What do they teach you about power at Stanford?

Earlier this year I completed the "Building Power to Lead" course at Stanford as part of my Stanford LEAD executive programme. It is an online version of a Stanford MBA "Paths to Power". Both classes are taught by prof. Jeffrey Pfeffer .

My course ended at the beginning of September but it is only now, after a couple of months, that I can value its outcomes more cautiously.

The most immediate goal of the course is to learn what are the attributes of power in an organizational or personal setting.

My motivation for joining the course was my need to understand better how the power around and within organizations works, how to gain in and wield for obtaining my goals.

As I will explain later in this article - the effects of this course are still unfolding and I'm still reflecting every day on its lessons

Basic Information About The Course

The course consisted of 8 modules, during which I had to submit 15 assignments, and had four online life sessions with prof. Pfeffer had two 1:1 coaching sessions with my course coach and 2 power hours with my teaching POD. The foundational teaching material was the classic book by prof. Jeffrey Pfeffer : "Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't:

However, the course coincided with the publishing of prof. Pfeffer's "7 Rules of Power: Surprising - But True - Advice on How to Get Things Done and Advance Your Career" which many of us have read as well:

Course content

The way it works at Stanford LEAD is that each course module lasts a week and during that time we are required to submit the assignments and acquire the knowledge from readings or case studies.

The course was centered around the "Doing Power" Project. Each of us was responsible for setting our own goals that we were working to achieve during the course. I defined my goals as follows:

• Expanding my professional network via Linkedin
• Seal the first consulting project -> generate at least 10k $ monthly revenue
• Increase my brand awareness as solopreneur/freelance consultant

Complete goal formulation with criteria for success below:

The typical module during the course consisted of a reading, case study, video materials and meetings during peer-coaching sessions and sessions with course facilitators. At the end of each week we were asked to write a reflection and give an update on our "power goals" for which we received feedback from our coaches.

The topics covered during the course included:

• An Introduction to Power
• Personal Qualities & Strategies for Building Power - Getting Beyond Conventional Wisdom
• Strategic Career Moves
• Building Efficient and Effective Social Networks
• Building a Personal Brand and Getting Known
• Acting and Speaking with Power
• Overcoming Opposition and Dealing with Conflict - The Importance of Persistence and Personal Resilience

Personal stories that served as case studies included stories of: Tadia James, Keith Ferrazzi, Sadiq Gillani, Ross Walker, Nuria Chinchilla, Jason Calacanis, Laura Esserman.

As the final straw, we were asked to record a video summarizing our path, our goals and final thoughts about the course and our learnings.

To be honest, I ended the course with mixed feelings. I was exhausted: it is a fast paced course with lots of learning. Moreover, I found it mentally challenging to race with my own goals - the pressure was on.

But the main reason why I felt exhausted was the fact that I started the course with very high expectations. I set myself ambitious goals which turned out to be very difficult to achieve. Hence, at that the disillusion and a bit of bitterness came.

I actually published my final reflection on Linkedin, you can watch it here:

What did I get from the course?

Today, after several months since the course ended, the emotions went down and I can asses the true value of the course. I see its effects as gradual transformation that is actually still going on.

I remember that during our last session we were told by prof. Pfeffer the true meaning of the course "commencement" which actually means the beginning, not the end of the process. In that sense, I'm constantly exercising, learning and experimenting with power.

However, I can see that the most imminent effects of the course as of today are ways in which my behavior and my perception of others have changed.

Behavioral change

The rules of power which I particularly remembered during the course are the following:

1. Get out of your own way
2. Break the rules
3. Network relentlessly

I believe they are particularly powerful and useful for me on a daily basis:

• I became increasingly indifferent to status quo

In fact I feel more and more inclined to challenge it. That actually manifests itself not only around the "big things" such as opening my own company but in the tiniest things that I do on a daily basis as well.

Simple example: last week I found myself in a big aulla full of high profile people (I didn't know any of them), still when the Q&A came I raised my hand willing to ask a public question. That's how it works - you want to be noticed, you want to distinguish yourself and take a risk - I did it almost automatically but I attribute that to the learnings of the "power" course.

• I treat networking not as a task but as an imminent part of my daily routine

I like to contact whomever I consider worthwhile. It doesn't matter the locations, the company or the seniority. I like to get in touch and I believe very much in the "power of weak ties". Obviously - the side effect is indifference or the lack of response. All part of the game - I accept that, don't care about that too much.

• I've became much indifferent to relationships which are not meaningful for me

By that I mean the so called "what would people think?" phenomenon. What would they think about my Li posts, about my activity, about my company, do I get lots of support, likes, etc.? In fact the only thing that you should care about are the opinions which are meaningful for yourself - people that can help achieve your goals or that are important to you. All the rest you can just scratch out.

I always want to distinguish myself during calls, meetings, etc. No matter the stakes, no matter the audience - my hand is always raised as I explained above.

"If you want to be universally liked - get a dog" - that's the motto.

Perception change

Once you finish the course, you start to see two types of people - those who took it and those who didn't. I started to evaluate how people talk, what they do and how they behave. I started to assess their behavior on the scale of power.

I will give you a couple examples of public figures that struck me as perfect examples of acting/or not powerful. The discretion is yours to decide how they do.

Liz Truss interview after the catastrophic "mini-budget".

Sanna Marin response and reaction to the crises caused by her "party video" leak:

Putin waits for Turkish president to greet him

And the funny thing is that I actually think that I know how it should be played out. I even started to feel an upper hand stemming from the fact that I know the "hidden text" of power.

Conclusions

After several months after my "Power course" with prof. Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford, I'm starting to see ways in which my behavior and perception of others have changed.

I see great value in seeing different contexts through the lenses of "power-plays". I believe it's crucial not only to my leadership and business acumen but also for my personal value.

Being proficient in any discipline requires humility and training. I cannot stress how that fits training and practicing "power".

I believe that I've made the first step which is important and I intend to continue, iterate, experiment and learn in order to continue to improve myself - this is my power goal for the coming year.