"Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't"

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Title: Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't
Author: Jeffrey Pfeffer

I borrowed this book through an inter-library loan after reading several online reviews complaining how "evil" its contents are. On one hand, I doubt that any of this book's teachings coincides with Biblical teachings. On the other hand, I think that this book isn't as "evil" as expected. I'm currently sharing this book with an NT. I haven't tried living by its teachings yet so I can't tell you whether these teachings truly work or not. I don't 100% endorse this book, but I think that it's worth a read. I'm grateful that the author is willing to write about power. Many people around me are reluctant to discuss power, yet power struggles exist almost everywhere. I would classify this book as a self-help book. Let me share some random snippets...

1. Why do people pursue power?
--Powerful people tend to be healthier and enjoy longer lives. Powerless people tend to be stressed out frequently. Excessive stress might lead to heart disease. (My thoughts--"Powerful people are stressed out too! Won't they fall prey to heart disease too?")
--Power usually leads to wealth. Wealth usually leads to power.
--Powerful people usually have an easy time getting things done.

2. The world has never been a just place, so forget about the “Just World Hypothesis”. Besides, many people who believe in the “Just World Hypothesis” tend to blame the victim whenever something goes wrong.

3. Many powerful people, especially CEOs, aren’t as ethical as they themselves claim.

4. Even if you are the best performer in the company, you might be demoted or even fired if you offend your boss.

5. Some people have a bad habit of doing very little yet boasting about their achievements very frequently. Like it or not, bosses tend to treat such people better than those who work very hard yet keep quiet about their achievements. If you haven’t been busy, you should make yourself busy in your boss’ presence.

6. If you don’t know what your boss expects of you, go ahead and ask him or her nicely to find out her expectations. If you keep quiet and submit a piece of work that falls short of your boss’ expectations, your boss will be upset with you.

7. Try not to criticize your boss. If you ever criticize your boss, make sure that you focus your criticism entirely on the mistake itself. Woe to you if your boss misinterprets your criticism as an attack on his or her character or competence.

8. Try to compliment people whenever possible, but do make sure that your compliments reflect reality. “Empty” compliments usually offend people.

9. Sometimes people sincerely compliment you. Sometimes people compliment you because they expect you to do them favors in return. You should thank those who compliment you. In your heart, you should assume that all compliments are sincere; otherwise you will feel very upset with those who have complimented you.

10. You can improve your social skills at any point of your life. Practise, practise and practise. Unfortunately, social skills are mostly hands-on rather than theoretical, so people might be stumped if you ask them to teach you social skills.

11. Many successful people are ambitious and highly energetic. They are usually good at accomplishing a variety of things, but each of them has his or her own speciality. If you are eager to succeed, try your best to remain loyal to one particular industry instead of job-hopping across industries frequently.

12. You must be aware of any mistake that you make so that you can correct such mistakes. Unfortunately, many people (including myself) lack the self-awareness needed to recognize mistakes.

13. You must show confidence at all times because confident people are assertive people. When people expect you to show empathy, they don’t mean the “Ouch, I can feel your pain” type of empathy. They are referring to another type of empathy, which is the ability to interpret non-verbal cues correctly and then respond to these cues appropriately. For example, don’t keep on talking if your listeners have already lost interest!

14. In any argument, if you are right but the other party is screaming non-stop at you, don’t get intimidated. Keep calm, then explain calmly but loudly why you are right. Don’t scream back!

15. Unless you enjoy engaging in one power struggle after another, avoid entering a company’s MOST powerful department if possible. Firstly, companies give priority to different departments at different points of their life cycles, so most departments’ power doesn’t last forever. Secondly, many of those people who work in a company’s MOST powerful department are power struggle veterans who might drag newcomers into their power struggles.

16. Powerful departments usually control funds or people. (I suspect that the author is hinting that most companies’ MOST powerful department is either Finance or HR.)

17. There is an unwritten social rule that states that people who ignore others’ requests for help are rude people, so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. If you ask somebody for help (especially through email), do compliment him or her first by explaining why he or she is the ideal person to help you out.

