How to find your power – and avoid abusing it. (2016)

“..science finds that power is not grabbed but is given to individuals by groups…. your ability to make a difference in the world – your power – is shaped by what other people think of you.”

Prof. Dacher Keltner, University of California, Berkeley.
The Greater Good Science Center, UC, Berkeley, 17 May 2016.

Adapted from his new book, The power paradox: how we gain and lose influence (Penguin Press)

“The Machiavellian approach to power assumes that individuals grab it through coercive force, strategic deception, and the undermining of others, the science finds that power is not grabbed but is given to individuals by groups.

“What this means is that your ability to make a difference in the world – your power, as I define it -is shaped by what other people think of you. Your capacity to alter the state of others depends on their trust in you. Your ability to empower others depends on their willingness to be influenced by you. Your power is constructed in the judgments and actions of others. When they grant you power, they increase your ability to make their lives better – or worse.” …..

“(The) experience of power propels the individual forward in one of two directions: toward the abuse of power and impulsive and unethical actions, or toward benevolent behavior that advances the greater good.

“Power makes us feel less dependent upon others, freeing us to shift our focus away from others to our own goals and desires. Power corrupts in four ways:

• Power leads to empathy deficits and diminished moral sentiments.
• Power leads to self-serving impulsivity.
• Power leads to incivility and disrespect.
• Power leads to narratives of exceptionalism.

“In my experiments, individuals who were kind and focused on others enjoyed enduring power in schools, workplaces, and military units, avoiding the fall from power that is so common in human social life. That enduring power derives from a steadfast focus on others makes sense in light of what we know: Groups give power to individuals who advance the greater good, and they diminish the standing of those who stray from this principle.”

Based on this conclusion the author proposes a range of ethical principles that “can stop ourselves from abusing power

• Be aware of your feelings of power
• Practice humility
• Stay focused on others, and give
• Practice respect
• Change the psychological context of powerlessness.”

Access the full article here: How to find your power – and avoid abusing it.

Access the book here: The power paradox: how we gain and lose influence.