Acting with power/self-help book
Acting with power is a self-help book written by Deborah Gruenfeld. A bold and eye-opening disquisition of the true nature of power; using ways espoused from actors, we can all learn to apply power more confidently in our particular and professional lives.
Author bio: Deborah Gruenfeld is a social psychologist who has been teaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for almost 15 years. She created one of the most popular courses there called Acting With Power which is the inspiration for writing this book. She has a Masters in Journalism from NYU and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Illinois.
Chapter no 1:
Power is the role we play in other people's lives
Power is usually considered a mysterious thing. Those who are either gifted to certain people or those who are determined to the extent of whims are powerful. But power is present in every relationship. Because we are somehow dependent on each other and the situation of others. But we do have some control. Although we can decide how to use the power, when it is used to help others or to achieve a common goal, then everyone is happy. From getting into an unknown place or an unknown character to completely change everything, choosing between keeping yourself dominant or remaining unknown, this summary explains how to play a powerful role.
In the summary, you'll learn why it's best to turn down your power? How to find a seat for yourself on a rocketship? And what about power when you're at the top? What happens? So let's get started! Whenever we hear the word power, an image of high status, a lot of wealth, and authoritative character comes to our mind. We think that people who have these things are automatically powerful, but this is not true.
People with money, status, and title can be powerful but those who do not have all these people are also powerful. For example, if someone is trying to get their car out of a packed parking lot it is not powerful, but if another driver comes and starts looking for a place to park their car then the first driver will automatically become powerful. If he wants, by reducing his speed, he can make another driver wait, now he has got the power to make someone else wait. From this situation we come to know that power is not related to what we have and what we don't, it is related to social relationships and how much we can control someone else's life and its situation.
Whether a relationship is personal or professional or it is with someone around, these relationships force us to be dependent on each other. Meaning whether it seems like it or not, everyone has power. Take, for example, the parent-child relationship, for the children to decide what they will and will not do, makes the parents powerful. But if parents want their children's love and respect, then they will have to share some power of decision making with their children as well. Bosses or bosses are powerful because they decide who will work on which project and who will get paid. But if an employee is very good at his work and has very good knowledge of the industry, then he gets the power to negotiate. Here the boss can use his power only for his own benefit.
As if he gives more work to an employee who cannot say no to an employee. But that's not why the power is there. At the workplace or socially, someone has less power so that everyone can work together for the benefit of each other and solve their shared problems. Meaning, whenever you are thinking about your power, you should not think that 'what is your benefit in this, but the power should be measured by how much we can help others.
Chapter no 2:
The best way to use power to protect the interest of others
The best way to use power to protect the interest of others is to imagine that you go to acting classes and you are asked to play a powerful character, how would you do that? Most people will try to prove themselves as powerful tractors by raising their voices, interfering with other characters, or even standing on stage. This type of behavior is called power-play-up, which is often used by actors. This is his way of making his character respected in front of people. However, this power is no longer available only in theater and acting classes. People use it in offices, homes, and many social situations.
The problem here is that this work is not always done with the right intention. Playing power-up means showing dominance over someone else and demanding respect. There are different ways of doing this. Most of all this is done by a high rank. People embody the rules or force others to follow them on their own authoritative power.
For example, whenever Henry Ford was questioned by one of his employees, he would reply, " My name is written on this building " and that employee would be silent. Because it is impossible for an employee to argue with his boss when he is expressing his ownership. It is impossible to argue even when a powerful person tells you no or completely ignores you. Similarly, whenever someone is in power, he can criticize, appraise his subordinate. Can even make fun of them. Even if the person in front does not like it, he cannot complain because he has no power to do so.
If you do power play-ups to express your dominance, or to humiliate others, it is arrogance. But when the situation demands the leadership of the decision-maker, then it is right to show power here. Think of the person who stops the person who talks too much in the meeting so that others can share their ideas or say no to anything so that the project remains on budget and on track.
It is beneficial to show power in such a situation. Studies show that power holders who do this are seen as caring and capable. So whenever you feel like showing your power, first ask yourself whether it is for the benefit of the people around you or just you want to show off. React-based on your answer. Let's take the acting class example once again, the acting coach wants to see a powerful character on the stage. But this time the character cannot dominate the whole scene. So how powerful acting will be? This is not a big deal for an experienced actor, now we have seen that you can use your power to control the situation. But this is not the only way to prove yourself.
Sometimes instead of the character displaying power, the author does the exact opposite. Means showing yourself intentionally powerless by keeping quiet or taking yourself into the background of the scene. Like playing power up in life, playing down also has its uses. When someone has power, he still downplays power. So he deserves as much attention and dominates as much as he can. Tries to do less than that. People do this by making fun of themselves, by allowing others to judge, or by asking others for help. Through these works, powerful people reduce their dominance and give importance to the knowledge and opinion of the people around them. If people can control things with the help of power, then why downplay it? One of the reasons for playing Power Down is to impress the people around you. But it should not be used only for this reason. By power downplaying, leaders express their desire to connect with people, not control them.
