A634.3.5.RB - The Harder They Fall

Life is full of trials and tribulations that we all face day-to-day.  Many of us have goals and dreams and want to be successful in our own ways in life.  We are faced with a multitude of choices that can either lead us down the wrong path or the right one, but knowing what path is best for us is the most difficult.  As leaders working toward a goal, the path can sometimes be one that is filled with potential barriers to hold you back from reaching your potential.  We are then faced with the challenge of actually reaching our goal and knowing what the next step is.  Kramer discussed how leaders can either allow power to change them, or allow power to positively contribute to their lives. 

The Harder They Fall (Kramer, 2003) focuses on both the opportunities that come with power and the negative impact that power can have on someone.  I have seen both scenarios play out throughout my life, work, and in society.  The easiest example for the negative impact can be felt when looking at celebrities today.  Many turn to methods of coping with the power that end up destroying their image, career, and life.  Sukhvinder Obhi, a neuroscientist at Wilfried Laurier University in Canada believes that “power fundamentally changes how the brain operates.” (Benderev, 2013)  This idea, I feel, can be seen in so many aspects of our lives, from small situations to big one.  Even in sporting events, I think about when I am rooting for my favorite team and they lose, you notice a change in the opposing teams fans.  People gain confidence and a sense of power, even if it is not their own gained power; they share some parts of it.  Obhi notes that in one of his studies, “when people were feeling powerful, the mirror system signal was not very high at all.”  So essentially, when people feel power, they generally have more trouble getting inside another person’s head.  Power ends up diminishing varieties of empathy.  I can think of a time when I was at a hockey game and my team was losing.  I remember hearing a variety of hurtful comments and mean things that people would say to me just because the team I was going for lost.  I know these same people probably would not act this way in their normal lives, but when placed in a situation where they feel more powerful than someone else, some of them are incapable of understanding the feeling of loss and overall empathy towards other individuals. 

References

Benderev, Chris. "When Power Goes To Your Head, It May Shut Out Your Heart." NPR. NPR, 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.

Kramer, Roderick. "The Harder They Fall." Harvard Business Review 81.10 (2003): 58-66. Print.