Leadership Powerbase assignment

So here it is, and I'll in a moment I'll I'll do the I'll show the preview so you'll be able to see what's in this document, but the idea is that you're now going to, as we've been talking about, influence and power.

You're not gonna walk through this this worksheet to help you think about a very kind of specific organization that you are working in or if you're not currently working in organization that you have worked in or if you're volunteering whatever that looks like for you now, ideally I would, I would recommend that if you are currently working that you definitely use a workplace organization. OK. So try to to think about cuz the key is.

We're gonna figure out what your power base is within a given organization, so if it can be a workplace organization, fantastic. Otherwise, you know, come up with one that makes the most sense for you. But then what you're going to do is show the preview of it.

This man will not let me preview.

Here it comes.

All right. So the first page is going to be to go ahead and identify your current relationships and and put them kind of into one of these categories, right? And so think about with your organization mind whatever you've selected, then you're going to list your key relationships. Now you do not have to one, one time I had someone who thought they had to put a name and every single one of these boxes you don't, OK? It just think about do you have within that organization that you're thinking about?

If your current organization, fantastic. Otherwise one of your your choice. Do you have a sponsor or mentor within that organization? If so, who are they? If you have more than one, go ahead and list however many you you have, but these are someone. This is someone who who supports you, who believes in you, who's trying to help you advance. You know in your career so is a a real supporter of you and they are generally higher up within the organization. So it's usually someone who is higher.

That kind of supports you believes in you and is trying to help you advance.

Then you might have general support, so it may not be as strong as a sponsor or a mentor, but do you have other supporters within your organization? List them. OK, now, if someone's already mentioned here, don't list them again here. Make it kind of a unique set of folks. However many there are that you you would view as supporters who is neutral or on the fence and and in general these folks are gonna be because in another step down here you are going to be.

Creating an organizational chart right O. In general, the folks who you're thinking about for this part of it are typically maybe not necessarily immediately in your piece of the organization chart kind of your department or division, but if they're not, then I'll encourage you to include them somehow on that next sheet. So you can show your relationship with them. OK, but then you're going to same thing are there, is there anyone within?

Your organization, especially the those who you interact with on the regular basis that you would designate as kind of a an as an antagonist or negative towards you and then it gets even if they're even realness. So this is more of the potentially kind of passive if they're in that category of kind of a passive blocker. It's kind of here if they're more of an active blocker, I would put them in the foil or nemesis. So active blockers are more in this category.

OK. And so if you have any, you list them there and I don't need full names. So either you know first name last initial or two initials or whatever that's in, but I I don't need full names of people and in the spirit of of you know anonymity and then is there anyone in this last column? Anyone who you're not on their radar right now but you wanna be so maybe it's someone that's higher up in the organization that's you that you don't feel that they really know you right now or know what you're doing or know much about what you're doing or what you're capable of.

But you'd like them to. And so you put them on here. Or maybe it's not even higher up. Maybe it's more of a peer, but maybe it's someone who you really respect. Maybe they've got a lot of expert power and and and you as an area that you're interested in and you really want to kind of learn more and have more engagement or conversations with them than you can put them them here, whatever that looks like for you. So you Simply put first name, last initial or two initials there.

And then in this next one, so here is an organizational we're going to draw your organizational chart and you'll see in the instruction I am not wanting you to waste your time making something that's really pretty. So unless you're like really Speedy Gonzales when it comes to, you know, PowerPoint and it's easier for you to put your boxes and stuff because you're gonna do a few things, you're going to put your boxes and you're gonna have different size of your boxes based on your small, medium or large.

And how much power or influence the person has relative to your success in the organization's? OK, so, but someone who has a lot of power over you or a lot of influence in terms of your success, big bucks, big bucks. If it's someone who really doesn't have much power over you, little box, or for someone who has kind of moderate, then medium. OK, so size your boxes based on the degree of power influence that they have over you relative to your success and the organization.

How much impact can they possibly have on your success right? Then color the lines of the boxes. OK. So if it is a sponsor, someone who's favorable, very favorable to you and then thick green line, OK, if it's a supporter thin green line, if they're neutral yellow. So it's kind of like you're creating a little stoplight chart right and green for those who are are explorers of you. And then the degree will just, you know, will determine kind of thick versus thin. Yellow is more than neutral and then red.

Thin red. They're negative, but thick. Red is more of that foil or nemesis. OK. And then Gray, if they're they're not on, you know you're not on their radar right now, but you wanna be. So you're creating this visual representation that shows for those same people that were in the previous, you know, your previous worksheet. So. And keep in mind, if someone is not and. And by the way, in organizational chart and sometimes some people if you need to Google organizational chart.

Google it so you can see some specific examples, because putting yourself and unless you are like the manager of everybody and the leader of all, it should not look like a circle with you in the middle and a bunch of lines going out with all your other people. OK, that ain't it. It's it's where are you relative so kind of who's your your boss? They would be above you in the chart and there would be a line there would show you. And then we're about your peers kind of going out and you have people kind of beneath you that tell your direct reports.

And so as as a traditional kind of org chart that shows you relative to these other individuals that you've identified earlier, OK.

And then those the the size boxes and the color of the boxes. But again my my goal is not for you to spend your time and energy creating the. I'm OK with your hand drawing it. So even if you want to print this out and hand draw, if it's easier, the box is the lines, the colors great, then just upload your hand drawing. So it's not about you spending your time making it pretty. It really is about you reflecting on what you set up here identified and did kind of a.

You know, an analysis of of the people that you work with and kind of what your your current relationship is with them and then it translating that down here into different size and color boxes and showing where that relation is. And then the final piece is then what are your observations. So based on kind of stepping back and looking at that and seeing where you are relative to others and where you have your big boxes and small boxes and where you have your thick green lines versus your red lines.

What insights do you have in terms of where you might want to focus on your relationship building and and how might you go about that, what you might do? OK. And then you know which of those relationships should you nurture? What about strengthen more? What about neutralized or isolate? So what's your strategy? What's your strategy? So that's that's what's intended by this is to really give you some insight and that's why I do want to encourage if you are currently working for you, use that working organization so that you can have some meaningful insight about where you are right now.

And your relationship power base.