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.
Thanks for your informative post, I find it very useful. I think this post would help people that have the ambition to climb the ladder and do something great. The society we are in today only let those who are ambitious and good at communicating win.
Well, just like Steemit content creation race and competition, lol. Niche targeting is the most important business venture I would recommend nowadays, it's the best way of advancing into the business world.
And having contacts in the right places can help you reach say a high managers position. I've seen a few managers that just were not right for the job but were put in over people who were more experienced.
I see the wisdom in your post .. for me this is a social atmosphere and hope to enjoy it for years to come.
I really hope it goes well for you...
Thanks...I am still studying this steemit world. Where to go, what to do, when to do it... LOL what a fun puzzle.. hope to get a few friends of success out of this. :)
If you look through some of my previous posts, I have some advice to help new users. But feel free to study https://www.steemithelp.net/
Great Post.
Succinct and yet full of powerful concepts.
I've often wondered why tyrants can't understand that maintaining power through force is much more work than building a devoted following with benevolence.
Upvoted and resteemed.
Thank you. I am glad you appreciate the post. If power is not shared at least a little bit, then it will be taken and the vacuum your absence creates is incredibly destructive...
they only do that because they are desperate to keep their own power. It's greed at it's highest level. Look at Venezuela or any socialist country in the past. Generally feed people to the meat grinder in order to distract.
Socialist countries don't have a monopoly on greed.
North of the Equator they use things like terrorism to distract.
more like terrorism to take away certain rights and freedoms. However cracking down on terrorism does have ethical and moral quandaries. How do you stop attacks if you can't delve into more personal space?
I know it's a crazy idea but it might help avoid attacks if you stop giving money, weapons and training to the people attacking you.
you don't need training to run or stab people on the street. It's the ideology that is an issue.
My Six Sigma training makes me invariably want to do Root Cause Analysis.
What you describe is a symptom, not a cause.
I feel it is very sad that this hierarchy causes those at the top of it to try and exploit those under them instead of trying to empower them.
I have to agree with you, spiritually speaking what makes a person choose one over the other? You can claim that because you "choose" but did you really? Or is there a higher power at work? What makes a person choose A over B that eventually led them to the "A" life circumstance over "B" is a mystery in itself. If I ask you why you prefer the color white over black, you can say things like "it's more pleasing to your eyes" so and so...but we can ask "why" for every question that is being answered...there's no end. How is this even relevant to this post? Well, because some people end up "choosing" to be in the higher food chain and some "choose" to be at the bottom or in the middle...or where ever. Yet, it is unfortunate to see people suffer which leaves you to ponder why? I suggest we move beyond the idealism of kill or be killed in order to end all the sufferings around the world that we are experiencing today!
Good post, just followed you ...can you please follow me as well?
It is sad. So where does it leave you? Will you be the same or different?
This is the best line of this post, every other thing can be done in a way or other, but not growing. If there is no one better than you, how do you know you are the best, how do you know how much more can be achieved in your niche.
The better the competitors are, the more we work on ourselves and the more we develop our skills.
Precisely! Most people have an inherent desire for improvement. Some of the greatest people to have ever lived are those that never stopped challenging themselves...
Good post. One cannot get around hierarchy. The problem comes when you have the wrong people at the top.
Significant Article !!
Upvoted and followed !!
Great insight! I think it is very important to actually have an opinion and use it in an open and honest manner.
Good read!
You deserve a:
Great! Remind me a lot to learn and to practice..
thanks
This is just how life works unfortunately not everyone can be a winner. Darwinism at its best! But if you tie the spiritual/philosophical aspect to this topic it really is irrelevant who is on top or bottom.
Cheers!
Just upvoted and followed you, can you please do the same for me?
Thanks a million!
Best of Luck @business-trail and I hope it goes well for you...
I used this in my last job. I sort of feel I exist outside of the social heirarchy. Wherever I'm placed in the world I determine how much influence I have over certain situations and act in whichever way benefits me. I've always believed that power is a force that only you, yourself determine how much control it has over you.
Ohh like amazing reaaly
Hi @business-trail, you are being celebrated here:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@anniversary/20171019t020010267z-celebration-post