Skill Sharpener Item #15 When benefit-focused persuasion techniques are ineffective and the success of my project is put in doubt, I'm prepared to and effective at generating project support by appealing to authority. Outstanding! Here are some of the benefits you've probably received because you tap into the power of some people to shift priorities and get immediate compliance when a participant actively or passively resists doing the work they've committed to: By trying benefit techniques first and resorting to power only after resistance unnecessarily threatens the work and resources of the project team, you add to your reputation of respecting others and trying to communicate first. By tapping into the 'juice' that more senior people can apply when truly necessary, you gain credibility and respect among participants whose work would be wasted if the project could be sabotaged by one or a few misguided sandbaggers. You are able to gain support from the Prime Movers and other senior people because you only call on them after you've exhausted the methods of persuasion that are within your control. By moving on someone who is threatening your schedule in a timely but not overly quick time frame, you show all team members that you're not going to endanger their job status without reasonable cause but, in the same sense, that you're not going to let anyone "get away with" deliberate underperformance.