"Savage Seizures Of I Who Shall Be Called Queen"

And of course, King, Prince, and Princess. Power is gender neutral. One of my favorite columns is the Schumpeter column in the Economist. The September 11th, 2010 column is entitled - - "The will to power - - Why some people have power over companies and others don't." This is really nothing new. The old questions of "How do you get power?" combined with "How do you keep power?"

The key points of the article - -

• The world is not just. There is considerable rubbish in the notion that the best way to win power is to be good at your job. The linkage between rewards and competence is loose at best.


• Competence is a distant competitor to the projection of drive and self-confidence.


• Work for a department on the rise - - follow the shifting sands of organizational power.


• Manage upwards - - master the art of flattery. Studies have looked at the point where flattery is ineffective - - there is no such point.


• The ability to network. Set yourself up as a node and become the link between separate parts of the organizations or clients. Power lies in and with the nodes.


• Loyalty - - better the insider than the outsider. Loyal insiders are power centers.


• The key to keeping power is to understand its corrupting effects. The powerful need to cultivate a combination of paranoia and humility - - paranoia about how much other people want them out and humility about their own replaceability.


• Know when to quit - - know when to step off the throne and remove the crown. People who jump before they are pushed have a good chance of leaping to yet another aphrodisiacal throne.