What do you think?
Rate this book
7 Rules of Power: Surprising--but True--Advice on How to Get Things Done and Advance Your Career
If you want to "change lives, change organizations, change the world," the Stanford business school’s motto, you need power.
Is power the last dirty secret or the secret to success? Both. While power carries some negative connotations, power is a tool that can be used for good or evil. Don’t blame the tool for how some people used it.
If fully understood and harnessed effectively, power skills and understanding become the keys to increasing salaries, job satisfaction, career advancement, organizational change, and, happiness. In 7 Rules of Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, provides the insights that have made both his online and on-campus classes incredibly popular—with life-changing results often achieved in 8 or 10 weeks.
Rooted firmly in social science research, Pfeffer’s 7 rules provide a manual for increasing your ability to get things done, including increasing the positive effects of your job performance.
The 7 rules are:
1) Get out of your own way.
2) Break the rules.
3) Show up in powerful fashion.
4) Create a powerful brand.
5) Network relentlessly.
6) Use your power.
7) Understand that once you have acquired power, what you did to get it will be forgiven, forgotten, or both.
With 7 Rules of Power, you’ll learn, through both numerous examples as well as research evidence, how to accomplish change in your organization, your life, the lives of others, and the world.
Is power the last dirty secret or the secret to success? Both. While power carries some negative connotations, power is a tool that can be used for good or evil. Don’t blame the tool for how some people used it.
If fully understood and harnessed effectively, power skills and understanding become the keys to increasing salaries, job satisfaction, career advancement, organizational change, and, happiness. In 7 Rules of Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, provides the insights that have made both his online and on-campus classes incredibly popular—with life-changing results often achieved in 8 or 10 weeks.
Rooted firmly in social science research, Pfeffer’s 7 rules provide a manual for increasing your ability to get things done, including increasing the positive effects of your job performance.
The 7 rules are:
1) Get out of your own way.
2) Break the rules.
3) Show up in powerful fashion.
4) Create a powerful brand.
5) Network relentlessly.
6) Use your power.
7) Understand that once you have acquired power, what you did to get it will be forgiven, forgotten, or both.
With 7 Rules of Power, you’ll learn, through both numerous examples as well as research evidence, how to accomplish change in your organization, your life, the lives of others, and the world.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published June 7, 2022
1151 people are currently reading
7076 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Pfeffer
47 books331 followersJeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University where he has taught since 1979. He is the author or co-author of thirteen books including The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First; Managing with Power; The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge Into Action; Hidden Value: How Great Companies Achieve Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People; Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management; and What Were They Thinking? Unconventional Wisdom About Management, as well as more than 150 articles and book chapters. Pfeffer’s latest book, entitled Power: Why Some People Have It—And Others Don’t was published in 2010 by Harper Business.
Dr. Pfeffer received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and his Ph.D. from Stanford. He began his career at the business school at the University of Illinois and then taught at the University of California, Berkeley. Pfeffer has been a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School, Singapore Management University, London Business School, Copenhagen Business School, and for the past 8 years a visitor at IESE in Barcelona.
From 2003-2007, Pfeffer wrote a monthly column, “The Human Factor,” for the 600,000-person circulation business magazine, Business 2.0 and from 2007-2010, he wrote a monthly column providing career advice for Capital, a leading business and economics magazine in Turkey. Pfeffer also was a regular blogger for the Corner Office section of BNET (CBS Interactive), and currently writes for the Harvard Business Review website, Bloomberg Business Week online, Inc., and for the “On Leadership” section of The Washington Post. Pfeffer has appeared in segments on CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, and CNBC as well as television and radio programs in Korea and Japan and has been quoted and featured in news articles from countries around the globe.
Pfeffer currently serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit Quantum Leap Healthcare. In the past he has served on the boards of Resumix, Unicru, and Workstream, all human capital software companies, Audible Magic, an internet company, SonoSite, a company designing and manufacturing portable ultrasound machines, and the San Francisco Playhouse, a non-profit theater. Pfeffer has presented seminars in 38 countries throughout the world as well as doing consulting and providing executive education for numerous companies, associations, and universities in the United States.
Jeffrey Pfeffer has won the Richard I. Irwin Award presented by the Academy of Management for scholarly contributions to management and numerous awards for his articles and books. He is listed in the top 25 management thinkers by Thinkers 50, and as one of the Most Influential HR International Thinkers by HR Magazine. In November, 2011, he was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from Tilburg University in The Netherlands.
Dr. Pfeffer received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and his Ph.D. from Stanford. He began his career at the business school at the University of Illinois and then taught at the University of California, Berkeley. Pfeffer has been a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School, Singapore Management University, London Business School, Copenhagen Business School, and for the past 8 years a visitor at IESE in Barcelona.
