‘Career grief’ | Spring workwear

'Career grief' | Spring workwear | Promotion burnout

Why you might hold more power at work than you think

A letter from editorial director Lisa Smosarski.

Have you ever stopped to think about what makes someone powerful or influential at work? The loudest voice, the biggest salary or the loftiest job title, perhaps? According to frameworks studied by business grads and MBA students, all these answers are likely to be true, because there are eight forms of political capital frequently seen in workplaces, and you could have none, one or all of them. Consider the most powerful people you know, is their power…

1) Economic: they have power because they have resources people want. Think of an investor versus an entrepreneur, an advertiser to a TV channel. The power is in the purse strings.

2) Cultural: these people know 'how things work around here' and wield a subtle power as a consequence. They own hard-to-acquire intel about values, behaviours and the unwritten rules, so they can make or break the lives of others depending on how helpful they decide to be.

3) Knowledge: expertise can be incredibly powerful. If you're the only person who knows how to solve a problem, you instantly hold all the power.

4) Social: think back to your school playground. Who do you think ran it? The popular kids, that's who. This plays out in the workplace, too. Networks, contacts and social connections through school or workplaces. Who you know really does matter when it comes to asserting power.

5) Symbolic: these are ascribed and involuntary characteristics that our societal biases afford (or steal) power from. Think of a white, middle-aged, Eton-educated male, and you'll likely imagine a man in an authority position. Conversely, women, people of colour, younger or much older adults and those with state school educations might not be granted the same power or privilege.

6) Reputational: you know that person who always does a great job? Who stays late or beats the deadline? Or always solves a problem without a fuss? That reputation is their secret superpower.

7) Organisational: think of the HiPPO (the highest paid person's opinion), and you'll know that status symbols like job title, salary, office design and location all contribute to their power profile. Whether they deserve it or not.

8) Institutional: are you going to challenge the general counsel or the head of compliance on their rulings? No, and neither am I. That's because we perceive those who define the rules as power holders.

It's worth remembering that this perceived or actual power at work doesn't automatically make you powerful elsewhere. In fact, it's increasingly clear that power is fluid. Pop the general counsel in a creative brainstorm, and the dynamics might start to shift. Picture a tyrant boss fired for aggression and watch the power crumble, or consider the quiet employee who fronts a local AmDram production and brings down the house. Power is wonderfully inconsistent. This all adds up to prove a point: most of us hold more power than we realise, we just don't realise we have it.

So, start by identifying the type of political capital you already have or naturally lean towards. A natural networker can build their social power by being more intentional in the introductions they make, the favours they offer or where they place their backing on a decision, while blowing your own trumpet about your work ethic or collaborative nature can build your reputational power. You don't need to be the highest paid or loudest voiced to be the most influential; you just need to understand that influence comes in many forms, and what's really powerful is learning how to grow and keep it.