Influence Without Authority, 2nd Edition

From Publishers Weekly
This guide by management consultant Cohen and Stanford University Graduate School of Business professor Bradford skillfully demonstrates, with numerous examples, how managers and other employees can achieve their career objectives–as well as those of their companies–by forming mutually advantageous alliances. Urging patient planning of strategies, the authors offer advice on coping with turf rivalries, handling delicate inter-level relations and tips on how to bypass rules and foster managerial flexibility and innovation. Macmillan's Executive Program dual main selection; Fortune Book club alternate.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Cohen and Bradford are business professors, the former at Babson College and the latter at Stanford, and both have extensive backgrounds in management consulting. Here, they have devised a number of scenarios to illustrate situations in which particular techniques of influencing co-workers can be utilized to effect a desired result. Very few real-world examples are employed, leaving the reader searching for some concrete applications of the techniques discussed. Consequently, the book reads more like an academic text on influence. Readers would be better served with Dale Carnegie's classic How To Win Friends and Influence People or Harvey MacKay's Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive ( LJ 4/15/88). Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
- Richard Paustenbaugh, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
In organizations today, getting work done requires political and collaborative skills. That’s why the first edition of this book has been widely adopted as a guide for consultants, project leaders, staff experts, and anyone else who does not have direct authority but who is nevertheless accountable for results. In this revised edition, leadership gurus Allan Cohen and David Bradford explain how to get cooperation from those over whom you have no official authority by offering them help in the form of the “currencies” they value. This classic work, now revised and updated, gives you powerful techniques for cutting through interpersonal and interdepartmental barriers, and motivating people to lend you their support, time, and resources.

Download Description
This guide by management consultant Cohen and Stanford University Graduate School of Business professor Bradford skillfully demonstrates, with numerous examples, how managers and other employees can achieve their career objectives–as well as those of their companies–by forming mutually advantageous alliances. Urging patient planning of strategies, the authors offer advice on coping with turf rivalries, handling delicate inter-level relations and tips on how to bypass rules and foster managerial flexibility and innovation.

From the Inside Flap
At some point, almost all of us will find ourselves in the same bind at work: we know what needs to be done and how to do it, but we can't get the right people on board. The risk is allowing frustration to become resignation—or unproductive retaliation. Fortunately, the new and improved Influence Without Authority, Second Edition offers a proven, effective model for breaking through the impasse and building an environment of collaboration, mutual assistance, and real achievement.

Leadership gurus Allan Cohen and David Bradford explain how to coax cooperation from the people who control the resources, information, or support you need to succeed. You'll learn how to get past your restrictive assumptions, figure out the interests and needs of potential partners, and negotiate mutually beneficial exchanges that help you both achieve your goals. It's a powerful and proven way to cut through interpersonal and interdepartmental barriers to turn coworkers and competitors into allies.

This new Second Edition adds clarity, depth, and insight with new chapters on applying the Exchange Model to entire organizations, making it even more useful for team leaders and managers. It includes many more practical applications such as working cross-functionally, leading major change initiatives, using direct influence, and overcoming organizational politics.

No matter what your organizational position, or what kinds of clients and customers you deal with, part of your success depends on being able to influence people over whom you have no formal control. Influence Without Authority, Second Edition presents a clear model and effective, practical strategies for convincing and influencing those around you in order to accomplish important workplace goals—to the benefit of you, your colleagues, and your organization.

About the Author
ALLAN R. COHEN is Edward A. Madden Distinguished Professor of Global Leadership and Director of Corporate Entrepreneurship at Babson College, where he specializes in leadership and transforming organizations. He holds MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard Business School and has consulted for such organizations as GE, Polaroid, IBM, and Toshiba.

DAVID L. BRADFORD is Senior Lecturer on Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Director of Stanford's Executive Program in Leadership. He has consulted for such organizations as Frito-Lay, Levi Strauss & Co., and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Cohen and Bradford are also the authors of Managing for Excellence and Power Up, both from Wiley.