SEO Ranking Authority Foundation » Business

The Role of Authority In Power Part Two of Two

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 04:40:22 +0000

Some people perceive someone to be powerful because of his/her physical characteristics. For example, being tall can emit authority to another, even before you’ve spoken to that person. If you look back through history, presidential elections in the United States have been won by the taller candidate twenty out of twenty-three elections since 1900. Recognize that many of the things we possess serve as status symbols.

Authority by Public Opinion

Authority by public opinion is when a person has power or authority not directly because of their experience or expertise, but simply because they are held in high esteem by the public or by public outcry. An example of this is how scholarly or academic journals are more likely to publish articles of people who are fairly established and somewhat renowned within their respective field as compared to one who is virtually unknown. A really interesting study involved taking previously published articles written by prestigious and reputable authors and resubmitting them to those same journals without any alterations except replacing the authors with “unknown names.” Out of twelve resubmitted articles, nine of them went through the review process undetected, and eight of those were rejected! This was in spite of the fact that each had been published previously when all that was different were the names.

Another similar experiment was conducted when a writer typed out Jerzy Kosinski’s novel, Steps, word-for-word and sent the manuscript to twenty-eight literary agencies and publishing houses. Ten years earlier, the book had sold a half million copies and had won the National Book Award. Now, appearing to have been authored by a lesser-known writer, the manuscript was deemed “inadequate” by all twenty-eight organizations – including Random House, the novel’s original publisher!

Here is another great example of Authority by Public Opinion. An error in Intel’s Pentium chip was detected in 1994. News spread quickly about the flaw, and public outcry burgeoned even more when Intel tried to downplay the issue. It wasn’t long before Intel was flooded with e-mails and phone calls requesting a no-questions-asked return policy on the microprocessor. In the heat of the whole mess, complaints peaked at 25,000 in one single day! In spite of the huge public response, Intel refused to offer the requested return policy. Not surprisingly, the press got ahold of the story, and Intel’s stock dropped dramatically. Finally, Intel was forced to adopt a new return policy. What was the result of putting off public opinion for as long as they had? A mere $475 million write-off. In just a matter of weeks, public opinion had influenced the value of the entire company. Ignoring public opinion proved a very costly mistake.

Authority by External Characteristics

Some people perceive someone to be powerful because of his/her physical characteristics. For example, being tall can emit authority to another, even before you’ve spoken to that person. If you look back through history, presidential elections in the United States have been won by the taller candidate twenty out of twenty-three elections since 1900. Another example of how height scores points is in the battle for affection. Research suggests that women are significantly more responsive to a man’s published personal ad when he describes himself as tall. A final example of how physical characteristics portray authority is exhibited in our response to someone who has a deeper speaking voice. We subconsciously respond to deeper voices as more commanding and authoritative.

Recognize that many of the things we possess serve as status symbols. Not only this, but the more we have, the more “rich and powerful” we may be perceived. One study conducted in the San Francisco Bay area showed that people driving expensive cars received better treatment from other drivers than those driving more modestly priced cars. For example, researchers found that motorists waited significantly longer before honking at a new, luxury car lingering at a green traffic light than at an older, economy model doing the same thing. What’s more, nearly all the motorists honked their horns impatiently more than one time at the cheaper car. In the case of the luxury car, fifty percent waited respectfully, never honking at all.

Another external item of authority is exuded by our surroundings. In one study, the appearance of a professor’s office changed the way a student perceived the professor. The students were told to meet a professor in his office. When they arrived, they found the professor was not yet there. They were asked to wait for five minutes in his office. Some students waited in a clean and organized office, while the other students waited in a dirty and disorganized office. After the five minutes had passed, they were told the professor could not make the appointment. Later in the study, the students were asked to rate the professor based on his lecture. Researchers found the visit to the office had dramatic influence on the students’ overall perception of the professor. The students who visited the disorganized office rated the professor as less authoritative, less open, less trustworthy, and less friendly. Bottom line: Appearance affects your authority.

