Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes
Power: Why Some People Have It-and Others Don’t by Jeffrey Pfeffer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It is an easy read with interesting examples. If you dislike the title, consider how the world is political, and it is in you interest to know the power games other people will play.
A few highlights:
- When Keith Ferrazzi (author, CMO, CEO) was offered a position at Deloitte, he insisted in seeing the “head guys.” He met the NYC chief, Loconto, over dinner and Keith said he would accept if the two would have dinner once a year at the same restaurant.” This was a gutsy move, but gave him influence at a very high level. All because he asked. What could you have asked for?
- Ishan Gupta is an entrepreneur from India who positioned himself with compiling a book of major Indian entrepreneurs. He had the founder of Hotmail, the Indian president Kalam, and over a dozen leaders contribute to the book. How? His pitch was as a fellow entrepreneur and IIT graduate, he appreciated their courage, and said no one would take a book by him seriously, he wanted their help to write just a few pages or hundred words with key advice. He packaged the request brilliantly, and almost all accepted. Asking for help is inherently flattering. He leveraged his experience to write something with a positive social implication. Then gained influence with very big hitters, and ‘jumped up a weight class.’
- Confucius said, ‘Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s own ignorance.’ While this seems somewhat out of place in this book, remember if you gain more power, you will change. It is best to not become full of yourself.
- Stay focused on the outcomes you are seeking, and do not get hung up on people and their idiosyncrasies. You can not and will not please everyone.
- Be able to act. As in acting, theatrics, Hollywood. If you are ‘angry’ don’t always really be angry, as you can act with emotion, skipping over facts, weaken you position, and alienate people. I have made my worst mistakes when acting out of emotion. You can use emotions effectively to lead a team; however, if you can have the passion of emotion, without the irrationality, it is much better. Thus, learn how to act. It disconnects the irrationality. When I worked at FeedBurner, Dick Costolo was CEO there and he came from 10 years of stand up comedy. Extremely useful for his outward influence (now CEO Twitter), and inward motivating employees.
- Synchronize the ‘voice’ of a team’s many leaders. I have had huge team problems because the peer group of senior leaders all had different opinions about the vision and priorities. If one of us had suggested a simple, quick, weekly breakfast or lunch meeting next door, we would have been on sync. It would have boosted the team’s morale and effectiveness.
- Oliver North vs Donald Kennedy’s congressional testimonies suggest theatrics (righteous anger vs shame and timidity) is a significant factor for how people are judged. This was an “aha” moment. Senior leadership is a lot of acting. CXO’s may not see some employees but once a year. The ability to turn on the energy and optimism (acting) is crucial to leave strong, lasting influences in people.
- One comical specific claim was that “moving your hands in a circle or waving your arms diminishes how powerful you appear. Gestures should be short and forceful, not long and circular.” Probably true. How you carry yourself influences how you are viewed. Are you the carefree person, consistent worker, angry person, goofy one, solid leader, etc.?
- Take you time in responding. Flustered or unsure people are marginalized. Related to acting. When choosing between emotions or a slower response, always choose the slower, more deliberate response. (My editorializing).
Not amazing, but short and I finished it. I think I can only read a
small number of these kinds of books a year. Now I am ready to read
more math books.