Desire for power is a basic human instinct. But few people achieve it — or at least a great deal of it.
In his book "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer tells us why we should want it, and how to go about getting it.
Most of us willingly give up power, or ruin our chances of ever getting it by never even trying (it's called the self-handicapping principal).
Here are the best takeaways from Pfeffer's book.
Don't believe the myth that some people are born to lead and others aren't
"One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking good performance — job accomplishments — is sufficient to acquire power and avoid organizational difficulties. Consequently, people leave too much to chance and fail to effectively manage their careers."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Get over the idea that everyone needs to like you
"Larry Summers, Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, president of Harvard University and former head of President Barack Obama's National Economic Council, is often described as prickly, outspoken, and not very sensitive. ... [But] not only has Summers's reputation not hurt him; it has actually helped."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Performance doesn't really matter
Your relationship with your boss matters more. "In 1980, economists James Medoff and Katherine Abraham observed that salaries in companies were more strongly related to age and organizational tenure than they were to job performance."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Help powerful people feel good about themselves
Chriskamaris via Flickr
"Turnover in senior executive ranks was affected by CEO turnover, particularly when an outsider came in. That's because CEOs like to put loyalists in senior positions — regardless of what past incumbents have accomplished."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Build an effective power network
"Many studies show that networking is positively related to obtaining good performance evaluations, objective measures of career success such as salary and organizational level, and subjective attitudes assessing career satisfaction."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Break the rules, especially early in your career
"In every war in the last 200 years conducted between unequally matched opponents, the stronger party won about 72% of the time. However, when the underdogs understood their weakness and used a different strategy to minimize its effects, they won some 64% of the time, cutting the dominant party's likelihood of victory in half."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Get access to key resources
"It would be nice to be Sergey Brin or Larry Page ... or Bill Gates. As they move through venues like the World Economic Forum, they are surrounded not just by security staff but by people who want to meet them and get close to them and the organizations they lead."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Do an honest self-assessment
MIT
"Because we like to think well of ourselves, we overestimate our own abilities and performance. ... When people focus on what they need to get to the next stage of their careers, they are less defensive."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Act the part before you've got the part
Daniel Goodman / Business Insider
"Over time, you will become more like you're acting — self-assured, confident, and more strongly-convinced of the truth of what you are saying."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Be OK with conflict and showing anger
Matt Rosoff Business Insider
"Research shows that people who express anger are seen 'as dominant, strong, competent, and smart.'
... The researchers found that in negative situations, participants believed that high-status people would feel more angry than sad or guilty and that low-status people would feel sad and guilty instead of angry."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Don't be afraid to ask for advice
"In one study, participants were asked to estimate how many strangers they would need to approach in order to get 5 people to fill out a short questionaire. The average estimate was 20 people. ... [In fact], they only needed to approach about 10 people."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Carefully consider and construct your image
"The rise of Barack Obama in the tough world of Chicago and then Illinois politics illustrates how Obama, from the very beginning, worked to build a political identity that would be useful to him."
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Just remember there's a high price to pay for power
AP
Including addiction to power. "When you leave such a position and that level of activity ceases, it is almost ... 'like a car going from ninety miles an hour to a dead stop.'
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
And in the end, everyone loses power
Steven Rosenbaum/Flickr
CEO turnover rate increased 59% between 1995 and 2006, according to a Booz Allen study.
Source: "Power: Why Some People Have It — And Others Don't," by Jeffrey Pfeffer
So what's keeping you from becoming powerful?
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-become-more-powerful-2011-12?op=1#ixzz2hcLbximE
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