BODY LANGUAGE IN THE WORKPLACE

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"Are you good at CADD?"

"Tops."

"Okay, here's some good advice. Sell all those books on power

and buy some clothes bags and mothballs."

He looked bewildered. "Why?"

"To store away your power clothes. Dress the way you feel

most comfortable, in good taste of course. The guy who interviews

you has more power than you. Concentrate on one thing. Your

skill at CADD."

"You think that'll work?"

"It'll work better than your other attempt." And I was right.

Pete got the job and is happy doing the work he knows best.

THE OLD GAME PLAYER

The word power is thrown around pretty loosely, and many of us,
like Pete, confuse power with its subtexts. Webster does define
power as "a possession of control, authority, or influence over
others." But the second definition is "ability to get or produce
an effect."
It is this definition, the ability to act, that real power is all
about. Pete's power lies in his ability at CADD. It was a talent
that gave him a unique strength. But the kind of power that Pete
had read about in many of the "how to" books was the power
that concerns itself with influence, control, or sway.

Baron John Acton, who lived during the second half of the
nineteenth century, explained the trouble with this first definition
of power when he wrote, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute
power corrupts absolutely." Often, in the business world, this
corrupting tendency of power takes the form of obnoxious game
playing.