How often have you been in a situation where you could see the solution and yet did not have the authority to make a change? You tried persuasion; you tried selling your ideas; you might have even tried friendly manipulation to get your way. And nothing worked. Here’s a new plan. We can learn to develop and use personal power and influence to effect positive changes in our companies. Johanna Rothman describes how we can be specific about the result we want, look for what’s in it for everyone, and consider short- and long-term options to foster change while acting congruently and authentically. Although it’s not easy to do, with preparation and persistence you can transform yourself into a person with personal influence. When you’re influential, you build your power and, by extension, your informal authority in the organization.

The ability to give honest, effective feedback to someone is important. Equally important is the ability to hear and understand that feedback. Learn how to use good feedback to build a stronger team.

Joe Strazzere is a longtime software tester and test manager, blogger, an active member of the online testing community, a sports fan, and a recent grandparent. Here, Alan Page chats with Joe about his love of testing, his career in test, and his philosophies of test management.

It’s never easy to schedule training, but you must if you want the people you manage to learn a new language, tool, or skill. Johanna offers some tips for making time and capitalizing on curiosity.