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.