#7 Power and Confidence

I am sure we have all heard the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Apparently that is true.  When Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote the book,  "Too Big to Fail" about what lead our financial system to nearly collapse, he was not talking about the financial institutions themselves, he was referring to the leaders of those institutions -- those leaders all felt that they personally were too big to fail.  What is it about being successful and powerful that leads people to have, as I used to say, a "head that can barely fit in the room".

Sometime ago I was reading an article in Psychology Today written by Hara Estroff Marano, and it is his contention  that the real meaning of power in the 21st century is the ability to change another person's state of mind.  This ability to influence others attests to the near-magical social power of confidence.  Think Bernie Madoff.  He pulled off the ultimate con job, over and over again -- getting many people to invest their money with him.  Why did so many smart, wealthy people invest with him?  It was his extreme confidence and power. 

The author further contends that we, as Americans,  do not want to acknowledge that every interaction has power dynamics built into it.  If one pays attention when they walk into a room, they can see who has the power -- but one must be attuned to this.  He also states "The thing about power and its kissing cousin, confidence, is that they influence you with or without your consent".

Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at University of San Francisco, contends that when people lack confidence, they always pay too much attention to what others may think of them.  But for those people who have power -- it takes them in the other direction -- it makes them uninterested in others' evaluations of them and it leads them to pursue their goals without obstruction.  He further asserts that how we treat powerful people compounds the matter.  We are less critical of them, more flattering to them.  All these actions conspire to make the powerful person really confident.  Those individuals who are socially intelligent -- good at connecting with others -- generally acquire power and this feeling of being powerful changes people, often for the worse.

Power turns people into "raving sociopaths," says Keltner.  It distorts the way they see themselves.  They have a hard time seeing the world from other people's points of view.  They judge others less accurately.  They interrupt others.  They speak out of turn.  Their behavior becomes insensitive -- often in a costly fashion.

Those with this overinflated sense of power, often take excessive risks, stemming from over confidence.  Keltner further notes, this is the central paradox of power.  The skills that lead to obtaining power deteriorate once power is obtained.

Does this sound like some of our leaders? They cannot listen to wise counsel -- it is their way or the highway and they truly believe that if they think it, or say it, IT MUST BE RIGHT -- even though there are so many signals to the contrary. Our government and our governmental  institutions are the worse for having these overconfident, yet ineffective leaders.  We must train ourselves to truly see them for who they are and elect and appoint those individuals without this sense of confidence, power and entitlement.