The 3 Types Of People Who Quietly Have The Most Power & Influence At Work, Says A Career Expert
They don't go out of their way to be noticed, but they leave a lasting impression.
Josep Suria | Shutterstock Everyone knows that certain roles carry more weight in the office than others do. However, sometimes the level of power you possess has more to do with your attitude and actions than your actual job title. This is something that a career expert and product manager named Alec knows from his own experience.
According to Alec, there are three types of people who actually wield the most power and influence at work without really doing anything major. Instead, they make intentional choices to quietly show up and make themselves indispensable. As he said, “If someone describes you as one of these things when you’re not in the room, you’re doing something right.”
These three types of people quietly have the most power and influence at work:
1. The calm one
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The first of the three work “identities” that Alec shared was that of the calm one. He said that this is the person who can always help everyone else feel more at peace, even when things aren’t going according to plan. “In a crisis, when the boss comes in hot, heated, demanding things and everybody starts to panic, if you’re the one who’s able to level set the room — let’s take a step back, let’s breathe — that is a skill that is invaluable and not a lot of people have it,” he explained.
The American Psychological Association pointed out that everyone is going to feel stress at work at some point; it’s only natural. The way you deal with it makes all the difference. “Start by taking a few minutes each day to focus on a simple activity like breathing, walking, or enjoying a meal,” they recommended. “The skill of being able to focus purposefully on a single activity without distraction will get stronger with practice, and you’ll find that you can apply it to many different aspects of your life.”
By taking charge of your own emotions, particularly the stress you feel, you can inspire others around you to do the same. Showing up at work with a level head will put others at ease as well, and you’ll become known as the calm one who can diffuse any heated situation.
2. The connector
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You may think power is all about a fancy title and a hefty paycheck, but Alec begs to differ. “I’ve often said the people with the most power and influence at a company are those who are on a first-name basis with the most people,” he stated. “And not only do you know a lot of people, you know what they’re good at. You know their strengths, you know who works well together, and you know who to put together to solve a problem.”
Prestige may be nice, but what really matters is knowing people for who they are. Many people never really get to know the people they work with, or simply think of them as something like “that guy who works in HR.” Yale University said, “The importance of teamwork cannot be stressed enough. In the current economy, most of our jobs involve interacting with others, so, being able to perform well with your colleagues is key to attaining growth and success.”
It can be easy to feel like, as long as you have a good rapport with your co-workers, you’re good to go. While that’s important, it’s even more advantageous to understand your colleagues and see how they fit into your team. That’s where real power comes from.
3. The translator
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If you’ve ever been to a foreign country or spoken to people whose language you don’t know, you know how powerful translators can be. They are the link between people, keeping communication open where it would otherwise be stifled. This can be present at work as well, in a bit of a different way.
“You speak tech, you speak sales, you speak marketing,” Alec said. “You’re a corporate polyglot. You know how to help them understand each other.” In other words, someone who is a translator in the workplace knows how to communicate across departments and make everyone feel like they are heard.
Penn State Extension said that effective communication in the workplace benefits all employees in a myriad of ways. It minimizes conflict while increasing productivity and satisfaction. These things go on to improve the quality of life for workers. Communication is key, and learning how to communicate well can make a huge difference in your success.
As Alec acknowledged, these are all things that you can’t really use in your LinkedIn headline. In fact, you’d be pretty hard pressed to fit them on a resume or bring them up in an interview, even with how important soft skills are. But, as he said, becoming one of these people does not require a promotion or permission. You can simply decide you want to develop these skills, and it will make you absolutely irreplaceable.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
