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The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence Hardcover – May 17, 2016

by Dacher Keltner (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 429 ratings
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A revolutionary and timely reconsideration of everything we know about power. Celebrated UC Berkeley psychologist Dr. Dacher Keltner argues that compassion and selflessness enable us to have the most influence over others and the result is power as a force for good in the world.

Power is ubiquitous—but totally misunderstood. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, Dr. Dacher Keltner presents the very idea of power in a whole new light, demonstrating not just how it is a force for good in the world, but how—via compassion and selflessness—it is attainable for each and every one of us.

It is taken for granted that power corrupts. This is reinforced culturally by everything from Machiavelli to contemporary politics. But how do we get power? And how does it change our behavior? So often, in spite of our best intentions, we lose our hard-won power. Enduring power comes from empathy and giving. Above all, power is given to us by other people. This is what we all too often forget, and it is the crux of the power paradox: by misunderstanding the behaviors that helped us to gain power in the first place we set ourselves up to fall from power. We abuse and lose our power, at work, in our family life, with our friends, because we've never understood it correctly—until now. Power isn't the capacity to act in cruel and uncaring ways; it is the ability to do good for others, expressed in daily life, and in and of itself a good thing.

Dr. Keltner lays out exactly—in twenty original "Power Principles"—how to retain power; why power can be a demonstrably good thing; when we are likely to abuse power; and the terrible consequences of letting those around us languish in powerlessness.
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  1. Print length
    208 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Press
  4. Publication date
    May 17, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1594205248
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1594205248
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An innovative look at the idea of power.... [This] paradigm-shifting book challenges readers to find a new level of awareness about themselves and the leaders they choose to follow.”—Publishers Weekly

“The Power Paradox, compelling and eye-opening from start to finish, will change your view of what power is. Power turns out to be a subtler force than it seems, influencing us for better and worse more than we realize. This book explains how people get power, keep it, and keep from being corrupted by it. The good news is the radical claim at the heart of the book: that the best way to get and keep power is to use it for the greater good. This pathbreaking book is full of fascinating and little-known findings, and Dacher Keltner’s many years of creative work on the psychology of status and influence make him uniquely qualified to write it.” —Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God and The Moral Animal

“Dacher Keltner shares insights into many aspects of power, including afternoon tea in Britain and how Lincoln won the presidency.  His combination of academic sophistication and clear style delivers a new concept of power in our society today that is provocative and intriguing.” —Sheryl WuDunn, coauthor of Half the Sky and A Path Appears

“Dacher Keltner is the most interesting psychologist in America. He's busy changing the minds of Americans about how power works, how inequality works. It's only a matter of time before his ideas spread everywhere. And unlike most psychologists I know, he’s not a weirdo.”—Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short and Moneyball

“With personal insight and the latest science, Dacher Keltner is both realistic and idealistic: The Power Paradox sheds light on human power’s dark side, as well as its redeeming qualities. Everyone can learn from this wise book.” —Susan T. Fiske, Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and Professor of Public Affairs at Princeton University

“That power is not taken but given is true for most human relations today. It has ancient roots in primate behavior. Dacher Keltner applies a lifetime of research to this topic, offering a lively description of how true power is like a return on a social investment in others.”—Frans de Waal, author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

“The Power Paradox brings clarity to our confusion, brimming with evidence-based insights into powerlessness, the selfish uses of power, and the best kind: power that furthers the greater good. Dacher Keltner’s brilliant research gives us a lens that lets us see afresh hidden patterns in society, politics, and our own lives. No doubt this will be one of the most significant science books of the decades.”—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and A Force for Good: The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Our World

About the Author

Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the faculty director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. A renowned expert in the biological and evolutionary origins of human emotion, Dr. Keltner studies the science of compassion, awe, love, and beauty, and how emotions shape our moral intuition. His research interests also span issues of power, status, inequality, and social class. He is the author of the best-selling book Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life and of The Compassionate Instinct.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Press (May 17, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594205248
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594205248
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 429 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
429 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Liz Guthridge
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling call to action to understand power better and use it wisely
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2016
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Fascinating, easy-to-read and useful book on an important topic in society, especially in our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world. We all need to realize that we give power to others and get it from them too. Furthermore, we also need to understand that the source of enduring power is from practicing empathy and giving.

It's too easy for adults to shake their heads about young people not being as empathetic as they used to be, as research shows. But it's easy for us adults -- especially those in powerful positions -- also to lose empathy, as the neuroscientist can now demonstrate.

The author Dacher Keltner does everyone a great service by explaining four social practices that make sure we use our power for good: empathizing (even when it's hard), giving, expressing gratitude and telling stories.

