The Power Paradox: The Surprising and Sobering Science of How We Gain and Lose Influence

Thoreau wrote, "There are many fine things which we cannot say if we have to shout." Yet, a  century and a half later, we've created a culture that equates loudness with leadership and abrasiveness with authority.

Keltner adds to Thoreau's wisdom that a new wave of thinking about power shows that it's given to us by others, not grabbed. Our influence is only as good as what others think of us. Enduring power is a privilege that depends on other people to give it to us.

Even if power is gained by kindness, generosity, and concern for the common good, power itself will eventually warp priorities and become less kind, less generous, and less concerned with the common good, which will erode her power.

For example, poor people give a greater percentage of their income to charity than rich people. Those in power often show more entitled behaviours, drivers of expensive cars are most inconsiderate to pedestrians, etc.

Power in the modern world is "gained and maintained through a focus on others." 

However, the more powerful a person becomes, the busier and more rushed they become, causing them to become less kind and generous.

It could be that a scarcity of time rather than an excess of power is the real corrupting agent.

Keltner offers elegant and necessary definitions of the distinct ideas comprising the constellation of power in modern society:

• Power is your ability to make a difference in the world by influencing the states of other people.
• Status is the respect you enjoy from other people in your social network. Status and power often go together, but not always.
• Control is your capacity to determine the outcomes in your life. You can have control but no power, such as a reclusive hermit.
• Social class is a mixture of family wealth, educational achievement, and occupational prestige that you enjoy.