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This graph breaks down the five dimensions that make up your Power
Quotient. Each one plays a role in determining both your overall
PQ score and Power Style. Understanding
and strengthening these five dimensions is the key to raising your PQ.
The first three dimensions — credit, control,
and blame — are based on the following questions:
When things are going well, to what extent do you take credit for success?
To what degree do you blame others for the negative things that happen?
Do you believe that you, or external forces, have control over events
in your life?
The last two dimensions — directness and tact
— refer to the relative number and kinds of strategies you have,
and the frequency with which you utilize them. Are you more inclined
to confront someone when you have a problem or are you going to find
another way to get your point across?
Credit
While success is what everyone strives for, actually attaining it affects
people differently. Some credit their successes to a higher power, while
others regard their achievements simply as the product of hard work.
The "Credit" graph measures to what extent you think outside
influences have created whatever happiness and success you currently
possess. Your score is also a reflection of how you view achievement
in general.
Your Credit Score
Out of 10, your tendency to attribute successes to external influences
is a 9:
What does this mean?
Your score indicates that you have a greater tendency than most to attribute
the positive events in your life to external influences. This means
that there are times when you question whether your successes are due
to your own worthiness or due instead to some other factor. While you
recognize that you have played a role in creating happiness in your
life, you find it probable that outside influences — luck, God,
the weather, whatever — have played equal or greater roles.
Control
Navigating life requires us to constantly interpret our surroundings.
We instinctually believe some things to be outside of our control, or
driven by our environment, while others we see as directly under our
influence.
The "Control" graph measures to what degree you view chance
or fate as having played a role in your life thus far. Your score also
sets the tone for how you approach life, and how much influence you
believe you have on others.
Your Control Score
Out of 10, your tendency to believe that you are in control of life
events is a 6:
What does this mean?
Your score indicates that you have a very balanced view regarding the
role of control in your life. There are times when you feel as though
your choices and outcomes have been externally controlled, the result
of chance or fate. However, there are also times when you understand
you have arrived at your current place primarily through your own efforts.
On the whole, you seem to have found a balance between these two extremes.
This implies that you take a calculated approach rather than let your
personal biases rule your judgments. You see clearly the limitations
of your own actions.
Blame
Bad things happen to everyone, but not everyone interprets them in the
same way. Some people consider all of their problems self-made, while
others see outside forces — bad luck, bad karma, bad weather —
acting against them.
The "Blame" graph looks at where you commonly assign responsibility
for "negative" events in your life. Your score determines
to what extent you think external influences have created unhappiness
in your past and present. Your score is also a reflection of how you
view negativity and failure in general.
Your Blame Score
Out of 10, your tendency to put blame on external forces is a 6:
What does this mean?
Your score indicates that you have a very balanced view on how you view
negative events in your life. Though failures and disappointments happen
to everyone, you usually take an honest inventory when something bad
occurs. Sometimes you're inclined to blame everything but yourself for
your problems and other times you understand you've played a strong
role in how things have turned out. For you, the root of unfortunate
events is unique to each situation.
This is a rut I get stuck in regularly.
A 'pity-party' that usually comes when I'm strung out and spread too
thin. It's also partially because I live with issues that are
'labeld' as disabilities. Although I've accepted this and usually
have a positive outlook on it, knowing on a rational level that this
is just how the cards fell and I'll live with it, may even conquer it....
it's still something I have to work on all the time. I aim to
lower this score to zero.
Quite possibly why I was SO sensitive with my
ex (the infamous JoeBlow) because he wouldn't take responsibility
for ANYTHING unless he was called to the carpet on it. I fight
it, I wrestle with it, and it's very shameful when I see it in myself.
I didn't want him to feel this way about himself too. With him
in my life I held my own self to a higher standard of responsibility...
that wasn't something he did, but it was something I viewed as a benefit
to my life.
Take Action
Realizing that you're not "doomed
to failure" or "unlucky" is an important step towards
increasing your PQ. While this is something you may already understand
intellectually, your score indicates that perhaps it's not a concept
you've fully adapted yet. The key is not to rid your life of negative
events entirely, which is of course impossible, but instead to regard
them as something logically driven — and something you are
capable of dealing with. Even small actions can contribute to a greater
feeling of autonomy in coping with failures.
Shifting the Role of Blame in your Life
- When something in your life goes wrong, think
about it as logically as possible. Try not to ascribe it to fate.
- Whenever a negative event occurs, try to concentrate
on the aspects of it you have control over and can act upon. For
instance, you cannot reverse a tragedy, but you can console people,
make donations to organizations, etc.
- Take an inventory of these sort of constructive
actions, no matter how small. Remind yourself of your progress.
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Directness
The "Directness" graph measures how many direct power strategies
you have at your disposal. In their most positive form, direct strategies
are assertive and straightforward. Everyday examples include a firm
handshake, an honest compliment and simply asking for what you want.
Essentially, they are a form of give and take. At one end of the spectrum,
direct strategies can take the form of extreme taking — theft
and violence — and at the other end they can be extremely giving
— altruism and charity. The more common ones, of course, fall
somewhere in between.
Your "Directness" score determines the relative number of
direct power strategies you have at your disposal.
Your Directness Score
You are using 10 out of 10 direct power strategies:
What does this mean?
This implies that you're full of direct strategies and you're quite
accustomed to utilizing them. You understand how to be straightforward
with a recognizable level of skill, and you most likely prefer overt
methods to other, subtler strategies. In situations where others might
shy away from speaking their minds and being forthright, you find it
only natural to act as such.
Tact
The "Tact" graph measures how many subtle power strategies
you have available and how often you use them. Subtle strategies can
define office politics and intimate relationships. Understated hints,
telling body language and quiet but firm communication are all examples
of subtle power strategies. At one end of the spectrum, subtle strategies
can take the form of passive-aggressiveness and emotional manipulation
and at the other end, they can be skilled diplomacy and heightened empathy.
The more common ones, of course, fall somewhere in between.
Your "Tact" score determines the relative number of subtle
power strategies your have at you disposal.
Your Tact Score
You are using 8 out of 10 subtle power strategies:
What does this mean?
This implies that you're full of subtle strategies, and you're quite
accustomed to utilizing them. You understand how to be diplomatic with
a recognizable level of skill and you most likely prefer subtle methods
to other, more direct strategies. In situations where others might fail
at being appropriately subtle, you find it only natural to act as such.
Take Action
Your score shows that you have the
most room for improvement in employing subtle strategies. One of
the most important strategies in gaining power is helping others
to willfully see your side of things. While part of this process
is simply providing an excellent and considerate argument, there
are certain tactics that can help ensure your success. An example
of one is avoiding a typical argument and having a "question
and answer" period with the person you're trying to convince.
Using Diplomacy
- Focus on the common ground that exists between
you and the person you're trying to convince.
- Go out of your way to prevent the person you're
trying to convince from saying "no" or anything negatively
affirming.
- Instead of making arguments, ask leading questions.
Avoid plain assertions whenever possible.
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de Test Results
Martha
Washington. Washington once said, "I've learned from experience
that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions
and not on our circumstances." The remarkable timelessness of these
words is achieved through an emphasis on personal responsibility. She
recognized that life is made better by concentrating on things you do
have control over — your disposition — rather than those
which you might not — your circumstances. Like Washington, you
understand the importance of knowing and working with your personal
limitations as a means to gain influence. 