From 2003-2007, Pfeffer wrote a monthly column, “The Human Factor,” for the 600,000-person circulation business magazine, Business 2.0 and from 2007-2010, he wrote a monthly column providing career advice for Capital, a leading business and economics magazine in Turkey. Pfeffer also was a regular blogger for the Corner Office section of BNET (CBS Interactive), and currently writes for the Harvard Business Review website, Bloomberg Business Week online, Inc., and for the “On Leadership” section of The Washington Post. Pfeffer has appeared in segments on CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, and CNBC as well as television and radio programs in Korea and Japan and has been quoted and featured in news articles from countries around the globe.
Pfeffer currently serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit Quantum Leap Healthcare. In the past he has served on the boards of Resumix, Unicru, and Workstream, all human capital software companies, Audible Magic, an internet company, SonoSite, a company designing and manufacturing portable ultrasound machines, and the San Francisco Playhouse, a non-profit theater. Pfeffer has presented seminars in 38 countries throughout the world as well as doing consulting and providing executive education for numerous companies, associations, and universities in the United States.
Jeffrey Pfeffer has won the Richard I. Irwin Award presented by the Academy of Management for scholarly contributions to management and numerous awards for his articles and books. He is listed in the top 25 management thinkers by Thinkers 50, and as one of the Most Influential HR International Thinkers by HR Magazine. In November, 2011, he was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from Tilburg University in The Netherlands.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
January 15, 2024
This is a dry version of Robert Greene's colorful work The 48 Laws of Power, which also has 41 more rules! So if you want Machiavellian advice, I would go to that or to the original source: The Prince. What this book is supposed to add is academic research credibility, because the author is a professor at Stanford and labels himself as a scientist. In addition, this book attempts to distinguish itself from the overt promotion of evil by claiming that it's about doing good. Here is the bombastic first line of the book:
"If you want power to be used for good, more good people need to have power.
--A quote attributable to me."
I think it is therefore appropriate to judge this book on how well it makes the case that following its advice leads to power being used for good. Alas, I was not convinced.
I really struggled to try to find any good evidence for that. The closest thing was Nelson Mandela's story, but then you would have to somehow say going to prison for 25 years is some kind of a power move; it's just too hard to sort out different factors in there or to imagine what the control group is. Mainly, the examples in the book are people "looking out for themselves" on their path to getting rich, and talking about stuff like how "shamelessness" is a "superpower."
The author explicitly opposes two ways of doing things:
"One is through behaving in a prosocial fashion such as working hard, helping coworkers, and striving in other ways on behalf of the collective good. The other is ... what I teach..." But let's remember the first line. I find it hard to believe that training people to be anti-social, unhelpful, and self-centered eventually leads to the exact opposite outcomes.
Some people do philanthropy after they get rich, but examples of that in this book are used to illustrate how to do public relations to boost your image after criminal convictions or other scandals.
There's no convincing scientific evidence presented for how power-seeking disconnected from fairness or competence leads to the greater good. One could look at health statistics, for example, and see how they correlate with inequality or corruption or mistrust. That has been done, but does not get play in this book. One could even look at how national economies do overall. See books below.
To a large extent, the arguments for the author's thesis are just anecdotes. This is very weak proof. There are also some psychology studies and such that I don't find very convincing, including data notorious in the Replication Crisis, e.g. power posing.
If one accepts the underlying diagnosis that Americans live in a culture of corruption and incompetence (Detroit: An American Autopsy), it does not follow that the prescription is to over-dose on the poison causing the problem.
Even Robert Greene seems to have realized at some point that promoting gangster values was maybe a bad thing and wrote a success book to help people who have useful talents: Mastery.
Some of the advice in this book is unobjectionable, but then it's standard stuff that can be found in countless other management/leadership books.
Other books to consider:
The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die
The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity
The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Crisis of Conscience
Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster
"If you want power to be used for good, more good people need to have power.
--A quote attributable to me."
I think it is therefore appropriate to judge this book on how well it makes the case that following its advice leads to power being used for good. Alas, I was not convinced.
I really struggled to try to find any good evidence for that. The closest thing was Nelson Mandela's story, but then you would have to somehow say going to prison for 25 years is some kind of a power move; it's just too hard to sort out different factors in there or to imagine what the control group is. Mainly, the examples in the book are people "looking out for themselves" on their path to getting rich, and talking about stuff like how "shamelessness" is a "superpower."
The author explicitly opposes two ways of doing things:
"One is through behaving in a prosocial fashion such as working hard, helping coworkers, and striving in other ways on behalf of the collective good. The other is ... what I teach..." But let's remember the first line. I find it hard to believe that training people to be anti-social, unhelpful, and self-centered eventually leads to the exact opposite outcomes.
Some people do philanthropy after they get rich, but examples of that in this book are used to illustrate how to do public relations to boost your image after criminal convictions or other scandals.
There's no convincing scientific evidence presented for how power-seeking disconnected from fairness or competence leads to the greater good. One could look at health statistics, for example, and see how they correlate with inequality or corruption or mistrust. That has been done, but does not get play in this book. One could even look at how national economies do overall. See books below.
