles -- with dragons!

  • When we talk about power, sometimes we use phrases like 'those who have power' and

  • 'those who don't'.

  • But you don't need to be a king, queen, or leading a farm rebellion to have power,

  • because everyone has it in some form or another.

  • And power isn't always a bad thing.

  • It can be prettyempowering!

  • So today, we'll be helping you understand the multiple types of power, how to speak

  • more specifically about it, and how to gain power.

  • I'm Evelyn from the Internets.

  • And this is Crash Course Business: Soft Skills.

  • [Intro Music Plays]

  • Power is the ability to direct or influence other people or a series of events.

  • It's important in business, and life in general.

  • We need power to persuade others, make a change in workplace procedures, or even help us avoid

  • being trapped in jobs we hate.

  • And with everything that happens in this world and in life, it can sometimes feel like you

  • don't have power.

  • But you do have some.

  • Because power isn't a singular thing.

  • It doesn't just belong to 'head honchos' like political leaders or CEOs.

  • And it's never as simple as someone 'being powerful' in a vague, general sense.

  • Dependence isn't always a bad thing.

  • Being in a relationship or a close friendship shows us that a little dependence can be nice.

  • It's good to have a shoulder to cry on or someone to go see a new movie with if we don't

  • want to go alone.

  • Dependence is a teeter-totter.

  • Adding or taking away dependency changes the balance.

  • If the balance is super unfavorable, we might not be able to assert our needs, and someone

  • might take advantage of us.

  • At work, overdependence makes it more likely that we have to deal with unfair demands.

  • It could even make us feel stuck in a toxic workplace, being overworked or treated poorly.

  • We become dependent on others because of three factors: criticality, substitutability, and

  • centrality.

  • Criticality is how much a resource, like salary, matters to you.

  • To check for criticality, ask yourself, “how badly do I need this?”

  • If you're trying to pay back loans without a lot of money saved up, or if your work is

  • super important to you, your job would be pretty critical.

  • So to lessen a job's criticality, you have to limit how much you need what your employer's

  • offering, or increase how much they rely on you.

  • Like, if you want more power relative to your company, you can do work they can't live

  • without, like learning how to use a specific coding language.

  • Or you can explore hobbies outside of work, to build a better sense of identity that isn't

  • only defined by your job.

  • For example, when I worked at an ad agency, I decided to start a YouTube channel.

  • Substitutability is whether you have other options.

  • To check for it, ask yourself, “can I get this elsewhere?”

  • Maybe you've found that making friends at work is important to your social life.

  • So you can check how substitutable the job is by trying to make friends outside of work

  • too.

  • Or if you're thinking of quitting your job, it might not feel substitutable because you're

  • afraid that you won't find other meaningful work.

  • So you can decrease your dependence and increase your job options by networking, updating your

  • resume, and scanning openings every so often to see what's out there.

  • Centrality is how you and other people may be impacted by not having a resource.

  • So that's the question you have to ask: “if this stops, how much and how quickly

  • will myself and others be affected?”

  • If you're only spending money on food and housing for yourself, and you've got a year

  • of savings, then that salary has less centrality than if you were providing for a family.

  • There are different ways to dial down your dependance through centrality.

  • If you build up 2-6 months of savings, you can give yourself some extra time to look

  • around for a job before you quit your old one.

  • Or if you don't quit until you have another job offer secured, you won't be affected

  • much at all.

  • Balancing centrality, substitutability, and criticality isn't easy to do.

  • Dependence is tricky.

  • But as long as you stick to your priorities and think about what's valuable to you,

  • it's manageable.

  • Together, these factors can help shift that dependency teeter-totter in your favor, so

  • an employer will be dependent on you.

  • And groups of employees are usually able to build more power than individuals.

  • You know, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.

  • That's what makes banding together to take collective action so important, either informally

  • or through a union.

  • A union is a group that employees join to help make sure a company respects their rights.

  • Unions do things like advocate for employees during bankruptcies, or hold strikes if members

  • believe working conditions are unfair.

  • They were extremely important during the 1950s, and sometimes they can be controversial today.

  • But around 10% of the U.S. workforce is unionized.

  • To see how acting as a group can increase your employer's dependency on you and minimize

  • your dependency on them, let's go to the Thought Bubble.

  • You're working at a video game development company, which was pretty exciting when you

  • started!

  • You've got great dental insurance and there's free coffee and snacks in the breakroom.

  • But the hours are terrible.

  • You're working 80-100 hour weeks so the company can have their latest RPG ready by

  • mid-Fall, in time for the Christmas rush.

  • But you don't have paid overtime, and you've seen the company's profit statements.

  • You know you deserve more, and you know they can afford it.

  • Your work is important, but there are hundreds of applicants for positions like yours.

  • So by yourself, you're pretty substitutable from their perspective.

  • That's why it's good you're a part of a union.

  • When you bring this problem to the leader's attention at the next union meeting, you all

  • decide to take collective action.

  • To prove the company can't function without you, together you decide to walk-out.

