Great managers don’t just manage—they lead, influence, and command respect.

Whether you’re handling teams, navigating office politics, or driving results, understanding power is key —and we’re experts in that.

This guide delivers 12 real strategies for high-impact leadership.

Let’s dive in.

1. Develop Group Identity: Turn Individuals Into Teams

Individuals become a team when they:

• Identify with the team
• Define themselves as team members

The self-categorization theory explains that when people define themselves as group members, they also start behaving as group members.

That leads to team spirit and pro-social behavior, including mutual support, personal initiative, and going the extra mile.

P.S.:
That also means higher output that you can then leverage for your promotion.

See here how to do it:

• How to get the most from your team

2. Wield Power Effectively

Good low-power managers remain managers.

Great high-power managers become executives and CEOs.

2.2. Leverage The 6 Forms of Power

Classical work by French and Raven identifies six different forms of power.

Let’s introduce them through an example: a manager who wants his reports to attend a weekend seminar.
That manager can achieve his goal through one of his 6 powers (or a combination of them):

1. Rewards: pay the overtime, assign future high-visibility tasks, etc.
2. Coercion: passing the employee for promotions, “mobbing”, assigning tasks that are humiliating or disempowering, etc.
3. Expertise: reports comply because they trust the manager
4. Information: the manager sells the idea well and makes the reports want to attend (this is persuasion)
5. Legitimacy: reports comply because they recognize the manager’s authority over them
6. Respect: reports comply because they respect their manager and look up to him (this is a subset of soft power)

What type of power managers use depends on context (Bacharach, 1980), personality, company culture (Ashforth, 1994), and, of course, who they are dealing with.

How managers feel they can use power is largely correct and a good rule of thumb for calibration:

Note that expertise and persuasion are the true “win-all” when it comes to power.

Also read:

• Best persuasion books
• Best communication books

3. Appeal To Intrinsic Motivation

Reward, coercive, and legitimate powers are the easiest to use because they come prepackaged with the territory.

The moment you got promoted to a managerial position, you got the title (legitimate power) and the tools of the trade (rewards and punishments).

Classical research in social science shows that incentives might lead to compliance, but not to conversion.
Meaning: your reports might do it, but they will not believe in it and will not take ownership of your goal.

Relying on rewards and punishment (or “carrots and sticks”) is also costlier.
They deplete your resources, and disenfranchised employees require more supervision.

See the first half of the diagram: 

What’s the alternative?

The alternative is intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation includes:

• Shared group identity with the team (i.e., reports proudly self-categorize as group members)
• Shared identity with the manager (i.e., “us and the manager both belong to this great group”)
• Alignment of individuals’ aspirations with the team’s goals
• Uplifting, supportive environment
• Pride for being in the ‘right’ group

Extrinsic motivation matters even more in politics, volunteer-based organizations, and wherever money plays a smaller role (Tyler & Blader, 2001).

But it’s a mistake to think that for-profit businesses rely only on money and “what’s in it for me” types of exchanges.

Organ and colleagues, for example, show that employees’ willingness to “go the extra mile” hinges on them not asking “what’s in it for me”.

Most dream employers are dream employers because of intrinsic motivation.

Simon Sinek, for example, says that many dream of working at Apple because Apple speaks to their identity and it helps them define “who they are”.
That’s intrinsic motivation.

P.S.: Don’t make excuses, learn to be more inspirational
Working in a duller industry is a cop-out for managers who do not know how to leverage intrinsic motivation.
Any work, from cleaning toilets to washing cars gains with more intrinsic motivation.

4. Use Emotional Rewards

Every time you see something good, say it

As Blanchard and Johnson say, most managers give feedback only when something is wrong.

That demotivates employes and makes them feel underappreciated.

But dispensing emotional rewards isn’t just about ‘being nice’.
Dispensing emotional rewards is about emotional power dynamics and leading with soft power.

If you’re a high-quality man, people will crave your rewards -and fear your criticism-.
That’s the most effective way to manage.

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: the emotionally challenged manager

Lucio:
When I came back from my traveling sabbatical I attended the parent-holding company party.

One of the very first things the managing director told me with an accusatory tone was:

Bad Manager: (I got you SOB expression) You know that your last customer isn’t using the facility? But you got the bonus, eh?

Now consider that the bonus was peanuts, I had brought all their current customers, and I had never heard any praise from him.
Wonder why I didn’t think too highly of him?

See this seminal article:

• Judge power dynamics

Pro-tip: share the compliments with the team

When you receive external compliments, confirm and then share with your team. 
Example:

Sharing praise: a simple, cost-effective way of fostering team-spirit and motivation

5. Act High Power: Exec Material

There is one form of power that we haven’t listed yet: 

Personal power.