This sends a message to the people that the person sitting in power wants to work together with the people instead of maintaining his status. Two partners of top capital firm Sequoia Capital found that it increases trust among people. While hiring the young female CEO, she felt the power attached to the firm. When his strategy failed, he thought of doing power downplay. After learning that the person he wants to hire, she likes to dress up as comic book characters. They thought of meeting wearing a Toy Story costume. Seeing people in front of him with such a funny look, that new CEO realized that these people can do anything to make his team member feel comfortable and he joined his team there.
Chapter no 3:
Using Imagination, Props, and Costumes, you can play the new character well
Using Imagination, Props, and Costumes, you can play the new character well, imagine after working for many years you are promoted to the post of manager, suddenly you have to guide a whole team and seniors Expect that if you need to, you can also challenge your team. Despite working hard for this promotion for so many years, you still do not think whether you were ready for it or not. Because you do not feel anything like a senior manager. This situation is exactly the same as that of an actor cast for a new role. Script and storyline have been given to remember him, he has to be completely immersed in this character but he is not familiar with the feeling.
Actors use some tricks to get into the character, which can be useful for you too. To be successful, you need to do such acts which don't seem quite ordinary. One way to do convention acting is to adopt the Stanislavski Method, the idea of Russian actor, producer, director Konstantin Stanislavski. Stanislavski engaged actors on stage and off stage to see the world from the perspective of his character. By following his advice, the actors feel whatever is happening with the character is happening to themselves. This proved to be helpful for the author in maintaining his composer in court. Moving away from his reality, the Author focused on a TV character who was known for his strength and fearlessness. The author started imagining how she would have carried herself and handled things if she was the same character on TV. By doing this she was able to move beyond her fear and represent herself with confidence. Next time if you are not ready for a character in your life, imagine how you would behave if you really were that character and behave like that.
Another trick that actors use to change their mindset for a role is props and costumes. Dressing according to need and props affects people's behavior and the response of others. For example, a senior executive may carry an important viewing document in his hand and dress accordingly to boost his confidence. Dresses play such an important role in any situation that frayed suit-ups are being used today for any work preparation. If you want to play the supporting role well, then give priority to the work and the team member. What comes to your mind whenever you imagine your career as an actor?
If you want to be the priority of every production, then you are not alone in thinking that everyone wants to be the most important and most powerful character of any show. Just like not everyone can be the boss in the office, in the same way not everyone can play the lead role in a show. Instead, we have separate roles for Leading Actor and Supporting Cast like Manager and Subordinates, and everyone including Supporting Cast has to play their role for proper setting of work. This supporting role person has his own power and by using that power properly, you can leave a different impression of your character. There is usually a big-picture goal in any group or organization that everyone is working towards. Each of these has a role and that role is designed to achieve the goal. Despite this, people consider the role of the Sub Ordinance to be inferior to themselves. It is a mistake to think that when you are allotted a role then your aim should be to give positive results only to that group. With this mantra, you will be able to win the trust of the people of the office, so that you can get new opportunities in the future. What's more, whenever you focus on work instead of status, you will be able to see a role in any work. Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg realized this when she lost the opportunity to work at Google because she thought that role was too small.
A small but effective piece of advice changed his mindset - when you are offered a seat in a rocketship, you don't ask for seat details, just go and sit down. Along with this, when you focus on your mission, you earn trust by giving priority to your responsibilities and work. And when you do. You tell people that you don't just want to earn a name but also want to make a valuable contribution. Whenever you take the responsibility of finishing the project on the deadline by working a little more or fulfilling the needs of the project or team by doing personal sacrificing, it not only increases people's trust in you but also increases your status.
Chapter no 4:
Whenever you are about to play a big role, remove your anxiety by rehearsal, warm-up, or distracting yourself.
Many people, whether it is a social group, family, or workplace, are convinced to play a powerful role. But in reality, it was not easy to play that role. Often people question their own ability and are unable to use their power properly in the worry of being judged. For example, he may try to avoid making difficult decisions for fear of being held accountable, or he may even make wrong decisions by giving most of the favors of people. Actors also face performance anxiety but they have a way to manage it.
This strategy of his can be used in other places besides acting. How do you get to Carnegie hall then? Practice, Practice, and Practice Although this advice is a bit outdated, actors still follow it in their rehearsal sessions. When you do something over and over again, it becomes a habit. So by rehearsing your new role, you can turn an unfamiliar job into natural behavior. As a result, you start feeling more confident in that role. But rehearsal does not mean that you pick up the script and start reading it again and again. Rehearsal means that you add small details related to it.
