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HBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence, Updated and Expanded (featuring "What Makes a Leader" by Daniel Goleman)
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HBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence, Updated and Expanded (featuring "What Makes a Leader" by Daniel Goleman)

by Harvard Business Review, Daniel Goleman, Hermina Ibarra, Susan David, Tasha Eurich
September 2025
Intermediate to advanced
208 pages
3h 53m
English
Harvard Business Review Press
Content preview from HBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence, Updated and Expanded (featuring "What Makes a Leader" by Daniel Goleman)

10

Don’t Let Power Corrupt You

by Dacher Keltner

In the behavioral research I’ve conducted over the past 20 years, I’ve uncovered a disturbing pattern: While people usually gain power through traits and actions that advance the interests of others, such as empathy, collaboration, openness, fairness, and sharing, when they start to feel powerful or enjoy a position of privilege, those qualities begin to fade. The powerful are more likely than other people to engage in rude, selfish, and unethical behavior. The 19th-century historian and politician Lord Acton got it right: Power does tend to corrupt.

I call this phenomenon “the power paradox,” and I’ve studied it in numerous settings: colleges, the U.S. Senate, pro sports teams, and a variety ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9798892791861