Coercive Power – Weapons of Force

Coercive Power is the ability an individual has to control or force someone to comply. Such power includes intimidation, manipulation, scare tactics, threats, deceitfulness, and lies. This could be in the form of mafia protection fees, constant threat of being fired, blackmail, physical force, economic dependence, or emotional control. Why do people use coercive power? Why is coerciveness the power we see the most? Coercive power is the easiest power to learn and use. Many people have seen great examples of coercive power in their lives. For some, it may be the only type of power they know. It doesn’t take much talent or skill to threaten, pressure, or scare someone into submission. When people can’t get compliance with their skills, most will resort to coercion. They hit desperation and frustration with either the inability to use the higher forms of persuasion or because of a lack of knowledge of a better way.

Coercive Power is seductive and you usually get instant results by employing it. Coercive Power is based on bringing others down instead of lifting them up to a higher level of thinking. Instead of climbing the highest mountain, coercive power players will climb the smallest one and blow up all the others so they are the only one on top. Such power also requires the least amount of planning and time; there is no need to convince someone with words when you get immediate results with force or coercion. As the great mobster Al Capone said, “You can get more with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone!”

This type of power causes unwanted long-term consequences. Coercive Power is based on fear, and fear only lasts while the threat is present. When this threat disappears, so does the power. This type of power does not require that belief or an inclination for true influence be created in order to work. I have seen coercion kill creativity, numb the human spirit, and create resentment and rebellion. Coercion will always eventually backfire.

Conclusion
Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. It is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think of the times you couldn’t get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade.
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Positional Authority

admin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:07:38 +0000

Those who have authority based on the position they hold in the community have Positional Authority. This includes your boss, the U.S. President, or a police officer.

A landmark study conducted by Stanley Milgram at Yale University illustrates just how powerful Positional Authority can be. In his experiment, Milgram had some participants pose as “teachers,” while others portrayed the “learners.” The “teachers” were told they were going to help the researcher test the learning levels in the “learners” by giving progressively more intense shocks each time a “learner” answered memory questions incorrectly.

Of course, no real shock was administered, but the “teachers” were not aware of the false premise, and the “learners” were instructed to act as though the pain were real. It appeared as though the “learner” were suffering intense pain. The purpose of the study was to see how far the “teachers” would go in obeying the head researcher’s authority, even if it meant inflicting great pain on a fellow human being. The results were astounding: Two-thirds of the subjects delivered as much pain as they could (450 volts), pulling all 30 of the shock switches, even when the acting “learners” pleaded, begged, and even screamed for them to stop the experiment.

This experiment strikingly demonstrates the concepts we’ve made about Positional Authority. Consider the following key points: First of all, the “teachers” were noticeably uncomfortable with what they were doing. In fact, they hated it. Many of them asked the researcher to please end the experiment. But when he refused, they continued on, trembling, perspiring, and some even laughing nervously. In spite of their extreme discomfort, almost all of the “teachers” continued to obey the head researcher until the experiment was over. The converse is also revealing: When the scripts were reversed and it was the “learners” ordering the “teachers” to deliver more shocks, while the researcher protested, not even one single person obeyed! One hundred percent refused to obey the “learners” over the researcher. After obtaining the shocking results of this experiment, Milgram wrote, “It is the extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority that constitutes the chief finding of the study.”

When someone has a higher position or more authority than you, the automatic trigger is that whatever that person says must be true. The FAA found that many errors by flight captains were not challenged or corrected by other members of the crew. This blind obedience to position and authority resulted in catastrophes. One airline, concerned about this evidence, tested their own flight crews via flight simulators. They created conditions that would lead to mental overload and emotional stimulation. The captains (in one study) would make fatal mistakes at a critical moment. The airline was shocked to find that 25% of the flights would have crashed because the subordinates did not take corrective action and challenge the position of the plane’s captain.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands and explode your income today.
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Chicago Trends in SEM

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:54:47 +0000

With a population of more than 11 million in its city and suburbs, the Chicago area is a hot bed of buyers and sellers trying to connect with each other every day. There is competition in almost every conceivable industry, and advertisers constantly are on the look out for more-exact ways of reaching their target audiences.

