Don’t bother trying to persuade your boss of a new idea while he’s feeling the power of his position – new research suggests he’s not listening to you. “Powerful people have confidence in what they are thinking. Whether their thoughts are positive or negative toward an idea, that position is going to be hard to change,” said Richard Petty, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
The best way to get leaders to consider new ideas is to put them in a situation where they don’t feel as powerful, the research suggests.
“If you temporarily make a powerful person feel less powerful, you have a better chance of getting them to pay attention,” said Pablo Briñol, lead author of the study and a social psychologist at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain. Briñol is a former postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State.
Interesting. How do I make my boss feel less powerful without having him get insecure and threatened by a rival? I have sometimes had more success making bosses feel completely secure in their power and position. They can then STFU and let me do what I tell them without their egos feeling vulnerable. I guess this depends somewhat on the personality type of the boss.
Related: When people feel powerful, they ignore new opinions.
Interesting. How do I make my boss feel less powerful without having him get insecure and threatened by a rival? I have sometimes had more success making bosses feel completely secure in their power and position. They can then STFU and let me do what I tell them without their egos feeling vulnerable. I guess this depends somewhat on the personality type of the boss.
Hmm, an equivalent of a PUA “neg” for your boss.