  • Everyone won't work until your demands are met.

  • It's unlikely that all of you will be fired.

  • As a group, you have low substitutability.

  • The HR department can't hire hundreds of people at once, especially since a lot of

  • your artists and coders have specialized skills.

  • Plus, all of you have high centrality, especially since the game's not fully developed yet.

  • Your company will lose money if orders have to be put on hold, and they need all of you

  • to get this game done.

  • And because of your union fund that will cover the work you miss until the strike is resolved,

  • your salary is less central to you.

  • Soon enough, you have extra cash, less horrible overtime, and the company is still producing

  • good games.

  • They weren't happy about the strike, but ultimately you were given what you deserve,

  • which is important.

  • Thanks, Thought Bubble.

  • Changing the balance of that dependency teeter-totter, by exerting your own control or with collective

  • action, helps build coercive power.

  • Coercive power is all about making credible threats.

  • We can influence other peoples' behavior by having control over some kind of punishment.

  • This power is what your mom used when she threatened to take away your TV time or wifi

  • password if you misbehaved.

  • At work, it could be threatening to quit or telling a supplier that you'll find someone

  • else who can offer a better price.

  • No one likes ultimatums, so people generally respond pretty poorly to coercive power.

  • So you should only use it as a last resort.

  • And don't use it if you're bluffing, because no one will take you seriously if you don't

  • follow through.

  • Coercive power and reward power are two sides of the same coin.

  • Reward power is having control over things that others want, like really cool projects

  • people want to be a part of, or bonuses.

  • Or elephants.

  • If you expect something and it's offered with a condition, likedo this task or

  • lose the promotion,” that's coercive power.

  • If you didn't expect something, and it becomesif you do this task, you could be offered

  • a promotion,” that's reward power.

  • Reward power can get pretty complicated, especially when it comes to creating incentive systems

  • that motivate people.

  • So if you want more advice about that, check out our episode on SMART Goals.

  • Like coercive power, reward power only motivates someone if you follow through and aren't

  • asking too much of them.

  • Asking for the impossible is defeating, not motivating.

  • Plus, reward power can be limiting.

  • Once we get a reward, it's not really a motivator anymore.

  • Separate from threats and incentives, you can use status to build legitimate power.

  • This stems from you having the right to instruct people, and them having a duty to follow through

  • -- like if you're a project lead or a manager.

  • If you want your legitimate power to actually mean something, then you're going to need

  • to make sure you build trust and act fairly.

  • Don't abuse your privilege.

  • And if having status doesn't sound possible right now, that doesn't mean you're powerless.

  • You can build charismatic power instead, which we touched on when we talked about emotional

  • influence.

  • You can increase charismatic power by building respect and being well-liked.

  • People are motivated to do things for people they like, especially if they believe in their

  • vision.

  • Kind of like Steve Jobs's reality distortion field.

  • Basically, his charisma and leadership got people to believe in him.

  • But be careful not to use charismatic power negatively.

  • Also like Steve Jobs, who used that same distortion field to take credit for others' ideas.

  • And you can build expert power just by knowing your stuff.

  • People will trust your advice on something complicated that can't be learned easily.

  • You'll slowly build up this kind of power by learning a lot about your field, networking

  • with experts, and finding opportunities to show that you're knowledgeable -- like giving

  • an awesome presentation.

  • But be careful not to oversell yourself, manipulate anyone, or give advice that isn't reliable,

  • because then you'll lose whatever expert power you managed to build.

  • Now, power is complicated.

  • And working on just one kind of power often isn't enough to shift that teeter-totter

  • and give you control.

  • Like, you can't rely on charismatic power alone, because we're all human and some

  • people just won't like you.

  • Or if your company has layoffs, you'll lose any legitimate power you had.

  • Power comes at a cost -- whether it's time, money, energy, or opportunities.

  • So we have to make sure we consider our reasons for pursuing it.

  • It can be used to transform organizations and improve lives, or it can be abused.

  • So use the skills we've taught you to be a fair, thoughtful leader who thinks through

  • decisions.

  • And watch out for building power for power's sake.

  • It's not inherently a bad thing.

  • But becoming power-focused can make anyone lose sight of what they wanted to do with

  • it in the first place.

  • So, as you find your power, remember:

  • You can decrease your dependence by asking questions about criticality, substitutability,

  • and centrality.

  • Being aware of how others perceive you is the key to building trust and your reputation.

  • Power isn't a vague construct, and you most likely have power you don't recognize.

  • Consider your reasons for gaining power, and use it wisely!

  • If you don't know what you're going to do with all that power, the clock's ticking

  • and you're just counting hours, then we suggest you spend time taking care of yourself.

  • So to end the series, we'll be showing you how to avoid burnout and find balance.

  • Thanks for watching Crash Course Business.

  • If you want to help keep all Crash Course free for everybody, forever, you can join

  • our community on Patreon.

  • And if you want to learn more about status and societal power structures, check out this

  • Crash Course Sociology video about social stratification:

We understand the world through the stories we tell about it.

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