If you want to join the executive cadre, you need to be high power.

This website and Power University are here to support you.
But a few tips here:

1. Mind your social ROI: speak with purpose

The ROI Matrix, part of our Social Investment Model (Buffalmano, 2026)

The APA Handbook explains that high-status men talk more
However, that may be different at work, and certainly depends on what you talk about and with whom.

Managers who chit-chat too much are perceived as prioritizing relationships over results.
It’s communion over agency, associated with femininity instead of masculinity, and not executive material.
Be more strategic. Be uplifting and helpful, but skip endless chats. Especially with lower-status people.

2. Direct meetings, rather than acting like a participant

Ensure the meeting stays on topic and productive.

Help reach decisions, assign tasks, and then summarize.

3. Apologize with a neutral tonality

Honorable men own up to their mistakes but they don’t over-apologize.

Too profuse an apology feels like begging for forgiveness, which is emotionally needy and puts you in a subservient position.

Mentally strong managers move on quick from mistakes because they have antifragile egos. They’re focused on getting things done, not on exculpating themselves.

Solution?
Learn to say “I’m sorry” in a more neutral tone:

Me: Sorry I mixed it up (flat tonality) <— Sub-communication 🟰 “I’ve made a mistake there, so what, let’s move on”.

Also read:

• How to look the part of a powerful executive
• How powerful men speak
• How powerful men move
• The archetypes of dominance

6. Acknowledge & Foster Meritocratic Hierarchies

All groups have a hierarchy (Peterson, 2018).

And while ‘flat hierarchies’ have a place, don’t pretend there is no hierarchy at all.
Instead, put those hierarchies to good use.

For example, assign status based on tangible benefits people bring to the team to foster a culture of meritocracy.
For example:

• Results 
• Effort (ie.: show example of dedication and hard work)
• Spirit (ie.: can-do attitude, optimism, team loyalty, etc.)

6.2. Use Your Personal Power For Informal Hierarchies

Job titles sometimes aren’t under your full control.

Instead, use your rewards and attention to create a parallel ‘informal hierarchy’.

If it overlpas with the formal hierarchy, great.
If not, you can positively fix company issues and politics.

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: Careful telling people who’s ‘lower down’

Lucio:
One poor manager once told my same-rank colleague I was ‘above her’.

While that was good for me, in way, it backfired on him.

Maybe he wanted to stoke competition for increased output.
Instead it lost him goodwill with my colleague, and gained nothing from me because he didn’t tell me.

If anything, it got us closer and made us more suspicious of him.

Just act the informal hierarchy, no need to tell people who’s ‘lower’.

7. Champion Your Team

Theoretically, everyone should support the company as a whole.

But that’s not how people’s minds work.

People tend to break up bigger groups to form smaller units of allegiance.

None of your reports will say it out loud, but they secretly resent a manager who doesn’t stand up for his team.
And everyone love a manager who champions and defends his team.

This isn’t just me, of course.
Social research shows that the more your reports see you as defending and championing them, the more they will love you and support you.

Says leadership researcher Haslam:

Leaders’ capacity to exert influence—the very essence of leadership—rests on their behavior being seen to have “done it for us.”

Of course, “championing” your team within a bigger company requires tact.
Here are some ideas:

• In salary negotiations, be (slightly) on your report’s side

Help your reports with HR’s negotiations.

• Maintain goodwill negotiating as the founder

If you are the early founder, mention your limitations from a higher authority to maintain goodwill -ie.: investors, board-.
See: manipulative negotiation techniques.

• Leverage enemies (tactfully!) to show you’re on their side

Enemies help a group bond.

Of course, be careful.
Exaggerating makes you come across as a bad fit for the organization.

But imagine your report complains about “that other department” slowing down his work.
The typical manager’s response that you’re all part of the same company will frustrate your employee.

Instead, if it’s true, empathize with him to sub-communicate that you’re on his side.

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: I respected my manager most when he defended me

Lucio:
I still remember my first manager fondly.

Anton, the program manager from another unit, would always grab me last minute for whatever he needed.
As a freshman, I wasn’t sure whether refusing would harm my career, so I asked my manager.

He listened to me and then said: “Whenever you feel it’s too much, simply tell me, and I will take care of telling Anton to back off“.

It was a small gesture, but it significantly made me respect him more.

Also read:

• Corporate manipulations
• Manipulation: a field guide

Manipulation: Techniques, Strategies, & Ethics

8. Set The Standard With Your Example

Here’s how you do it:

1. Set the values you want
2. Develop a social identity around those values
3. Represent those values with your character and behavior

You want to be representative of the group.
But, as a manager, represent the group as one of its very best members.

