Jeffrey Pfeffer teaches the single most popular (and somewhat controversial) class at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business: The Paths to Power. He’s also the author of 16 books, including 7 Rules of Power: Surprising—But True—Advice on How to Get Things Done and Advance Your Career. He has taught at Harvard, the London Business School, and IESE and has written for publications like Fortune and the Washington Post. Recognized by the Academy of Management and listed in the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame, Jeffrey also serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, bringing his expertise to global audiences through seminars and executive education. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Jeffrey’s seven rules of power
• How individuals can acquire and use power in business
• Networking, and how to do it effectively
• How to build a non-cringe personal brand
• How to increase your influence to amplify your impact
• Examples and stories of people building power
• Tradeoffs and challenges that come with power
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Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer
Where to find Jeffrey Pfeffer:
• X: https://x.com/JeffreyPfeffer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-pfeffer-57a01b6/
• Website: https://jeffreypfeffer.com/
• Podcast: https://jeffreypfeffer.com/pfeffer-on-power/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jeffrey’s background
(02:54) Understanding discomfort with power
(04:56) Power skills for underrepresented groups
(07:51) The popularity and challenges of Jeffrey’s class at Stanford
(12:21) The seven rules of power
(13:03) Success stories from his course
(15:43) Building a personal brand
(21:11) Getting out of your own way
(26:04) Breaking the rules to gain power
(30:34) Networking relentlessly
(40:10) Why Jeffrey says to “pursue weak ties”
(42:00) Using your power to build more power
(44:34) The importance of appearance and body language
(47:15) Mastering the art of presentation
(55:12) Examples of homework assignments that Jeffrey gives students
(59:11) People will forget how you acquired power
(01:03:58) More good people need to have power
(01:10:49) The price of power and autonomy
(01:17:13) A homework assignment for you
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