The nibble theory and the kernel of power: A book about leadership, self-empowerment and personal growth

In this unit, you will learn about types of power and how these and types of influence strategies can be effectively used by leaders. Leaders use power in a number of important ways. Leaders can be in a position of formal power in organizations and can use a number of sources of legitimate power to their advantage, or, if not in a formal power position, they can use a variety of influence techniques to persuade others. Influence tactics can take a number of different forms. Leaders can use impression management (Yukl, 2006) to influence followers and political tactics. They can also use proactive influence techniques, such as:
Rational persuasion.
Inspirational appeals.
Personal appeals.
Collaboration.
Pressure.
Some forms of power and influence are natural and part of our daily lives in organizations. Others can take the form of threat, pressure, and dishonesty. While most leaders use highly effective forms of influence, we also see many examples of power being misused in organizations.
Nibble Theory
Our images of power are shaped from personal and organizational experiences. The late Kaleel Jamison, an organizational development consultant who specialized in diversity issues, wrote a simple but profound book titled The Nibble Theory and the Kernel of Power . The book is the size of a child's picture book and has many illustrations. The first thing Jamison requests is that we let a circle stand for a person. She goes on to write:
We all live in groups, all kinds of groups: families, schools, offices, factories, clubs, and social circles. And within all of these groups we each occupy a position and have influence in relation to the other members of the group.

Some circles are big circles—leaders, movers, shakers, initiators, and independent thinkers.

Some are smaller circles—second in command, responders, reactors, a little less powerful. Some are small circles indeed—retiring, followers, hesitators, and even shy non-contributors.

Everybody could be big—theoretically. But some choose to be small. Some would like to be bigger—but don't know how. Some never think of themselves as able to be bigger. Some would like to be bigger but get themselves all bent out of shape trying—and never get bigger, just all out of shape.

But everybody wants to grow. [Even as adults] we still want to grow—in knowledge, and power, and importance in the human groups we belong to. It's not always true that bigger is better, but in this case growing bigger is better. How we grow is the thing. Many people go about it all wrong. (pp. 5–8)

When two circles meet they size each other up and learn very quickly who is big and who is small. According to Jamison, either the small circle becomes bigger or the nibbling begins.
Nibbling happens when we understand power to be a finite resource like oil, water, or money. When we understand power in this way, we scramble for the scarce resource by reasoning that in order to gain more power, we need to reduce someone else's. So we nibble.

Nibbles can be overt or covert. The way we most effectively nibble—whether we think we are a small circle nibbling at a bigger one or a big one nibbling at a smaller one—is the language we use, which is overt. Language that nibbles is negative rather than supportive. Covert nibbles include giving people the silent treatment or not sharing information.

Not only can we nibble at others, we can nibble at ourselves. We nibble at ourselves because we want to fit in, because we want people to like us, and for a host of other reasons. What may be endangered is our self, who we truly are, because our nibbling away at ourselves is diminishing who we could be. As leaders, we need to learn about:

Our own power.
Types of power.
The power of others.
Not to nibble.

Not nibbling and not allowing others to nibble are great steps toward being a power-filled leader, to say nothing of a compassionate and very effective one.
Reference
Jamison, K. (1984). The nibble theory and the kernel of power: A book about leadership, self-empowerment and personal growth. New York : Paulist Press.