Power_ Why Some People Have Itand Others Don't - Jeffrey Pfeffer [5]
As a guide for obtaining power, these recommendations are flawed. Most CEOs are not the level 5 leaders described by Jim Collins in Good to Great as helping to take companies up the performance curve—individuals who are “self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy,” who get the best out of employees by not soaking up all the limelight and making all the decisions.15 The rarity of such leaders may be why so few organizations go from good to great. And even Collins begins his story when these paragons were already in the CEO position—the road to the top may require different behavior than being successful once you have arrived. For most leaders, the path to power bears little resemblance to the advice being dished out.
The pablum in most leadership books and courses can be reduced to three causes. First, leaders such as former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani or former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, writing books and articles about themselves, may believe they are being inspirational and even truthful.16 But leaders are great at self-presentation, at telling people what they think others want to hear, and in coming across as noble and good. This ability to effectively self-present is why successful individuals reached high levels in the first place. In the stories told either directly in autobiographies or indirectly in the case studies found in leadership books, leaders overemphasize their positive attributes and leave out the negative qualities and behaviors.
Two other factors help ensure that the positive stories persist. Those in power get to write history, to paraphrase an old saw. As we will discover in a later chapter, one of the best ways to acquire and maintain power is to construct a positive image and reputation, in part by coopting others to present you as successful and effective. Second, lots of research shows evidence of a particular manifestation of the just-world effect: if people know that someone or some organization has been successful, they will almost automatically attribute to that individual or company all kinds of positive qualities and behaviors. Although it is far from evident that doing the stuff in the leadership books will make you successful, once you become successful, odds are vastly increased that people will selectively remember and attend to the positive characteristics they believe make good leaders.17 Stories of success that emphasize “positive” behaviors help us believe the world is a just place. Also, we see what we expect to see—imputing to successful individuals qualities that we think are associated with success, even if such qualities aren’t actually there.
So don’t automatically buy into advice from leaders. It could be accurate, but more likely it is just self-serving. People distort reality. One study found that out of 1,000 resumés, there were substantial misstatements on more than 40 percent.18 If people make up educational qualifications and previous job experience—stuff that can actually be verified—do you think everyone is completely honest when they describe aspects of their behavior and character that are more difficult to discover?
What you should trust is the social science research that provides help on how to acquire power, hold on to it, and use it. And you should trust your own experience: Watch those around you who are succeeding, those who are failing, and those who are