[MUSIC] In this video, we are going to consider Gary Yukl's framework where he forwarded a number of ideas about how an individual can build expert power in an organization. There are a number of things that he suggested. The first of which is an individual needs to promote an aura, an image, of expertise. So in other words, everybody that that individual interacts with gets that very strong impression that they are fully clued up about what they're there to do. And of course in pragmatic terms that can mean a number of things. It can mean that that person is an expert because they're an expert. They're really specialists in their chosen field. Or it might mean because their level of seniority, they're an expert because they are, because of their level and they've also got people around them that will give them the detailed knowledge in one or two areas. So, Yukl's first principle was to give this image of being an expert. The second is maintaining an aura of credibility. So as a source of power, the importance of maintaining an aura of credibility. Source of things you would need to do if you were going to do that would be being a role model. It would be adhering to the cultural norms and expectations in an organization. It would be actively looking to deliver against your key roles and responsibilities. It would be about interacting with key stakeholders in the expected way. So maintaining this aura of credibility, so that everybody respects you. We all know that years and years and years of building up an aura of credibility can be destroyed by one slip. And it takes a long, long time, if it can indeed be repaired. So there the first two. And the third is being able to make those big decisions, those big decisions at times of crisis. Sometimes we can be placed in positions in an organization where you really don't have that much time to think. You really do have to make a big call if not there and then, then fairly soon after. And the higher your level of seniority the more people that will be looking at you to see how you handle that situation, how you make that big call. Really good example of that at the moment is if we look at Tesco in the UK. Tesco was and still has the biggest shopping retail proportion of that market in the UK. And by a distance over its competitors has had relatively troubled times and it's gone through a number of key leadership changes until recently Dave Lewis joined Tesco from Unilever. And there were a number of very, very big decisions that needed to be made. And the feedback from the key stakeholders to the very top of Tesco is those big decisions be made and they be made very effectively. So for example, for Tesco to almost sell off everything outside of the UK and become a UK focused shopping retailer. For example, for Tesco to sell all its land banks that it accumulated over a number of years with a view of building more outlets for its customers. For example, the decision has been taken to actually close some of its big shops that were open 24 hours a day, the reason being there weren't enough people using them, so it didn't become cost effective. And another big call as well is to strip out layers of management in all the big outlets. So there's been some huge cost cutting decisions that have been taken by Dave Lewis. So that's one example, I'm sure you'll be able to think of others as well. Gary Yukl put forward, also, the importance of power through keeping people informed. So the ability to be able to communicate consistently on a timely basis, clearly, as and when that right moment is to do so. So keep people up to date. And that becomes particularly important in terms of power is that people trust you then. They know that you will keep them up to date with what was going on whenever you can. And of course, it's never as straightforward as that, because if you're at a higher level in an organization, there may be some information that you know. And you know your people would like to know but you can't tell them. So are you keeping them informed? No, but there may be very good reasons why you can't. Lots of ways in which you can deal with that situation. The one most often used is you let people know that there is stuff that you know. But for, it could be legal reasons, it could be for compliance reasons, it could be for timing reasons, it could be for others key stakeholder reasons. You can just not share at that time. It is far better to do something like that than to take the risk of not saying anything at all and then people finding out a little bit later on that you knew, but you didn't tell them. Gary Yukl then, of course, made the point that you really need to recognize how your people are helping your organization perform, and to deliver effectively. So in other words, you recognize contributions of your team, of your people. Lots of different ways in which you can do that, and we've seen elsewhere in your learning examples of workplaces where managers are role models and they go around and recognize people's support and help and contribution in a number of different ways. Sometimes it's just by saying thank you. Sometimes it's just by saying great job. Other times it might be giving a bonus. Others it might be by giving an award. That's a quite a good check to have in your own organization. Because we read all of the time if we look at CIPD research. If we look at people management research. If we look at case studies on Mind Tools, we find stories of organizations all over the place where employee populations feel undervalued and unrecognized. It's not by accident that organizations become world class. It's not by accident that organizations become better performers than others. And you'll find that those organizations where individual and collective contributions are recognized and valued. It has a knock on effect on other parts of organizational performance as well, employees become more motivated, they become more productive. Levels of morale go up, they tell their friends, it spreads around the place. It's just a virtuous positive circle. But please don't run away thinking that all organizations do this because research tells us that it is less the case rather than more the case. And then Yukl also talked about something we call avoid threatening anybody's self-esteem. Most would say this is a high level skill in as much as before you can avoid threatening somebody's self esteem you need to understand what their self esteem is. So you need to understand why your employees might behave in a particular way when reacting to a particular situation. And you need to respect the way that they react in a particular situation. And one of the ways in which you do that of course is by demonstrating the key attributes of emotional intelligence, which is about recognizing and understanding other people's attitudes and behaviors and responding appropriately to that. So, Gary Yukl forwarded a series of six areas which needed to be of primary importance when thinking about sources of power and the things that you need to do to facilitate that source of power. So, what you can do is go through each of those one by one. And if you're in a position of power in your organization, think how well you demonstrate them yourself, think about what you could do a little bit more of maybe in terms of recognizing other people's contribution. Maybe in looking to become more aware of other people's self esteem. Maybe in terms of when you've got to make that big decision. Think about how each of these six aspects apply to you, And/or look at your line management or senior management and see how well they demonstrate each aspect of Yukl's framework. [MUSIC]
