EXPERIENCE
Small expressions of gratitude also yield positive results. Studies show that romantic partners who acknowledge each other’s value in casual conversation are less likely to break up, that students who receive a pat on the back from their teachers aremore likely to take on difficult problems, and that people who express appreciation to others in a newly formed group feel stronger ties to the groupmonths later. Adam Grant of Wharton has found that whenmanagers take the time to thank their employees, those workers aremore engaged and productive. Andmy own research on NBA teams withMichael Kraus of Yale University shows that players who physically display their appreciation—through head raps, bear hugs, and hip and chest bumps—inspire their teammates to play better andwin nearly twomore games per season (which is both statistically significant and often the difference between making the play-offs and not). Simple acts of generosity can be equally powerful. Studies show that individuals who share with others in a group—for example, by contributing new ideas or directly assisting on projects not their own— are deemed more worthy of respect and influence and more suitable for leadership. Mike Norton at Harvard Business School has found that when organizations provide an opportunity to donate to charities at work, employees feel more satisfied and productive. It might seemdifficult to constantly follow the ethics of “good power” when you’re the boss and responsible for making sure things get done. Not so. Your capacity for empathy, gratitude, and generosity can be cultivated by engaging in simple social behaviors whenever the opportunity presents itself: a team
It’s also important to reflect on your demeanor and actions. Are you interrupting people? Do you check your phone when others are talking? Have you told a joke or story that embarrassed or humiliated someone else? Do you swear at the office? Have you ever taken sole credit for a group effort? Do you forget colleagues’ names? Are you spending a lot more money than in the past or taking unusual physical risks? If you answered yes to at least a fewof these questions, take it as an early warning sign that you’re being tempted into problematic, arrogant displays of power. What may seem innocuous to you probably doesn’t to your subordinates. Consider a story I recently heard about a needlessly hierarchical lunch-delivery protocol on a cable- television writing team. Each day when the team’s sandwiches arrived, they were doled out to the writers in order of seniority. In failing to correct this behavior, the group’s leaders were almost certainly diminishing its collaborative and creative potential. For a contrast, consider U.S. military mess halls, where the practice is the reverse, as the ethnographer and author Simon Sinek notes in the title of his most recent book, Leaders Eat Last. Officers adhere to the policy not to cede authority but to show respect for their troops. Practicing Graciousness Whether you’ve already begun to succumb to the power paradox or not, youmust work to remember and repeat the virtuous behaviors that helped you rise in the first place. When teaching executives and others in positions of power, I focus on three essential practices—empathy, gratitude, and generosity—that have
been shown to sustain benevolent leadership, even in themost cutthroat environments. For example, Leanne ten Brinke, Chris Liu, Sameer Srivastava, and I found that U.S. senators who used empathetic facial expressions and tones of voice when speaking to the floor got more bills passed than those who used domineering, threatening gestures and tones in their speeches. Research by Anita Woolley of CarnegieMellon and Thomas Malone of MIT has likewise shown that when teammates subtly signal understanding, engagement, interest, and concern for one another, the team is more effective at tackling hard analytical problems.
4 Harvard Business Review October 2016 This document is authorized for use only by kiki g (kristi.grotsch@shangri-la.com). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact customerservice@harvardbusiness.org or 800-988-0886 for additional copies.
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