In his book, The Power Paradox, Professor Dacher Keltner, has made crystal clear what many of us may have guessed for a long time but lacked the proof, or the language, to explain.
In Keltner’s words,
“This is the heart of the power paradox: the seductions of power induce us to lose the very skills that enabled us to gain power in the first place.”
When I share the principle of the Power Paradox with groups, I often hear in response “This is SO true!” Perhaps it rings true for you too?
To help understand the concept of the Power Paradox and how it works in practice, a case study is helpful.
How does power cause a person’s patterns of thinking and feeling to shift and bring new patterns of behaviour which ultimately erode their leadership?
Let’s consider a person in their mid 30s running for a representative seat in their State government. Let’s call him Rex. He is keen, hungry to make a difference and spends a great deal of time with the people from the area he is hoping to represent. He calls door to door and meets with small groups, listening intently to their concerns. He shows empathy, gratitude for early support, and attempts to share stories that unite and build hope. People respond to him and after lots of hard work, Rex is elected. Then political life begins.
To start with, the patterns of his life are not so different. He continues to meet with constituents and advocate for their needs in his political environment.
But before too long, his life starts to change. New things begin to happen to him. He is pulled into meetings with powerful people, given privileged information, secures radio and TV interview requests, has cars to take him places, enjoys Business Class seats and access to VIP lounges, and he hardly ever waits in queues. All these things prompt Rex to notice that he is elevating in rank and becoming somehow more important than he was, and more important that some of those with whom he lives and works.
At the same time, while Rex’s life is getting busier, it is also becoming more stressful. The demands upon him are growing and the risks of failure, exposure and of disappointing people are steadily growing.
At this point, and perhaps at every point up to this point, our young politician is facing critical decision points. These decisions are so subtle, so quick, that he probably doesn’t realise he is making them. What are the decisions?
Those decisions relate to how much he will secretly savour the importance and power that have come with his elevation. The seductive nature of that savouring is that it gives the short-term pay off of lessening the stress of the new job. It helps him feel better.
Let’s imagine Rex creates an unconscious habit of engaging in the thoughts and feelings of importance and power, especially in relation to how much more importance and power he has now than he used to, and this helps soothe his feelings of stress. Being picked up by a limo can be a surprisingly relaxing experience when you’re feeling under pressure.
The trouble is, it won’t stop there. That pattern of thinking and feeling will bring with it an associated pattern of behaviours. These behaviours will render him less effective and increasingly creep into his daily interactions. They will help him continue to feel powerful, and continue to give him temporary relief from stress, but will erode his leadership from the inside out.
What broad patterns am I referring to?
The research of Keltner and others has shown that Rex will likely demonstrate:
- less interest in another’s point of view
- more impulsiveness
- more disinhibition
- greater self-focus
- less ability to relate empathically to others.
With such a change of behaviours must come consequences. How does the Power Paradox play out?
Find out what happens next in the following article — “How does the Power Paradox play out?”
Dr. Paul Donovan