While values may change, the fundamentals of honorable characters are always the same.
And an honorable character is the foundation of prestigious leadership.

And avoid:

• 🔴 Social climbing 
• 🔴 Competing with your reports (remember: you are the manager, see yourself as a hunter and groomer of talent)
• 🔴 Getting too wasted at companies’ parties (nothing screams “sloppy” as an overly drunk manager, only beat by a wasted manager who gets too emotional or sexually forward)
• 🔴 Abuses of power, including:
  • Demanding
  • Sleeping with reports

8.2. Be Honest: If Fosters Team Spirit

As the manager, you are the most important individual in the team.

You most influence the culture, and the level of contribution.

If they perceive you as unfair, individuals revert from pro-social behavior to more cynical, selfish, and ‘covering my a*s’.
Contribution drops, and politics reigns.

This leads to a vicious circle where everyone focuses on taking and nobody gives anymore, It’s referred to as tragedy of commons, and everyone loses.

Luckily, the opposite is also true.
And principled leaders set the example to turn selfish individuals into a collaborative team.

This is why, if you are wondering how to manage great teams, the simplest answer is: be a great team player.

In social psychology Tyler & Blader call this phenomenon the “Group Engagement Model”, and it’s been confirmed by experiments of game theory as well (Axelrod, 1984; Ridley, 1996).

See a diagram here:

9. Keep A Healthy Emotional Distance

Be friendly, but not too close friends.

Social power dynamics is clear here:

Close friendships are friendships of equals.
And a relationship of equals harms your ability to lead and command as as a superior.

So albeit the popular ‘bring your whole self to work’ and ‘vulnerability’ have their merit, take them with a grain of salt.
And don’t overdo them.

See:

• Vulnerability is not power: how to do it right

10. Power-Align With Executives

Adapt the views, values, and opinions of those in power.

While you can fake it, it’s far better to find a place that genuinely reflects your values.
The higher congruence of genuine alignment helps you be more charismatic, persuasive, and powerful (Morgan, 2014)

11. Don’t Shy Away From Occasional Outbursts

Machiavelli said:

It’s better to be feared than to be loved.

And here is the best part: fear and love are not antithetical.

A strong manager who champions his team… But who seldom also gets angry achieve both at the same time.

A constantly calm manager, often described as the ideal in most “how to be a great manager” guides, is suspicious.

Your reports may wonder if you’re some kind of emotionally impaired psychopath.
Or, even worse, they might wonder if you’re not too weak.

Put those questions to rest with well-calibrated outbursts.

Alternatives to raising your voice

Strong feedback or intense expressions of disappointment work equally well -if not better-.

For example:

Strong manager: (intense, disappointed) That would have been OK for someone else. But not from you. You have better potential than this. I expect better from you

Notice that this is uplifting and inclusive at the same time that it’s strong feedback.

At first, this will break rapport.
But then, once they fix their performance, you win them back with even more warmth.

This ties back to emotional power dynamics and soft power.

The sub-communication if to say “When you do good work, you’re back being a beloved team member”.

12. Fire Anti-Social Individuals (Quickly!)

Rotten apples spoil the bunch.

That’s not a maxim, it’s (social) science.
Let’s quickly review it.

Experiments show that the biggest group of people in any team are “conditional cooperators” (around 50% to be precise).

That means that most people cooperate only as long as the majority cooperates. 
And when they see selfish individuals (free-riders) who take more than they give, they re-assess their pro-social strategy.

When free-riders go unpunished, conditional cooperators cooperate less.
Eventually, they stop giving completely.

And that is why a good team manager recognizes selfish operators and gets rid of them as soon as possible.

Luckily, the opposite is also true.
When cooperation and support increase, most people also start giving more. 
The increased contribution is often related to how much more others contribute, which is why it’s possible to start a virtuous cycle of cooperation.

12.2. Be Quick to Fire Your Enemies 

This might sound Machiavellian, but it’s not.

As a manager, you are the lighthouse of the team.
And if you are doing a great job, your enemies are the team’s enemies (and vice versa).

Keeping enemies within the group is dangerous not only for yourself but for the team as well.
They will scheme and undermine you, forming coalitions within the team.

The solution, just as with the free riders, is to remove them.
If not possible, at least isolate them.

Also see:

• List of toxic employees

Political Strategy: Don’t Antagonize Skilled Political Players

If you can’t fire them, don’t antagonize the people who are most likely to advance.

The last enemy you want is a rising star.

If it’s a fellow manager, rise faster than them if you can, but without directly competing.

Also, if you’re firing them, ensure it will go through smoothly.
Some of them may already have friends high up who may block the proceedings… And that may turn against you.

We teach good men the mindsets and skills to advance at work in Power University