Types of power

1. Position – People in leadership positions have more power than those in lower positions.
2. Knowledge or expertise – The more experience you have, the more power you bring to the table.
3. Character or ethics – If people trust you, they’re more likely to give you what you want.
4. Rewards – Use others’ self-interest to your own advantage.
5. Punishment – The ability to make life harder for colleagues is an incentive for them to give in to your demands.
6. Gender – An age-old power struggle, still at work.
7. Powerlessness – Get people to want to help you.
8. Charisma or personal power – People are more willing to work with someone they like or respect.
9. Lack of interest or desire – If you’re willing to walk away, you have more room to negotiate.
10. Craziness – People are more likely to give in to demands when they’re afraid of what will happen if they don’t.

Source: Adapted from Selling Power, Sept. 2007