To a large extent, the arguments for the author's thesis are just anecdotes. This is very weak proof. There are also some psychology studies and such that I don't find very convincing, including data notorious in the Replication Crisis, e.g. power posing.
If one accepts the underlying diagnosis that Americans live in a culture of corruption and incompetence (Detroit: An American Autopsy), it does not follow that the prescription is to over-dose on the poison causing the problem.
Even Robert Greene seems to have realized at some point that promoting gangster values was maybe a bad thing and wrote a success book to help people who have useful talents: Mastery.
Some of the advice in this book is unobjectionable, but then it's standard stuff that can be found in countless other management/leadership books.
Other books to consider:
The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die
The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity
The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Crisis of Conscience
Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster
September 11, 2022
2.5 stars rounded up. It's definitely not a bad book, but it exemplifies several things I'm wary of in this genre (e.g. talking about people who do X and succeed and thus generalizing the principle of 'you should do X', but never talking about all the people who do X and don't succeed, or who don't do X and succeed; doing the song and dance of 'I'm not saying this is right or wrong, I'm saying this is how it is - act accordingly'; attributing certain outcomes to oversimplified factors such as Trump winning in 2016 because he was perceived as powerful. Like, sure, for some people that was enough for them to cast their vote in his favor...but that's reaaaaally just scratching the surface of all the reasons why Trump won; etc).
"The two fundamental aspects by which people judge others is by warmth and competence. Her research has also uncovered, there is a tendency to see warmth and competence, although conceptually independent, as being negatively related. This relationship is nicely captured in Amy Cuddy's short but appropriately titled piece, 'Just Because I'm Nice Don't Assume I'm Dumb' and in a Harvard Business School faculty member Teresa Amabile's empirical study, 'Brilliant, But Cruel'. In that study people were given actual negative and positive book reviews. Negative reviewers were seen as more intelligent, competent and expert than positive reviewers, even when the content of the positive review was independently judged as being of higher quality. Negative reviewers were perceived as significantly less likeable than positive reviewers...first demonstrate competence. Then, if and when you show warmth, people will not see it as a sign of weakness, but as something unexpected from a person with power."
"The two fundamental aspects by which people judge others is by warmth and competence. Her research has also uncovered, there is a tendency to see warmth and competence, although conceptually independent, as being negatively related. This relationship is nicely captured in Amy Cuddy's short but appropriately titled piece, 'Just Because I'm Nice Don't Assume I'm Dumb' and in a Harvard Business School faculty member Teresa Amabile's empirical study, 'Brilliant, But Cruel'. In that study people were given actual negative and positive book reviews. Negative reviewers were seen as more intelligent, competent and expert than positive reviewers, even when the content of the positive review was independently judged as being of higher quality. Negative reviewers were perceived as significantly less likeable than positive reviewers...first demonstrate competence. Then, if and when you show warmth, people will not see it as a sign of weakness, but as something unexpected from a person with power."
May 14, 2022
This is such a good, practical self-help book!
If you love books by Vex King, Robin Sharma and Dale Carnegie definitely give this book a try because it will be so worth it.
A new favourite author I say!
This book has seven short chapters which will give you different practical tips on how you can get things done, make practical choices to advance on whatever you are working for.
A good book for those who need a little push to get up and actually start doing some basic steps that would push you towards your goals.
Love the real life examples given.
The writing is really good. The language is perfect even for beginners.
Go for this. Everyone needs motivation most days. And this is the perfect one to start with.
Thank you, BenBella Books, for the advance review copy.
If you love books by Vex King, Robin Sharma and Dale Carnegie definitely give this book a try because it will be so worth it.
A new favourite author I say!
This book has seven short chapters which will give you different practical tips on how you can get things done, make practical choices to advance on whatever you are working for.
A good book for those who need a little push to get up and actually start doing some basic steps that would push you towards your goals.
Love the real life examples given.
The writing is really good. The language is perfect even for beginners.
Go for this. Everyone needs motivation most days. And this is the perfect one to start with.
Thank you, BenBella Books, for the advance review copy.
July 16, 2022
I have mixed feelings towards the book. Some chapters are pretty useful and can be applied well without questioning about it’s ethics. However I am still not convinced with some sections and research author has linked that sums up the person to be perceived with “power”
For Eg he talks about a study which shows a person being rude to the waiter and also throwing cigarette ash on floor appearing to be 20% more powerful.
There are many instances throughout the book that i personally just couldn’t resonate with especially on his take with flattery towards higher up and authenticity (promoting inauthenticity as apparently people take it face value).
Then comes the chapter 3 on how anger is a high status move apparently and people are perceived to be powerful compared to someone who’s sad and apologetic. I personally find anger to be low status and pathetic due to lack of control over emotions and not being able to stay composed.
Chapter 1 on getting yourself out there and chapter 5 on networking is useful. Even the conclusion on how to strategically work through it was good.
