Deborah Gruenfeld – författare

There is so much we get wrong about power. This eye-opening look at the true nature of power explores who has it, what it looks like, and the role it plays in our lives.Grounded in over two decades’ worth of scientific research and inspired by the popular class of the same name at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Acting with Power offers a new and eye-opening paradigm that overturns everything we thought we knew about the nature of power.  Although we all feel powerless sometimes, we have more power than we tend to believe. That’s because power exists in every relationship, by virtue of the roles we play in others’ lives. But it isn’t a function of status or hierarchy. Rather, it’s about how much we are needed, and the degree to which we fulfill our responsibilities. Power isn’t a tool for self-enhancement or a resource for personal consumption. It’s a part you play in someone else’s story.  We often assume that power flows to those with the loudest voice or the most commanding presence in the room. But, in fact, true power is often much quieter and more deferential than we realize. Moreover, it’s not just how much power we have but how we use it that determines how powerful we actually are. Actors aren’t the only ones who play roles for a living. We all make choices about how to use the power that comes with our given circumstances. We aren’t always cast in the roles we desire or the ones we feel prepared to play. Some of us struggle to step up and be taken more seriously, while others have trouble standing back and ceding the spotlight. Some of us are used to hearing we are too aggressive, while others are constantly being told we are too nice. Gruenfeld shows how we can all get more comfortable with power by adopting an actor’s mindset. We all know what it looks like to use power badly. This book is about how to use power well.

"A refreshing and enlightening new perspective on what it means to be powerful." - SUSAN CAIN, bestselling author of QuietAn eye-opening exploration of power and how we can harness it using performance techniques borrowed from actors. What if instead of worrying about getting more power, we focus on using the power we do have better? Stanford business professor Deborah Gruenfeld combines 25 years of social psychology research with personal experience to reveal the truth about power: that we all have more than we realise and what counts is what we do with it. Acting with Power shows anyone seeking greater professional and academic success what power is actually for, how to identify it within ourselves, and how to use it constructively using acting techniques. Some of us crave a bigger role, and many of us feel like imposters in our current ones. Acting with Power shows us how to be the best version of ourselves in any role, on any stage.