Power Genes

What is our personal relationship with power? How do we naturally go about getting what we want from others? How do we react to the various forms of influence that others seek to exert on us? These are the central themes of this book, written by a leadership coach and family therapist, and former fund manager. This diversity of experience is found in the richness and the finesse of the author’s analyses. The book is organized according to types of relationships to power, constructed according to the emphasis placed on trust or threat, as well as on individual relationships or the rapport with the group as a whole—reflexes largely inherited from the way we experienced our family environment in childhood. From these profiles emerge four main archetypes: the charmer, the pleaser, the inspirer and the commander. The essence of this book is spent reviewing these archetypes, in two chapters each, covering the strengths, limitations, and home environment likely to trigger their emergence, as well as the types of behavior to be managed when dealing with subordinates, peers or hierarchical superiors. In addition to this typology, fascinating in itself, the author highlights the importance of the ability to put our natural manner of addressing power into perspective to be more efficient in the great diversity of situations we encounter. This is a highly instructive book of great practical value.