ACTING WITH POWER

There is so much we get wrong about power. This eye-opening look at the true nature of power explores who has it, what it looks like, and the role it plays in our lives.

Grounded in over two decades’ worth of scientific research and inspired by the popular class of the same name at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Acting with Power offers a new and eye-opening paradigm that overturns everything we thought we knew about the nature of power. 

Although we all feel powerless sometimes, we have more power than we tend to believe. That’s because power exists in every relationship, by virtue of the roles we play in others’ lives. But it isn’t a function of status or hierarchy. Rather, it’s about how much we are needed, and the degree to which we fulfill our responsibilities. Power isn’t a tool for self-enhancement or a resource for personal consumption. It’s a part you play in someone else’s story. 

We often assume that power flows to those with the loudest voice or the most commanding presence in the room. But, in fact, true power is often much quieter and more deferential than we realize. Moreover, it’s not just how much power we have but how we use it that determines how powerful we actually are.

Actors aren’t the only ones who play roles for a living. We all make choices about how to use the power that comes with our given circumstances. We aren’t always cast in the roles we desire or the ones we feel prepared to play. Some of us struggle to step up and be taken more seriously, while others have trouble standing back and ceding the spotlight. Some of us are used to hearing we are too aggressive, while others are constantly being told we are too nice. Gruenfeld shows how we can all get more comfortable with power by adopting an actor’s mindset.

We all know what it looks like to use power badly. This book is about how to use power well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deborah Gruenfeld is a social psychologist who has been teaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for almost 15 years. She created one of the most popular courses there called ACTING WITH POWER which is the inspiration for writing this book. She has a Masters in Journalism from NYU and a PhD in Psychology from University of Illinois. She began her academic career at Northwestern before being recruited to come to Stanford. She is widely published in her field and is a frequent keynote and featured speaker at executive conferences and internal events at large corporations.