Climb the ladder of power!

Hierarchy is an inevitability in any species that socialise. From the dominance hierarchy in wolves to the determining of prey. Humans are no exception...

Building influence

In a human hierarchy, as much as we hate the term, certain patterns can be observed time and time again. The structure in a workplace ranks people according to productivity. In school, you are ranked by intelligence. In sport or the military, by strength. Even Steemit has a hierarchy in the form of voting power...

In an ideal situation, you should be performing in the upper quartile of society in order to advance. Using a rough analogy; Being the least intelligent person in the room is a very tough place to be. It will require a lot of work in order to advance. On the flip side, however, being the smartest person in the room probably means you are in the wrong room... Where is the challenge and room to grow?

Setting a target that ensures you always have a mentor might be the simplest way of gaining influence.

Know your place!

This is not meant in a derogative way, far from it! Knowing where you fit into your social hierarchy is a greatly underestimated skill. Yes, I said Skill!

By understanding exactly how much influence you have can help you gain control of a situation to leverage power. Assume you are in a board meeting and an "Expert" comes to speak to you. If he is wrong, shouting out he is wrong will get you ostracised! Knowing that you probably do not have the influence to challenge him, means you will restrain yourself. Let him make a fool of himself and then casually suggest a solution when things inevitably turn against them...

Use your power

As you build your way up the social hierarchy, do not be afraid to exert your influence. Be careful how you do it though...

Using your influence to make a decision that benefits you is something that you should do, but realise that only benefiting yourself will only create opportunities for others to take your place. Striking a balance in who benefits is essential. Instead of being competition, others may ride on your success...
...as long as they benefit.