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User's Guide to Power
Reprinted with the permission of
Bill Radin
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Last week, I went to court.
I didn’t want to
go. But Chet owed me money, and he refused to pay.
I
tried to reason with him; I stated my case. I faxed him a
paper trail of proof, but he still wouldn’t settle up. So I
introduced Chet to the legal system.
Five minutes
before the judge took the bench, Chet leaned over and asked if
he could pay me what he owed.
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll
follow you to the bank. You can either pay in cash or write me
a cashier’s check.”
Ten minutes
later, I got my money.
Unconscious
Competent
Later, I realized that I had -- quite
unconsciously -- applied two important principles found in
Richard Greene’s bestselling book, The 48 Laws of Power.
The first was Law Number 9:
Win through your actions, never
through your argument. When words
fail, action gets it done. Had I not taken Chet to court, I'd
never have seen a dime.
The action-speaks-louder
principle is especially true in recruiting. You can LOL all
day long about the quality of your candidates and the value of
your service. You can even cite testimonials to build your
case. But in the end, actions always trump your
words.
Next came Law Number 31:
Control the options; get
others to play the cardsyou deal.
If I had
given Chet the choice of paying now or paying later, he would
have found a way to pay me never. So I only gave him options
that would ensure the outcome I wanted.
There’s a
parallel in recruiting. When working with employers, it’s
always to your advantage to control their choices. That’s why
multiple-interview scenarios are so effective: If you can
arrange for three or four of your candidates to interview in a
single session, the outcome is virtually guaranteed.
Second Life for Recruiters
Power is a
funny thing. We want it so badly for ourselves, yet we're
deeply resentful when others use it to their
advantage.
In matters of the heart, the more obvious
the expression of power, the less your control. The surest way
to lose a fight -- or a marriage -- is to be right, rather
than loved. And the same is usually true in business and work
relationships.
Too often in the past, I made the
mistake of proving to my clients and my managers how much
smarter I was than they were.
But smart is different than wise, as illustrated by Law
Number 1:
Never outshine the masters. Make them
appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the
heights of power.
The
way power is packaged makes all the difference. In one
situation, a colorful exterior works best; in another, drab is
more effective. In recruiting as in life, it's important to
choose your reality carefully.
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