Maintain Power: 4 Tips For Controlling Everyone and Everything
Feeling a tad insecure? Unstable?
A little wobbly when it comes to your own authority?
Maybe you need to boost your own self-confidence and esteem and are feeling that the people around you are getting just a little too close to your personal territory.
If you need to establish (or re-establish) your domain, take away power from the people around you and cause general mayhem and leadership failure while holding on to what's yours, I have a few tips. I hope you find them useful, as you seek to suck the life out of everyone who works with you. Ready?
1. Make important decisions with no input.
This is an effective way to cement your authority and prove yourself to be decisive. The people you work with will feel they have no decision-making power and you will have it all. Win-win!
2. If someone else does make a decision on their own, throw them under the bus.
Occasionally, people are indefatigable enough to insist on taking their own initiative. This doesn't have to be a loss for you. Simply be unsupportive. If they succeed - poke their decision with a stick. Hard. Find the weak spot and exploit it. If there's no weak spot, no worries. Ignore success and it eventually goes away, leaving you to bask in your own glory once again.
3. If, in spite of all your efforts above, someone does experience some success, find a way to take credit.
This is the ultimate demoralizer for your enemies (I mean colleagues). You can suck life and energy right out of them by using their hard work to pad your personal resumé. People will compliment you and ignore them. You win. They lose. Again win-win.
And finally -
4. Keep the information loop tight.
This is really important if you want to keep your position, reign, and authority over the people you work with (or the people who work for you). Don't give away information. Ever. If someone needs information from you, only let it go at as high a price as possible. It's best if there's emotional cost. That keeps people from talking to you about things, to begin with. Information is power. Thus, if you hold all the information you hold all the power. Don't give it up easily. It's best if you give it up - never.
It's true. If you operate like this no one will like you much and you will be hell to work with. But, in the end, it's all about you anyway. You can now move through this job with the smug satisfaction that you hold all the cards.
Of course, do keep that resumé padded.
You'll need it for the next gig when this one implodes around you.
But at least you'll be the last one standing.