Overall, as the author suggested I tried to be as non judgmental and tried to take learning which resonated with me and I thought was useful.
No matter how many research from social science is being quoted, i am not taking it if some suggestions personally doesn’t resonate or I can’t work with (like for Eg using anger as indication of power). Especially knowing power is subject dependant as well.
This book is still comparatively better than Robert Greene’s 48 laws. I still think other books on power I have rated before have been much better. Would also recommend reading Acting with power and Power, why it’s everybody else’s business.
For Eg he talks about a study which shows a person being rude to the waiter and also throwing cigarette ash on floor appearing to be 20% more powerful.
There are many instances throughout the book that i personally just couldn’t resonate with especially on his take with flattery towards higher up and authenticity (promoting inauthenticity as apparently people take it face value).
Then comes the chapter 3 on how anger is a high status move apparently and people are perceived to be powerful compared to someone who’s sad and apologetic. I personally find anger to be low status and pathetic due to lack of control over emotions and not being able to stay composed.
Chapter 1 on getting yourself out there and chapter 5 on networking is useful. Even the conclusion on how to strategically work through it was good.
Overall, as the author suggested I tried to be as non judgmental and tried to take learning which resonated with me and I thought was useful.
No matter how many research from social science is being quoted, i am not taking it if some suggestions personally doesn’t resonate or I can’t work with (like for Eg using anger as indication of power). Especially knowing power is subject dependant as well.
This book is still comparatively better than Robert Greene’s 48 laws. I still think other books on power I have rated before have been much better. Would also recommend reading Acting with power and Power, why it’s everybody else’s business.
June 4, 2022
The author shares 7 rules and they are:
1) Get out of your own way.
2) Break the rules.
3) Show up in powerful fashion.
4) Create a powerful brand.
5) Network relentlessly.
6) Use your power.
7) Understand that once you have acquired power, what you did to get it will be forgiven, forgotten, or both.
Now, if there is anything to read on how to get things done at work, while ensuring that your objectives are aligned with your professional growth then these rules are something to bear in mind.
I liked how this book just reminded me that when it comes to work, you create meaning and it's not the job's responsibility to grant you happiness, that's on you.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.
1) Get out of your own way.
2) Break the rules.
3) Show up in powerful fashion.
4) Create a powerful brand.
5) Network relentlessly.
6) Use your power.
7) Understand that once you have acquired power, what you did to get it will be forgiven, forgotten, or both.
Now, if there is anything to read on how to get things done at work, while ensuring that your objectives are aligned with your professional growth then these rules are something to bear in mind.
I liked how this book just reminded me that when it comes to work, you create meaning and it's not the job's responsibility to grant you happiness, that's on you.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.
Read
December 25, 2025This must be one of the most important books I've read not just this year, but during my almost 25 years of existence.
I am so tired of "self help", books and speeches from big, powerful people who pretend that it's all about being nice and show sympathy, when it's inevitable for them to have only been using those strategies to get them where they are. I am a positive, optimistic person who likes to see the good in people - one thing I do despise, though, is people who portray themselves as angels when they've gotten a good dose of help from being strategic and other powerful people.
It makes people remain helpless, soft and to not look out for themselves. I've been thinking of what I believe is to be an important message from this book: If you don't go after power, others will. And it's important that "good" people - whatever that is - claims power. Or else there's only the "bad guys" - whatever that is, too" - who will be in power and rule others.
I've tried for many years other to be "overly kind", and that has resulted in bad results both professionally and psychologically, resentment and really didn't make anything good out of it except temporarily relief for both parties.
I had never heard of this book or the author. I stumbled upon this book on a trip to Edinburgh in a pretty much empty street when I saw the cover in a little book store. I was automatically drawn to it as I've, as mentioned, been thinking from other perspectives regarding social interactions and things related to this book. An example is that one of the goals for 2022 is to be wary of gaslighting, as this is not an uncommon event to happen for a lot people who takes feedback, thinks a lot about others and wishes for a world where everyone are kind to each other.
I think it's especially important for us who have been under this mental umbrella, being shielded from the hard - not the reality of it - but the truth, who have held back the power we have within us to actually contribute to a more resilient, fair and kind world to read this.
The research is also very good, and I appreciate someone telling the hard truth. This author seems to truly have wanted to deliver truth and helpful advice, rather than being liked (which, if you have read the book, will get the non-irony of that). I have studied by annotated, highlighted and rewritten sentences from the book. I have already recommended books about power to my female friends who have been taken advantage of and experienced things no people on this planet deserve to encounter. This book might be the most helpful one yet of those.
I now have a dream to enter a class of Pfeffer one day. This book has not only helped me as a person, but to my dream of one day becoming a leader and aim towards a common mission with fellow resilient, talented and people who loves other people. I'm soon about to take some leardship courses as part of my studies, and now I'm kind of scared of new reading material that will only have the fancy, "being looked at as moral" type of readings.
