

How to Negotiate When Others Have Power, with Kwame Christian (episode 416)Īctivate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.Category: Psychology / Interpersonal RelationsĪn original investigation of our hidden potential to persuade, and how to wield it wisely.How to Create Meaningful Gatherings, with Priya Parker (episode 395).Use Power for Good and Not Evil, with Dacher Keltner (episode 254).You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters* by Vanessa Bohnsĭownload my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).One way to experience your influence by taking action to give positive recognition and feedback.To feel your impact better, ask people what they aren thinking of feeling, rather than simply imagining or assuming.Adopt the lens of a third party in order to see the impact of your actions on others.You can do better for others by thinking about power as responsibility. The effects of power are not inevitable.Power tends to lead people to ignore the perspective of others and to feel freer to do whatever they want.A powerful person's whisper can sound more like a shout to the person they have power over. Power can lead people to underestimate their words and actions.Most importantly, we discuss the practical steps that almost anybody can take to use power more responsibly. We detail some of the common patterns that leaders should watch for in their work. In this conversation, Vanessa and I explore the conclusions of research: we often don’t recognize our own power.

Her book is titled You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters*. Her writing and research has been published in top academic journals in psychology, management, and law and has also been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and NPR's Hidden Brain. Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist, an award-winning researcher and teacher, and a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. Vanessa Bohns: You Have More Influence Than You Think
