#043 What are the 7 Rules of Power?
Hello,
Welcome to The Future Of Leadership, an approximately monthly newsletter packed full of leadership wisdom for CEOs and senior technology executives.
Thank you to my client Thiago Ghisi for dropping my article The Duck-Rabbit and the Polarities of Leadership in at number 10 in his top reads of 2024. If you've newly arrived here via that article, then welcome! I hope you enjoy my nuanced takes on executive-level leadership.
What I'm reading
I've written before about my uncomfortable relationship with much of the leadership literature, which has become a sort of morality tale, based on an idealised notion of what we would like leadership to be rather than an accurate reflection of what actually happens in the real world.
Should we do all that we can to encourage strong ethical, moralistic, principled and virtuous leadership? Absolutely, and I wouldn't want anything I say to be interpretted otherwise. But we must also be realistic, and pragmatic, about the hardwired psychology that guides human behaviour and its influence on how leadership plays out in this tempestuous world.
I don't think anyone has done a better job at providing a counterbalanced perspective than Stanford Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. Which is why I picked up his book 7 Rules of Power: Surprising - But True - Advice on How To Get Things Done and Advance Your Career.
"Because people do not understand the behavioral realities of power, they are continually surprised by both what happens and the effectiveness of actions that seemingly violate conventional wisdom about leadership - mostly because much of this wisdom is largely untethered from research on the social psychology of human behavior".
Here are the 7 rules of power (the last one has never seemed more pertinent, and Jeffrey Pfeffer provides more evidence why):
Get out of your own way - overcome self-imposed limitations and imposter syndrome. Push yourself into uncomfortable situations and adopt a more confident mindset.
Break the rules - rules often favor those already in power. By breaking conventions and asking for what you want, you can create opportunities and be perceived as more powerful.
Appear powerful - adopt behaviors associated with power, such as maintaining eye contact, speaking confidently, and using effective body language to create strong first impressions and project confidence.
Build a powerful brand - create a compelling narrative around your work and develop a strong personal brand.
Network relentlessly - build a wide network of connections, including weak ties or casual acquaintances, which can be more useful for career advancement than close relationships.
Use your power - power is not a finite resource. Using power effectively can lead to more power, attract supporters, and demonstrate your capabilities.
Success excuses (almost) everything - once success is achieved, people tend to overlook or forgive the methods used to attain it.
Other articles and resources I read and shared with clients last month:
A British Army Followership Doctrine Note - "If we think of leadership as a relationship, an interaction between two or more individuals, a leader must have someone to lead. Leadership and followership are, therefore, inextricably linked. They not only coexist but are mutually supporting and work together to achieve a shared goal, driven by a shared purpose".
Pattern Recognition - Opportunities and Limits - "Pattern recognition is more effective in stable environments where cause and effect are clear and participants are trained using timely and accurate feedback. This applies in many domains, including sports, music, and chess. Participants in these areas can develop intuitive expertise, an unconscious sense of recognition that leads to superior performance. Pattern recognition tends to fail in domains where causality and feedback are limited. But that does not stop decision makers from feeling the sense of pattern recognition. Our mental apparatus allows us to see patterns that truly exist as well as to see them when they do not exist". Dig deeper into how to improve your pattern recognition in unstable environments (like business and leadership) in my series Accelerating Executive Mastery >>.
What I'm working on
Here's a warm testimonial from a client I recently finished working with:
"I worked with Richard through a difficult transition to a new role. He was resourceful in providing models and frameworks, but also bringing them to life and providing perspective on where the theory is best applied with relevant, practical scenarios. We talked a lot about the grey area between seemingly opposing forces in the workplace and how much room there is for “both/and” thinking, as opposed to “either/or”.
I highly recommend Richard, he has a way of listening that brings out the best answers".
Kalin Zahariev, Director of Technology, Flutter International (FTSE 100)
Until next month,