NB! If anyone are interested in discussing the topics of this book, I am looking for like minded people who are intrigued by these kind of subjects.
Wishing you who have felt you've held yourself back to the comfort of others, a powerful year ⭐️
I am so tired of "self help", books and speeches from big, powerful people who pretend that it's all about being nice and show sympathy, when it's inevitable for them to have only been using those strategies to get them where they are. I am a positive, optimistic person who likes to see the good in people - one thing I do despise, though, is people who portray themselves as angels when they've gotten a good dose of help from being strategic and other powerful people.
It makes people remain helpless, soft and to not look out for themselves. I've been thinking of what I believe is to be an important message from this book: If you don't go after power, others will. And it's important that "good" people - whatever that is - claims power. Or else there's only the "bad guys" - whatever that is, too" - who will be in power and rule others.
I've tried for many years other to be "overly kind", and that has resulted in bad results both professionally and psychologically, resentment and really didn't make anything good out of it except temporarily relief for both parties.
I had never heard of this book or the author. I stumbled upon this book on a trip to Edinburgh in a pretty much empty street when I saw the cover in a little book store. I was automatically drawn to it as I've, as mentioned, been thinking from other perspectives regarding social interactions and things related to this book. An example is that one of the goals for 2022 is to be wary of gaslighting, as this is not an uncommon event to happen for a lot people who takes feedback, thinks a lot about others and wishes for a world where everyone are kind to each other.
I think it's especially important for us who have been under this mental umbrella, being shielded from the hard - not the reality of it - but the truth, who have held back the power we have within us to actually contribute to a more resilient, fair and kind world to read this.
The research is also very good, and I appreciate someone telling the hard truth. This author seems to truly have wanted to deliver truth and helpful advice, rather than being liked (which, if you have read the book, will get the non-irony of that). I have studied by annotated, highlighted and rewritten sentences from the book. I have already recommended books about power to my female friends who have been taken advantage of and experienced things no people on this planet deserve to encounter. This book might be the most helpful one yet of those.
I now have a dream to enter a class of Pfeffer one day. This book has not only helped me as a person, but to my dream of one day becoming a leader and aim towards a common mission with fellow resilient, talented and people who loves other people. I'm soon about to take some leardship courses as part of my studies, and now I'm kind of scared of new reading material that will only have the fancy, "being looked at as moral" type of readings.
NB! If anyone are interested in discussing the topics of this book, I am looking for like minded people who are intrigued by these kind of subjects.
Wishing you who have felt you've held yourself back to the comfort of others, a powerful year ⭐️
December 3, 2024
I honestly hated this book. It feels like it’s written by a person I couldn’t respect or like. Maybe the author isn’t really like this in person but it just bothered me all together - the writing and style, the actual tips… all kinda bad
Read
August 13, 2023I honestly don't know how I feel about this book.
March 24, 2023
I agreed with parts and disagreed with other parts of this interesting book. Agree: Don’t undermine yourself. Avoid self-sabotage. Focus on what makes you stand out rather than fit in. It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Speak and appear powerful.
Also build your personal brand by creating a narrative and retelling it, and develop “a look”. Create podcasts, write a book, speak at conferences, work a room, cultivate the media to get publicity about your brand. Leverage prestigious affiliations and always take credit for your work.
More: Network relentlessly. Interact with useful people. Rely on your second tier of contacts instead of inner circle for career advancement. Use power quickly in a new position. Bring in supporters and give good references for your opponents so that they move on (strategic outplacement).
Things I didn’t like: Trample on people to get your way. Who cares about being likeable? Success excuses almost everything. Those in power get to write history.
Also build your personal brand by creating a narrative and retelling it, and develop “a look”. Create podcasts, write a book, speak at conferences, work a room, cultivate the media to get publicity about your brand. Leverage prestigious affiliations and always take credit for your work.
More: Network relentlessly. Interact with useful people. Rely on your second tier of contacts instead of inner circle for career advancement. Use power quickly in a new position. Bring in supporters and give good references for your opponents so that they move on (strategic outplacement).
Things I didn’t like: Trample on people to get your way. Who cares about being likeable? Success excuses almost everything. Those in power get to write history.
January 12, 2026
I am not sure how useful this book can be, but it was interesting and easy to read. what i did not like is too many self-references, and cherry picking of the cases.
