The rules are deceptively simple, and yet most people don't do them, out of fear that others won't like them (Rule 1: Get Out Of Your Own Way) and they'll get in trouble for stepping out of line (Rule 2: Break the Rules). They don't think they deserve power, so they don't act powerful (Rule 3: Appear Powerful). Like a rousing slap of truth in the face, Pfeffer’s tough-minded, capstone book on power identifies 7 research-based, reality-revealing rules for hierarchical success. Anyone hoping to rise within an organization needs to obtain power and, therefore, needs to read this brilliant book.” Power is a tool. It can be used for good. It can be used for evil. Don’t confuse the fact that it is sometimes used for evil with power actually being evil.

Things I hated about this book: the ethical dilemma that it creates. Some of the studies mentioned seem very "eurocentric" or western in their conclusions, specifically about women in positions of power. there are cultures in the world where women are considered second class citizens. How can they presume to create a power dynamic in those spaces? Even Robert Greene seems to have realized at some point that promoting gangster values was maybe a bad thing and wrote a success book to help people who have useful talents: Mastery. Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University where he has taught since 1979. He is the author or co-author of thirteen books including The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First; Managing with Power; The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge Into Action; Hidden Value: How Great Companies Achieve Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People; Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management; and What Were They Thinking? Unconventional Wisdom About Management, as well as more than 150 articles and book chapters. Pfeffer’s latest book, entitled Power: Why Some People Have It—And Others Don’t was published in 2010 by Harper Business. Break the rules. “Violating norms, rules, and social conventions can make rule breakers seem more powerful and thereby create power for them,” Pfeffer writes. (p. 48) Rule-breaking surprises people, which causes them to pay more attention to you. And, as is often said, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, as Moses did in starting work on New York City development projects before having the permits for them. There is still, unfortunately, discrimination against women. There’s discrimination against people of color. People from lower socioeconomic classes usually start at some disadvantage, and those are the people who most need the power skills because they’re not starting from the 50-yard line, if we’re using a football metaphor. They have to overcome the most obstacles to achieve career success.The book is a slightly shorter, more structured (I assume), and updated version of Pfeffer's 2011 book, Power: Why Some People Have it and Others Don't, the 7 rules are:

I would define power as the ability to get things done your way in contested situations. Different people and different functions will have different perspectives, different information, and different points of view. Almost every decision is going to be somewhat contested, so power is the ability to get your way in contested situations. A third very important source of power that I think people sometimes underestimate is how you show up. Are you able to act and speak with power? Do you show up in a powerful fashion? Many writers write about what they call “executive presence.” I think how you show up and how you talk is a very important source of power. There are many instances throughout the book that i personally just couldn’t resonate with especially on his take with flattery towards higher up and authenticity (promoting inauthenticity as apparently people take it face value). Rules of Power delivers easy-to-digest, practical tips for how you can be more powerful in your own life. Using real-life examples of individuals altering their lives by following his rules, Pfeffer delivers his message with humor and humanity. Pfeffer shows us how often we give away our power and how we can reclaim it.”

Another source of power is social relationships: the networks that you have built and that you have. Management leadership is often defined as getting things done through other people. One source of power, therefore, is how many people you know. How many people are in your sphere of influence, so to speak? Dr. Pfeffer received his BS and MS degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and his PhD from Stanford. He began his career at the business school at the University of Illinois and then taught for six years at the University of California, Berkeley. Pfeffer has been a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School, Singapore Management University, London Business School, Copenhagen Business School, and for the past 14 years a visitor at IESE in Barcelona. If you want to “change lives, change organizations, change the world,” the Stanford business school’s motto, you need power. Break the Rules – Often times the ends justify the means, and Pfeffer is more or less on board with the age-old adage of “it’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” While he does provide some examples of accomplished and powerful individuals who got their way by breaking the rules, I think the most important part of this section is really his emphasis on not being afraid to break social norms and conventions to get what you want. Marta Milkowska, Stanford GSB 2020; Consultant at Boston Consulting Group, Interim CEO at Reveri Health, Founder of Dtx Future, first Stanford platform on digital therapeutics

A brilliant and provocative book mapping out the true nature of power rather than what we normally "want" it to be. Pfeffer (an authority on the topic) goes against conventional wisdom saying that leaders should exhibit confidence over authenticity and anger over vulnerability. "People want to be aligned with someone who they think is going to win, to prevail, so doing anything that disabuses them of that belief is probably a mistake.

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If one accepts the underlying diagnosis that Americans live in a culture of corruption and incompetence ( Detroit: An American Autopsy), it does not follow that the prescription is to over-dose on the poison causing the problem. Some of the advice in this book is unobjectionable, but then it's standard stuff that can be found in countless other management/leadership books. Dr. Pfeffer has written the ultimate book on power that avoids the traps of conventional theories on leadership . . . Beautifully written and full of poignant stories and examples, 7 Rules of Power is my recommended read for anyone looking to radically change the trajectory of their life for good.” If fully understood and harnessed effectively, power skills and understanding become the keys to increasing salaries, job satisfaction, career advancement, organizational change, and, happiness. In 7 Rules of Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, provides the insights that have made both his online and on-campus classes incredibly popular—with life-changing results often achieved in 8 or 10 weeks. The rules are very simple - easy to recollect and keep tabs - but execution in my view seems to be a huge task. So only those who are clear in their goals and need the power will go the long haul. Rules like ‘get out of your own way’, ‘break the rules’, ‘appear powerful’, …’success excuses almost everything else’, are powerful yet simple.