Pfeffer on Power

Live Q&A with Jeffrey Pfeffer on Crowdcast and LinkedIn

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Episode notes

In this episode of the 'Pfeffer on Power' podcast, host Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, holds a live Question and Answer session with an audience on both Crowdcast and LinkedIn. Podcast producer Scot Maupin does hosting duties as Jeffrey answers questions about power from listeners.

Jeffrey fields questions on power dynamics and leadership, giving tips on how to build sustainable power, how to empower yourself and others, and a discussion on who might be the most powerful person alive today.

Other questions from the audience covered topics such as overcoming bias, executive presence, networking, and navigating power struggles within organizations. Pfeffer also discussed practical steps for rebranding, negotiating exit offers, and the importance of managing up. 

We highlight key insights from Jeffrey’s 'Seven Rules of Power,’ along with recommendations for further reading, watching, and real-life success stories from diverse individuals. This episode offers valuable lessons on harnessing power effectively to enhance career growth.

Pfeffer on Power is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

How to empower and be empowered? From: Kelly Zou

06:24: If you wait for organizations to empower you, you'll be waiting a long time. You need really to empower yourself. So, I think one of the things I try to teach the students is to be proactive. I actually thought that one of the contributions of my class was to teach people social science around power. I actually think the biggest contribution of my class, both online and on campus, is to get people to be proactive out of their own way and to cause them to be more ambitious and more proactive than they have been in the past. So, empower yourself. I think that's the way to do it. And to empower others, you need to understand what they bring to the table, and you need to appreciate their contributions to the work that you're trying to do.

If our opponent has such a strong existing brand or power, what do you recommend we do to amass power to overcome the strong opponent quickly? From: Corinna Kasiman

40:22: Sometimes, you're in situations in which you are not going to succeed. And I think the other thing,  In addition to people spending insufficient amounts of time building relationships and insufficient amounts of time making sure that people know about their good work, the other thing that people, I think, do make mistakes about is they stay too long in environments in which they have almost no hope of succeeding. And so you need to be pretty clinical about whether this is a situation in which you're going to win. And if the answer is no, you're a talented human being with lots of skills; go find a place where you're going to have more chance of success. 

Power is a tool

44:28: Power is a tool, and like any tool, you can use it for good or evil…You can use a knife to do surgery, or stab somebody. You need to master the skills of power. I begin the 7 Rules of Power with a quote, sometimes attributed to me: If power is to be used for good, more good people need power.

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