The Influence Blog from The Gautrey Group is here to share ideas, stimulate thinking and get people talking more about influencing skills. It bridges the gap between a full article and a tweet, and enables us to quickly get our latest thinking out into the world so it can help others.

So if you are a client, a colleague, a friend or just someone who'd like to join in, please browse, follow and contribute to spreading practical ideas and new thinking on the subject of power and influence in the workplace.

The Falling Power of Networks

We define power as an asset which could get someone to do something they would not otherwise have done (or thought/felt). Decades ago the most powerful asset many powerful people had was their position or status. Education gave rise to the power of knowledge and for a while, this started to exceed the position power.

Then along came the internet, which provided knowledge to the masses. With the potency of knowledge declining, the maxim "it's not what you know, but who you know" started to take over.

Now we find ourselves in a position where the advent of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter has started to make our networks visible (and connectable) to all. Therefore, your network power is declining. So what next?

My personal belief is that the emerging power of trust will begin shortly to exceed the power of networks — what do you think?

We'd love to hear what you think about this. Please email us or post on our new Facebook Wall.

Posted by Colin Gautrey on 13-Jun-2010. Viewed by 3447 (404 in last 3 months)