How to Find Your Power—and Avoid
Abusing It
In an
adaptation from his new book, Dacher
Keltner explains the secret to gaining and keeping power: focus on
the good of others.
For the past twenty years, I have been
carrying out experiments to find out how power is distributed in groups. I have
infiltrated college dorms and children’s summer camps to document who rises in
power. I have brought entire sororities and fraternities into the lab,
capturing the substance and spread of individuals’ reputations within their
social networks. I have surreptitiously identified which members of groups are
gossiped about, and who receive gossip. To chart the experience of power, I
have studied what it feels like to be placed in positions of authority.
Adapted from Dacher Keltner's new book, The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence (Penguin Press, May 17, 2016)
Findings from this research converge on an
organizing idea: Whereas 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.
When we receive power, it feels like a vital
force. It surges through the body, propelling the individual forward in pursuit
of goals. When an individual feels powerful, he or she experiences higher
levels of excitement, inspiration, joy, and euphoria, all of which enable
purposeful, goal-directed action. Feeling powerful, the individual becomes
sharply attuned to rewards in the environment and quickly grasps what goals
define any situation. At the same time, surges of power make him or her less
aware of the risks that attend any course of action.
This 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.
The abuse of power is costly in every
imaginable way, from declining trust in the community to compromised
performance at work to poor health. By contrast, when individuals use their
power to advance the greater good, they and the people whom they empower will
be happier, healthier, and more productive.
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 drives 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.
How can we stop ourselves from abusing power?
What insights can we glean from science so that we avoid mistakes of the past
and make the most of our power? The ethical principles that follow are one
approach to enabling people to pursue this aspiration.
1. Be aware of your
feelings of power
The feeling of power is like a vital force
moving through your body, involving the acute sense of purpose that results
when we stir others to effective action. This feeling will guide you to the
thrill of making a difference in the world.
People who excel in their power—the physician
who improves the health of dozens of people a day, the high school teacher who
inches her students toward academic success, the writer whose piece of fiction
stirs others’ imaginations—they all know this. They feel the rush of dopamine
and vagus nerve activation in the purest moments of empowering others and
lifting up the greater good.
If you remain aware of this feeling and its
context, you will not be entrapped by myths that power is money, or fame, or
social class, or a fancy title. Real power means enhancing the greater good,
and your feelings of power will direct you to the exact way you are best
equipped to do this.
2. Practice humility
Power is a gift—the chance to make a difference
in the world. People who enact their power with humility enjoy more enduring
power. Ironically, the more we approach our power, our capacity to influence
others, with humility, the greater our power is. Don’t be impressed by your own
work—stay critical of it. Accept and encourage the skepticism and the push-back
of others who have enabled you to make a difference in the world. Remember that
others have enabled you to make a difference in the world, and there is always
more work to do.
3. Stay focused on others,
and give
The most direct path to enduring power is
through generosity. Give resources, money, time, respect, and power to others.
In these acts of giving we empower others in our social networks, enhancing our
own ability to make a difference in the world. Such acts of generosity are
critical to strong societies, and empowered individuals are happier. The more
we empower others, the greater good is increased.
So give in many ways. This will prove to be
the most important foundation not only of your making a lasting difference in
the world but of your own sense of happiness and meaning in life.
4. Practice respect
By directing respect toward others, we
dignify them. We elevate their standing. We empower them. That all members of a
social collective deserve some basic form of dignity is an ancient basis of
equality, and it is expressed in our day-to-day lives through respect.
Practicing respect requires work. There is no reward people value more than
being esteemed and respected. Ask questions. Listen with intent. Be curious
about others. Acknowledge them. Compliment and praise with gusto. Express
gratitude.
5. Change the psychological
context of powerlessness
We can minimize the tendency of some people
to feel below others, so toxic to health and well-being, by practicing the
first four principles listed above.
We can do more, though. Pick one aspect of
powerlessness in the world and change it for the better. The rise in inequality
and the persistence of poverty give us many opportunities for such work. Attack
the stigma that devalues women. Confront racism. Call into question elements of
society—solitary confinement, underfunded schools, police brutality—that
devalue people. Create opportunities within your community and workplace that
empower those who have suffered disempowerment due to moral mistakes of the
past.
Such steps may not feel like the
game-changing social revolutions of earlier times, but they are quiet
revolutions just the same. In every interaction, we have the opportunity to
practice empathy, to give, to express gratitude, and to tell unifying stories.
These practices make for social interactions among strangers, friends, work
colleagues, families, and community members that are defined by commitment to
the greater good, where the benefits people provide one another outweigh the
harms they cause.
By Dacher Keltner |
ttp://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_find_your_power_avoid_abusing_it?utm_source=Newsletter+May+18+2016&utm_campaign=GG+Newsletter+May+18+2016+&utm_medium=email
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