Besides helping us understand how power works and sharing these four practices that focus on others, the author makes another major contribution -- explaining the price the powerless pay for their lack of influence. We need to be much more empathetic about this, and start to change the imbalance of power.
10 people found this helpful
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Robert Scott Burns
4.0 out of 5 stars Like the ending to Psalm 37:3 "Do Good" it matters
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2016
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I've met Dacher and heard him lecture and I can share without hesitation that he is a ball of immense happiness that radiates across the room through his smile and expressions. Funny, engaging and passionate. Dacher Keltner provides a fun read of aha moments stressing the Power of Good and Goodness in developing true power and influence. The book also comes with a chapter on the downside of power used poorly and the ramifications it has on individual lives and ultimately society. Although not political book, it is timely as we approach November in that it makes us ponder the motives, intents and drive for power in the candidates and may provide insight to what the world looks like 4 years from November. If you have heard Dacher speak, lecture or enjoyed the portrayal of emotions he assisted with on Inside Out you know his magnetism and his passion. The downside of the book is that like a movie doesn't do justice to a book, a book doesn't do justice to the human being that is Dacher Keltner. If you have the opportunity to share with him at UC Berkeley, attend his classes or guest lecturer opportunity grab the opportunity to hear this books contents first hand.
8 people found this helpful
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M. Robert Carr
5.0 out of 5 stars Quick, Easy, and, yes, Powerful
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2018
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If you intuit the need for greater equality, this book will reorient your appreciation of earned power in achieving it. If you intuit inequality as an inescapable human condition, this book may give you the start to critically re-thinking that assumption. I found that reading this book helped me connect the dots, themes from other works by other authors, that added depth to what I have already read. It deepened my understanding of what I thought I already knew.
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Sequoia
3.0 out of 5 stars Keltner + Rand = Keltner
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2020
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This is actually half a book. And you'll benefit greatly by reading it, but only if you also read the other half, which was written before Keltner was born.

The other half is, "The Virtue of Selfishness," by Ayn Rand, published in 1964 but still in print and easily found in any used book store.

If you read both books, you'll experience two clumsily extreme positions which, if you can mitigate them in your mind, will yield one very valuable truth. Or you could simply read a book that offers up that essential truth in a single book which was, oddly enough, written by Keltner.

Let me explain.

Rand's book, written at a time when religiously mandated altruism was intimately tied to the wrath of God, was invaluable in helping people challenge the previously unchallengeable. Her attempt to repurpose the word, "selfishness," however, was theatrical and did not work.

Keltner's book similarly tries to recast "power" as if it was interchangeable with the much more neutral, "influence," and that crusade is just as doomed. But the underlying idea that directing one's efforts outside oneself is worthy, is truly an underappreciated idea--admittedly, partly because of Rand.

The truth lies between these two books. Yes, Ms Rand, deliberately sacrificing your own welfare for someone else is perverse. And yes, Mr Keltner, deliberately sacrificing someone else's welfare for your own is creepy. But the truth, as truth so often does, lies in between. Nestle into an awareness of yourself as part of a tribe and there can't possibly be any sacrificing.

This latter idea is the gist of Keltner's previous book, "Born to Be Good," which I highly recommend.
12 people found this helpful
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Michael
5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2016
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I read the book cover to cover while flying on a plane from Hartford to Chicago. It's a wonderfully hopeful and optimistic account of how good people can and do attain power. There is a lot to digest in the book, which is beautifully written and vivid in its imagery and examples. Read this book for the writing and be surprised about what you learn about using power to improve society and the lives of others.
19 people found this helpful
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person
5.0 out of 5 stars This is not a masterwork of prose, but for ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2017
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This is not a masterwork of prose, but for what it doesn't have in depth it makes up for in morality parable.

The lessons in this book are few, but they are perhaps some of the most important lessons for any human to learn. I think back to this book many times, and if you read it, its lessons will serve you well.
One person found this helpful
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Lozatron
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting quick read that raises as many questions as it answers
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017
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Thoughtful, seemingly well researched and well written. I like the 20 principles and one can see how to put them into action. What felt lacking for me was - why do we sometimes have huge imbalances of power and why not? Why do some cultures have much worse outcomes for those without power than others? What can and should we do about it.

Definitely worth the read but I'd like to see a deeper treatment.
4 people found this helpful
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TaySean Callahan
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2019
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This is what you need to read if your watching the news right now. So many issues are explained in this book that made me realize the power paradox is everywhere. I recommend this book because every claim is backed by scientific evidence from a controlled experiment. Great read for anyone.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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AJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Should have read this 10yrs ago!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2021
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Great book. Quick and straight to the insights you need to apply and be conscious of your actions.
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maiouaidoncornicar
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in France on March 11, 2021
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Good
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francesco simone
5.0 out of 5 stars Se tutti i boss lo leggessero avremmo veri Leader
Reviewed in Italy on October 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
Spedizione Amazon e quindi che te lo dico a fa.. Libro da possedere, leggere e rileggere. È un modo di vivere più che un libro. Se letto con serietà questo libro ti cambia dentro. Se tutti i boss lo leggessero avremmo dei veri leader.
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Harry Stefanakis, Ph.D. (author of CORE Living and Through Silence and Ash)
4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable book for those who wish to empower themselves and others
Reviewed in Canada on February 5, 2018
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Valuable book for those who wish to empower themselves and others. Understanding that enduring power is empowerment of others brings us home to a human truth hidden in much of today's narratives of power. Thank you for presenting this insight in such a clear way. I was left feeling a need for more in overcoming of the power paradox but I am grateful for the starting points offered.
One person found this helpful
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Pradyot Ghate
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opener
Reviewed in India on April 20, 2019
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Book provides a complete new perspective, different from everything you might have perceived in fiction such as Lord of the Flies, on how power flows, powerful rise, and heroes fall. A must read to understand power dynamics in modern social structures such as workplaces.
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