October 27, 2025
i read 7 rules of power because the hr team asked leaders in our organization to read it, and wow. this book really said “let’s make being morally bankrupt a personality trait.” from the start, pfeffer sets the tone that the book will be coldhearted and countercultural, which is a fancy way of saying, “i’m about to defend behavior that i probably shouldn't.”
the author spends most of the book telling readers to put themselves first, bend the truth, and do whatever it takes to get ahead. apparently, empathy is just optional fluff that slows you down. it’s a masterclass in how to advance your career if your role models are donald trump, jeffrey epstein, and elizabeth holmes.
honestly, reading it felt like listening to someone give dating advice that involves “acting uninterested” and “negging” to get attention. it has the same energy. i truly would not like hanging out with jeffrey pfeffer.
to be fair, the book does have a weird kind of value — it gives you a look into how the “bad guy” thinks. and that’s useful to recognize when those tactics show up in real life. but if anyone actually lives by this book, they’ll end up morally corrupt, isolated, and completely out of touch with empathy.
as someone who believes leadership is about service, not self-promotion, i found this book bleak. it’s the kind of advice that might make you successful on paper but completely forgettable as a human being.
in short: 7 rules of power is an interesting psychological study, but a terrible life guide. read it if you want to understand how not to lead.
the author spends most of the book telling readers to put themselves first, bend the truth, and do whatever it takes to get ahead. apparently, empathy is just optional fluff that slows you down. it’s a masterclass in how to advance your career if your role models are donald trump, jeffrey epstein, and elizabeth holmes.
honestly, reading it felt like listening to someone give dating advice that involves “acting uninterested” and “negging” to get attention. it has the same energy. i truly would not like hanging out with jeffrey pfeffer.
to be fair, the book does have a weird kind of value — it gives you a look into how the “bad guy” thinks. and that’s useful to recognize when those tactics show up in real life. but if anyone actually lives by this book, they’ll end up morally corrupt, isolated, and completely out of touch with empathy.
as someone who believes leadership is about service, not self-promotion, i found this book bleak. it’s the kind of advice that might make you successful on paper but completely forgettable as a human being.
in short: 7 rules of power is an interesting psychological study, but a terrible life guide. read it if you want to understand how not to lead.
July 3, 2022
I might not „like“ or agree with all that is written here, but it is refreshing to read something that focusses on how things actually are, rather than how it would be nice for them to be.
December 17, 2023
Extremely mixed feelings. I like the overall idea of "things are not as pretty as they are, and there IS a power struggle going on most of the time, despite you liking it or not".
But the book itself I dreaded. It's slow, full of "X did this, so he's powerful". Stories of most famous outliners don't prove anything. The fact that Jack Dorsey lied he founded Twitter is something I couldn't care less. The book is full of strange stories, that don't tell you anything besides "this guy's awesome and powerful ". Then the author adds "I'm not saying you should lie", just so he can close it with "the person is now I jail". Well.. okay.
There is some juice in it though. There are interesting ideas, but burried deep down under things like "in order to make yourself famous - write a book and go to podcasts". Like who's this book for?!
Very general guidance and ideas. I would assume his course has more in-depth, actionable ideas. Or at least some scientific research. In the book it's bla-bla-trust-me kind of stuff.
But the book itself I dreaded. It's slow, full of "X did this, so he's powerful". Stories of most famous outliners don't prove anything. The fact that Jack Dorsey lied he founded Twitter is something I couldn't care less. The book is full of strange stories, that don't tell you anything besides "this guy's awesome and powerful ". Then the author adds "I'm not saying you should lie", just so he can close it with "the person is now I jail". Well.. okay.
There is some juice in it though. There are interesting ideas, but burried deep down under things like "in order to make yourself famous - write a book and go to podcasts". Like who's this book for?!
Very general guidance and ideas. I would assume his course has more in-depth, actionable ideas. Or at least some scientific research. In the book it's bla-bla-trust-me kind of stuff.
October 18, 2024
When I was writing my master’s thesis on cyber incident response, I quoted Leo Tolstoy: ‘My idea, in its entirety, is that if vile people unite and constitute a force, then decent people are obliged to do likewise; just that.’
This book is a business reflection of that idea—that in order to accomplish good, human beings need power. And there’s nothing wrong with learning a few tricks on how to obtain that power more quickly.
‘I wish I had read this earlier.’ kind of book. Maybe it’s time to create an extra shelf for it.
This book is a business reflection of that idea—that in order to accomplish good, human beings need power. And there’s nothing wrong with learning a few tricks on how to obtain that power more quickly.
‘I wish I had read this earlier.’ kind of book. Maybe it’s time to create an extra shelf for it.
June 29, 2022
Just like the 42 laws of power, it just feels wrong. I do believe it works. But it's basically: be an overconfident asshole and don't show vulnerability. At least not while on your way to the top, once there you can do whatever you want. I use such literature more as a map to recognize and navigate office politics than a manual for professional conduct. But that probably means I'll bump into a lot of obstacles to reach my ambitions.
February 19, 2023
This is not a nice book, but then, power is not a nice thing. I learnt a lot.
September 7, 2025
Interesting idea explored about whether or not good people can have power.
Ethical training doesn’t result in stronger ethical actions. Power does not equate to good or bad people. Different people take different actions to become successful. They stick with their efforts to build power. One has to be persistent, resilient and have a certain level of ego strength to not care about other’s opinions. Fair play is a lie. Lies spread faster than truth. Silence isn’t always golden. All sides should be told and heard. Reputation can sink fast.
