I’ve talked earlier about the way people are motivated at work and there’s three primary motivators: the need for power or influence, the need for achievement, or the need for affiliation. Today I want to talk about people that are motivated primarily by the need for power.

People with the need for power or influence have a need to be in control, a need to feel like they are in control of their day-to-day and that their opinion really matters. For people driven by that need for power, it’s important that if there’s a decision that’s made that’s going to impact their work or if there’s a change coming that impacts a procedure or process they’re involved in, they need to be aware of it in advance. Ideally, they’re even asked their opinion about how they think that process should be made or what they think about that decision.

The more they feel included, the more motivated they’re going to be. The flip side of that’s also true: if decisions come down that they don’t have any control over and those decisions impact their day, that can be frustrating for most anyone. But if you’re driven by a need for power or control, it’s going to be especially frustrating for you.

This week, think about the people who are motivated by power or influence and how you can ask for their opinions and ideas more.

And that’s this week’s Approachability Minute.