Thanks to continuing advancements in search engine marketing, or SEM, and its related technology, including paid search and search engine optimization, businesses in and around the Windy City are thriving on their Internet advertising success.

Recent improvements to geo-targeting have had a significant impact on strategic Internet marketing in the metropolitan business community. Search engines like Google and Yahoo now can display results based on the searcher’s IP address, eliminating the need for location as part of the search. Now, national brands with local target audiences have a chance to be seen, and small businesses on limited budgets competing for those same consumers have a chance to level the playing field.

Search data from Yahoo Search Marketing for early 2007 shows Chicagoans are performing their top searches for automobiles, restaurants, sports teams and apartments. As a major metropolitan area with significant business diversity, Chicago likely mirrors the search habits of consumers in many different U.S. markets. It also demonstrates the advertising models of companies with varying budgets.

For instance, nationally based auto dealerships, such as CarMax, now can appear alongside local used-car lots when a search is performed without a specified location. As long as the dealership is within a 30-to-50-mile radius of the search, it will appear. Likewise, in the highly competitive restaurant industry where big budgets help national chains dominate, single-store vendors on a shoestring can appreciate the same importance and reach.

Although small businesses have been slow to adopt paid search and search engine optimization strategies, they cannot ignore the importance or simplicity of the changing advertising environment.

Technology improvements effectively are eliminating the excuses a small-business owner might have for resisting the Internet. Today, these companies do not even need a Web site to route visitors to their information. Display ads can include contact information and paid-search campaigns can hinge on pay-per-call outcomes.

And, with Internet Yellow Pages now mirroring the functionality of major search engines, these nearly obsolete banks of local information have managed to find their place as robust, viable advertising options.

So whether it’s downtown or at the farthest reaches of the Chicago suburbs, there are opportunities for every business to reach their target audiences effectively, thanks to smart technology and professional SEM expertise.
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Web-Based Time Sheet Software

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:44:46 +0000

Web based time sheet software has become quite popular these days owing to the ease of use and its high levels of functionality in an organizational environment. Time sheet software can solve time related issues and manage any time based functionality that will ensure high levels of productivity and enhance the growth of an organization. The main aim of this software is to simplify all the challenging and complex requirements related to organizational time accounting.

If you are in the market looking for a web based time sheet software then you need to consider certain aspects or key features like:

• While searching for a web based time sheet software, you need to look for a solution that will offer you interactive reporting. Interactive reporting will help you to choose and customize your reports from over hundreds of predefined reports.
• High-end time sheet software will ensure that there is an easy transfer of data. You should also be able to integrate the time sheet software with MS Accounting, QuickBooks, Peachtree and any other or similar software.
• The software should have functionality for creating rules that will help you to check the validity of your timesheet as well as expenses prior to submission.
• Look for a software that has a built in approval routing. Basically this function will allow you to select a number of pre-defined or even manual routes for web based timesheet as well as expense approval.
• Your web based software should be able to manage reimbursements with ease. Managing reimbursements is an integral process and provides an insight into advances provided to employees and any type of payment of expenses.
• Ensure that your the software offers automatic e-mail notification. Using the timesheet software you can always set up email notification time or date related to approval of expenses, submission of expenses, as well as rejection.

There are several advantages of using web based time sheet software apart from the fact that it will offer you multiple functionalities for handing and managing time and expenses. One of the most important factors that have led to the popularity of the software is its value for money. It ensures that you derive a high benefit with a lower cost of adoption and in layman’s language this means higher ROI (return on investment).

One of the salient aspects of using web based time sheet software is that you can use it anywhere and anytime. The accessibility makes the software a high-end solution. Being a web based software; all you would require is a laptop / computer and internet. You can work from home, airport, in-transit, another country and just about anywhere. This will save you time and you can transfer and manage data while on the move.

It is easy to use, self-explanatory, and ensures that all information entered in the time sheet is secure and can be accessed only at different user levels.
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