18. If you are interested in an opportunity, go ahead and seize it. Don’t ignore the opportunity just because you feel that too many people will be competing against you for the same opportunity. None of these people will thank you for giving that opportunity up.

19. People appreciate resources. Even “quality time” is regarded as a resource. Some mean people are popular because people need to rely on them to obtain resources. If you have no other resource to give away, then give your time away to people. If you don’t have much time to spare, at least be a good listener when people approach you.

20. Many people shun repetitive tasks because such tasks seem boring and insignificant. Don’t shun any task. Take pride in anything you do.

21. WARNING: NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY SOME NTS ARE SO MEAN TOWARDS ASPIES. Hang out more with people who can elevate your social status because of their high social status. Stay away from people who might pull your social status down because of their low social status.

22. If you are able to link two networks together by acting as the go-between, you are indeed occupying an extremely powerful position.

23. It’s nice if you belong to a clique, but you need to venture out of your clique regularly to socialize with other people. Since people in your clique know you very well, they won’t feel bad about themselves if they ever turn down your request for help. People outside your clique are eager to leave a good impression of themselves in your mind, so they are tend to be more enthusiastic in helping you out.

24. If you have done something wrong, just apologize and get over it. Don’t show guilt. Don’t be too apologetic. If you have done nothing wrong, then don’t act as if you are guilty of some undiscovered mistake. (The body language that guilty people display strongly resembles the body language that shy timid people display.)

25. Life isn’t about displaying your true self for the whole world to see. Life is all about acting.

26. Whenever people converse with you, pay them full attention. Don’t multi-task.

27. Think before you speak. People won’t mind you pausing before you reply them.

28. First impressions count; sad but true.
--Attention decrement: People pay more attention to old information than new information because they are bored or fatigued by the time they receive new information.
--Cognitive discounting: If people perceive you as blahblahblah, they will disregard anything that proves that you aren’t blahblahblah.
--Self-fulfilling prophecy: If you perceive somebody as good, you will treat that person nicely, then the person tend to be good to you. If you perceive somebody as bad, you won’t treat that person nicely, then the person tend to be bad to you.

29. If you seem too perfect, some envious people might do anything they can to sabotage your efforts, so do show some quirks once in a while.

30. If you can, turn your enemies into people who are neutral towards you and turn people who are neutral towards you into friends. If you can’t, the very least that you can do is to treat people graciously. If you drive people into a corner, they will retaliate. If you have no choice but to get rid of somebody, ensure that he or she leaves with dignity intact. Better still, arrange a nice position elsewhere (far away from you) for him or her.

31. The Price of Power
--Public scrutiny (People watch every aspect of your life.)
--Loss of freedom (You don’t have the time to do your own things because you are busy meeting others’ expectations of you.)
--Might neglect family and friends
--Need to guard yourself against people who are eager to usurp your position
--Power is an addictive drug; hence losing power is a big blow to some people’s mental health

32. How and why people lose power
--Overconfidence (Author’s advice: Don’t divorce the spouse who has helped you find your footing in your career. Don’t dump those friends who have seen your rise to power. Don’t stereotype less powerful people as tools to your own gratification, be sensitive to their needs instead.)
--Misplaced trust (Author’s advice: Throughout history, people have been discarding allies. Don’t place too much trust in your allies’ promises that they will reward you for helping them acquire power. )
--Powerful people lose patience (Author’s advice: People will get angry with you if you complain that they have been making your difficult job even more difficult with all sorts of demands and requests. Never lose patience with people. Offending people can cost you your job.)
--Powerful people get tired (Author’s advice: If you are burnt out, just find a replacement and then leave. When you are burnt out, others can easily usurp your position, so it’s better to leave before somebody else orders you to leave.)
--Circumstances have changed (Author’s advice: You should adjust your leadership style to ever-changing times.)

33. Even the most powerful person will lose power one day.
--Step 1: Groom a successor.
--Step 2: Leave gracefully.

This is so informative! Thanks for posting this!! I posted something by the same author but deleted it because this is so much more comprehensive.

This sounds suspiciously like a re-make of the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.