Dress for success. Differentiate yourself. Perception helps create reality. Use power. If someone has been successful at one point in their life, they are likely to become successful again. Power protects people and powerful friends and associates also provides protection or “insulation”- even for predators like Jeffrey Epstein and scammers like Elizabeth Holmes.
Who you know/how many people you know/networking matter more than your job performance.
In that case, I want a refund for my post secondary education so I can start over and suck up more. Jk jk haha
Golly gosh! Who has time for all that socializing? And do they even want to socialize/network that much? Well, I guess some people do.
And then there is the self-marketing, self-promotion and personal branding that can be overselling and under delivering and just revealing the selfishness and narcissism of the power seeker. Generally, all these marketing and branding tactics are deeply annoying when they bombard you everywhere into becoming a bigger consumer, bigger spender, more conspicuous consumption, but I digress. That’s not exactly what this book is about. Although the author does emphasize the idea of people who want power or have power are part of some exclusive club. Not sure what all the prerequisites are for this secret club but seems like peacocking, paying people to dress you, being condescending, chasing fame and glory for narcissistic reasons and pretending not to, using a certain type of language to not take responsibility but tell others to take accountability, and selling your soul while treating others thanklessly in the dust seem to be part of it.
The idea of having “social capital” to acquire and retain power was really emphasized. Sounds like if someone else has power, everyone else is a side character in the power hungry person’s ego driven movie. And people do like to flaunt their power and wealth with handbags and watches and sunglasses and other breakable things that are typically made by people who don’t get paid enough. And the flaunting can manifest in power tripping and a level of dictatorship.
If you put all this together your own way and try to be a good person, will you really have power?
And another passing insertion of “Israeli” people as if there is something special about that fake culture over being from ANY other culture.
And then the sentence, “despite being a Pakistani in a very German company- how to explain his success?” -
Author betrays his own racism and shows that race is tied to success, which he does also point out in the beginning, yet he doesn’t discuss it in depth. However, the example used of an “Israeli” being successful just because they are usually white European settlers in a colonized land but a Pakistani person can’t have access to that same level of predetermined success doesn’t hit the point author thinks he’s making. White people hold BIPOC back in achieving any level of success. BIPOC people do have to work much harder for success, let alone power. This is a can of worms discussion that I can’t get into in a book review 🤦🏻♀️ Anyhow, things are changing and things just one book on the subject of power dynamics, written by a white man.
Ethical training doesn’t result in stronger ethical actions. Power does not equate to good or bad people. Different people take different actions to become successful. They stick with their efforts to build power. One has to be persistent, resilient and have a certain level of ego strength to not care about other’s opinions. Fair play is a lie. Lies spread faster than truth. Silence isn’t always golden. All sides should be told and heard. Reputation can sink fast.
Dress for success. Differentiate yourself. Perception helps create reality. Use power. If someone has been successful at one point in their life, they are likely to become successful again. Power protects people and powerful friends and associates also provides protection or “insulation”- even for predators like Jeffrey Epstein and scammers like Elizabeth Holmes.
Who you know/how many people you know/networking matter more than your job performance.
In that case, I want a refund for my post secondary education so I can start over and suck up more. Jk jk haha
Golly gosh! Who has time for all that socializing? And do they even want to socialize/network that much? Well, I guess some people do.
And then there is the self-marketing, self-promotion and personal branding that can be overselling and under delivering and just revealing the selfishness and narcissism of the power seeker. Generally, all these marketing and branding tactics are deeply annoying when they bombard you everywhere into becoming a bigger consumer, bigger spender, more conspicuous consumption, but I digress. That’s not exactly what this book is about. Although the author does emphasize the idea of people who want power or have power are part of some exclusive club. Not sure what all the prerequisites are for this secret club but seems like peacocking, paying people to dress you, being condescending, chasing fame and glory for narcissistic reasons and pretending not to, using a certain type of language to not take responsibility but tell others to take accountability, and selling your soul while treating others thanklessly in the dust seem to be part of it.
The idea of having “social capital” to acquire and retain power was really emphasized. Sounds like if someone else has power, everyone else is a side character in the power hungry person’s ego driven movie. And people do like to flaunt their power and wealth with handbags and watches and sunglasses and other breakable things that are typically made by people who don’t get paid enough. And the flaunting can manifest in power tripping and a level of dictatorship.
If you put all this together your own way and try to be a good person, will you really have power?
And another passing insertion of “Israeli” people as if there is something special about that fake culture over being from ANY other culture.
And then the sentence, “despite being a Pakistani in a very German company- how to explain his success?” -
Author betrays his own racism and shows that race is tied to success, which he does also point out in the beginning, yet he doesn’t discuss it in depth. However, the example used of an “Israeli” being successful just because they are usually white European settlers in a colonized land but a Pakistani person can’t have access to that same level of predetermined success doesn’t hit the point author thinks he’s making. White people hold BIPOC back in achieving any level of success. BIPOC people do have to work much harder for success, let alone power. This is a can of worms discussion that I can’t get into in a book review 🤦🏻♀️ Anyhow, things are changing and things just one book on the subject of power dynamics, written by a white man.
