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  • Published: 18 July 2016
  • ISBN: 9781846146961
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304
Categories:

The Power Paradox

How We Gain and Lose Influence




A concise, paradigm-shifting account of the power dynamics that shape everyday life - from the board room to the dinner table, the playground to the bedroom
The Machiavellian view of power as a coercive force is one of the deepest currents in our culture, yet new psychological research reveals this vision to be dead wrong. Influence is gained instead through social intelligence and empathy - but ironically the seductions of power make us lose the very qualities that made us powerful in the first place. By drawing on fascinating case studies that debunk longstanding myths, Dacher Keltner illuminates this 'power paradox', revealing how it shapes not just boardrooms and elections but everyday relationships, and affects whether or not we will have an affair, break the law or find our purpose in life.
%%%A groundbreaking exploration of the power dynamics that shape everyday life - from the board room to the dinner table, the playground to the bedroom

This revolutionary new book shows us that everything we thought about power is dead wrong. It is not gained, as the Machiavellian view says, through coercive force. Influence comes instead to those who are socially intelligent and empathetic - but ironically the seductions of power make us lose those very qualities that made us powerful in the first place. By drawing on fascinating case studies that debunk longstanding myths, Dacher Keltner illuminates this 'power paradox', revealing how it shapes not just companies and elections but everyday relationships. Both power and powerlessness distort human behaviour, affecting whether or not we will have an affair, break the law, suffer from depression or find our purpose in life. By redefining power as the ability to do good for others, Keltner turns everything we know about influence, status, and inequality upside down.
%%%A revolutionary rethinking of everything we know about power
It shapes every interaction we have, whether we're trying to get a two-year-old to eat green vegetables or ask for a promotion at work. But how do we really gain power? And what does it do to us?
As renowned psychologist Dacher Keltner reveals, the new science of power shows that our Machiavellian view of status is wrong. Influence comes not to those who are ruthless, but to those with socially intelligence and empathy. Yet, ironically, the seductions of success lead us to lose those very qualities that made us powerful in the first place. Keltner draws on fascinating case studies to illuminate this 'power paradox', revealing how it shapes not just companies and elections but everyday relationships. As his myth-busting research shows, power - and powerlessness - distorts our behaviour, affecting whether or not we will have an affair, break the law, drive recklessly or find our purpose in life.
In twenty original 'power principles', Keltner shows how we can retain power by maintaining a focus on others. By redefining power as the ability to do good, The Power Paradox turns everything we know about influence, status and inequality upside down.

  • Published: 18 July 2016
  • ISBN: 9781846146961
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304
Categories:

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