For example, when the author prepares for her talk, she wears her dress, props and even walks as she would on stage. In this way, his practice does not remain incomplete. If you are feeling anxious about a meeting or other work even after rehearsing, then you can also adopt the method of physical activity. Warm-up, walking, breathing exercises are very helpful in removing your nervousness. Along with this, these physical activities calm you down and completely remove your attention from exhaustion. The third way you use to overcome your nervousness on stage is a distraction. If you are all about what you are feeling or thinking then you will never be able to play your role. That's why actors try to focus on other things. While using this technique, you focus on the people around you and what they must be feeling, you can also focus on any object or any sound.
Chapter no 5:
We have the power not to be bully and even if we are bullied,
We have the power not to be bully and even if we are bullied, we have the power to change our story, often we see people misusing our power. The headlines reveal the scandals and the black deeds of the leaders, it seems that power makes a person bad. But here the problem is not of power, people who get this power, because of their insecurities, use power to make themselves feel better. The craze for power and control can turn people into bullies, so when we encounter such a person, our condition becomes very bad. But this does not mean that we cannot change the situation, in fact, we can turn the dice by acting in the right way. If we do not want to be the target of the bullies, then we have to identify them before the attack. Meaning you must know what you are looking for. For example, we should stay away from people who cannot hear or are good with us but do very bad sentences.
We should also avoid going to such a place where the bullies feel themselves to be powerful. As criminals often attack in the dark, similarly the misuse of power is also done in the same place where no one can see them doing this work. For example, a place where the regular rule does not apply, outside the office or after-hour meetings, etc. It is possible that despite all these precautions, we may become victims. In such a situation, you have to behave in such a way that the person in front cannot cross his limit. The first way that such people do anything, you have to behave like this. Like you don't care. People who misuse power like to see their victims angry or scared. So if we don't react according to them then they will change their target.
Another way is that whenever he does any wrong thing, you very softly raise your voice against that work. This lets the person in front know that their wrongdoings are being monitored. If we become targets of bullies in spite of all our efforts, instead of behaving like a victim, we should avoid all those actions which may make ourselves responsible for our bad condition. If we accept that because of our mistakes this happened to us, then the same thing can happen to us in the future also. But when we make it in our mind that we were not at fault in all this, then we can leave that experience behind and move forward in our life. Using your power as a leader means guiding others and leading those who will do the same. " With great power come more responsibilities " this quote was attributed to Philosopher Voltaire, British leader Churchill and even Spider - Man's uncle. Although its source is not known the message is clear. Those working at the top of any organization have a lot of power and the way they use this power affects others. To use any power responsibly means to use this power for the benefit of the people around you. For this, there may be a need to show directions, create a working environment. Direction and having the same goal are very important for any organization. Without this, the personal interest of the people clashes with each other, and productivity cannot be done. Therefore the high-ranking person should use his power to define the objective and achieve it. With this everyone will be able to give their contribution. But for all the people to be able to give their contribution, it is necessary for the organization to have a safe place where the power is not misused. This also applies to the leader of that organization, he should be an example of the right use of power and if it is misused then he should take immediate action.
Its best example is to solve the case of American Air Force Lieutenant General Jay Silveria's racial comments being received by the African American States. He gathered 65,000 cadets, staff, and faculty and made it clear that there was no place in the Academy for such acts. Along with this, leaders can create the right environment according to their own, for example, they can promote those people who use power properly.
Those who use power properly have three qualities that make them different from the rest. First, they focus on their achievement, meaning such people focus on doing their jobs honestly and learning new skills and not on increasing their ranks, such people have a quality of belongingness, they care for others and help them move forward. Let's help. Their third quality is their attitude towards power. Such people see their power as a way to help others. And they know how to use it for the betterment of the organization. Overall, it is not enough for you to have power, you should also know when to show your power according to your responsibilities and when not to use it despite being powerful. Sometimes you may need to use your power to protect others. For this, you may have to take responsibility in difficult situations, call out people who misuse power, or push those who correctly contribute to the goal. On the other hand, making people believe in themselves and building relationships should be your priority.
This is the same situation when you have to play down your power and don't take yourself too seriously. However, it is not necessary that you can prove yourself powerful in every situation, so by rehearsing, focusing on the big picture, and distracting your attention, you can bring confidence in yourself to play any role. What to do Protect others by being a powerful standard When you see someone misusing power, it is safer to just remain a spectator. But if you call out the person in front of the risk-taking, then others will be inclined to do the same. So next time whenever you see someone misusing your power, take steps instead of being a spectator. Intervene at the same time and if it is not possible then offer help later.
Thanks for reading the book summary acting with power but if you want to read the full book then you can buy this book by clicking here
0 Comments