Power - Social Sciences, Leadership, Success, Motivation & Self-Esteem, Characteristics & Qualities - Self-Improvement, General & Heavy Industry - General & Miscellaneous
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Overview
The Power Principle is a life-shifting book for all people - one that goes beyond traditional ideas of force, fear, clever negotiating and dealmaking as primary sources of power with others. Lee explores how we can truly influence people with honor instead of giving up, giving in, or taking over. Lee teaches that principle-centered power is the ability to influence others' behavior - not to control, change, or manipulate it. Power is something other people feel in your presence because of who you are, what you stand for, and where you are going. Honor is power, the kind of power that is genuine and lasting. Your influence can be significant when you elicit the highest and best from others. They value what you are about not because they obtained something in exchange and not because they are afraid of you, but because they believe in your integrity. Power gained because of what you can do to someone leads to temporary, reactive control. Power that relies on what you can do for someone yields only a conditional, unsustainable influence. However, as you exercise the power principle with others, they become empowered, trust and loyalty increase, and extraordinary results are possible.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
There are only three sources of power, maintains Lee, a founding vice-president of the Covey Leadership Center: coercive powerpeople do what you want because they are afraid not to; utility powerthey do something to get something; and principle-centered powerpeople comply because they want to. Having set up the first two sources as straw men, he goes on to explain at great length why having others follow you because they truly want to is best. At a time when the nation's most successful CEOs talk about "servant leadership" and books about the "softer side" of management are popular, Lee's conclusion will not strike readers as groundbreaking. Moreover, his countless superfluous stories, coupled with a chapter-long digression into how people feel when they are powerless, distract from the point he is trying to make. (May)Library Journal
An associate of the Covey Leadership Center, Lee here follows in the tradition of Stephen R. Covey (The Seven Habits of Highly Successfully People, S. & S., 1989) with an expos of power. She demonstrates the viability of the three variants of power: coercive (fear), utility (let's make a deal), and principle-centered (virtue/honor). With respect to the first two variants, Machiavelli remains timeless; modern versions include Robert Ringer (Winning Through Intimidation, 1984) and Simon & Schuster's editor-in-chief, Michael Korda (Power; How To Get It; How To Use It, LJ 3/15/76). Regarding the third variant, Lee differs with other experts by taking an organic approach; she argues that power is rooted in honor and is based on transformation rather than transaction. A series of exercises demands reader participation and self-assessment. Indeed, Lee sets an example, listing how some of her personal failures became growth opportunities. Her work will be helpful to anyone in a leadership role such as teacher, parent, or coach.Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, PhiladelphiaBook Details
Published
November 3, 1997
Publisher
New York : Simon & Schuster, c1997.
Pages
363
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780684810584