February 22, 2026
Pfeffer paints a contrarian view of how to get ahead and obtain the power to achieve your goals. This book is basically the application Machiavellian realpolitik to corporate America, brought to you by extensive social science. I found the book to be well written, practical, and intriguing given how many of the lessons are a 180 from what you’re likely to read in the memoirs of any corporate executive (which, as Pfeffer says, are themselves exercises in brand building and narrative control). Some of the lessons that stuck the most with me:
-People gravitate towards the powerful. They want to be around winners. The more powerful and successful you are, the more people will want to be around you and do things for you, which builds more power. To that end, don’t do or say things that makes you seem powerless.
-Don’t apologize for things. Apologies make you seem weak and like you’re unwilling to break rules and social norms, which is a characteristic of low-power people.
-You can get away with a lot of rule breaking because rule breaking signals to others that you are powerful. People are inherently conflict averse and need to actively challenge your rule breaking, which most are unlikely to do, especially when you seem powerful (which you do when you are breaking a rule).
-Get out of your own way. The most likely person to stop you from doing things is yourself.
-Your communication style signals power levels. Write short, confident emails. Speak slowly and decisively. Don’t couch your language “I think,” “maybe,” and other fillers. Don’t always respond immediately to texts and emails.
-Your appearance signals power levels. Dress so that you stand out. Make prolonged eye contact when listening.
-Build your network. Invest in building weak ties. Surround yourself with powerful people because powerful people attract other powerful people, and this makes you seem powerful by association. Ask people for favors, and be generous in helping others out to activate reciprocity norms.
-Build a brand. Have a succinct view of who you are and what you have to offer, and work to get that story out into the world. Start a newsletter or a podcast, speak at conferences, write a back, share insights on social media. Be controversial in your opinions because controversy gets attention.
-If you are successful in achieving power, people will forgive and forget the things you did to get there because they benefit from your association.
-People gravitate towards the powerful. They want to be around winners. The more powerful and successful you are, the more people will want to be around you and do things for you, which builds more power. To that end, don’t do or say things that makes you seem powerless.
-Don’t apologize for things. Apologies make you seem weak and like you’re unwilling to break rules and social norms, which is a characteristic of low-power people.
-You can get away with a lot of rule breaking because rule breaking signals to others that you are powerful. People are inherently conflict averse and need to actively challenge your rule breaking, which most are unlikely to do, especially when you seem powerful (which you do when you are breaking a rule).
-Get out of your own way. The most likely person to stop you from doing things is yourself.
-Your communication style signals power levels. Write short, confident emails. Speak slowly and decisively. Don’t couch your language “I think,” “maybe,” and other fillers. Don’t always respond immediately to texts and emails.
-Your appearance signals power levels. Dress so that you stand out. Make prolonged eye contact when listening.
-Build your network. Invest in building weak ties. Surround yourself with powerful people because powerful people attract other powerful people, and this makes you seem powerful by association. Ask people for favors, and be generous in helping others out to activate reciprocity norms.
-Build a brand. Have a succinct view of who you are and what you have to offer, and work to get that story out into the world. Start a newsletter or a podcast, speak at conferences, write a back, share insights on social media. Be controversial in your opinions because controversy gets attention.
-If you are successful in achieving power, people will forgive and forget the things you did to get there because they benefit from your association.
Read
August 2, 2024"The seven rules are:
1. Get out of your own way.
2. Break the rules
3. Appear powerful.
4. Build a powerful brand.
5. Network relentlessly.
6. Use your power.
7. Success excuses almost everything you may have done to acquire power" (xiv).
"...Often the people who most forcefully advocate authenticity and transparency are the least likely to possess those qualities" (xxi).
"How people think of themselves invariably influences what they project to others and what behaviors they will enact. The lesson: use self-descriptive adjectives that convey power, and eschew attitudes that, even if accurate, fairly or unfairly, diminish your status" (20).
"Talented people, with objectively amazing accomplishments, hold self-descriptions that disempower themselves and that, if and when internalized, inappropriately limit their career prospects. Powerful, accomplished, successful people tell their stories in ways that downplay their gifts and accomplishments. Such behavior is unhelpful" (21).
"If you want power, you need to toughen up and become able to persist in the face of opposition and persevere even when confronted by setbacks. Persistence and resistance seem to require not overly obsessing about what others think and say while processing enough ego strength to keep problems and criticism from throwing you off course. Like other personal qualities that help make people powerful, persistence and resilience can be developed, particularly with practice, experience, and social support" (29).
"Peter Belmi believes that one (but not the only) reason social class predicts willingness to use political-power-seeking behaviors is that there is considerable evidence that lower social class is associated with a more collective versus an individualistic orientation. This difference means that people from lower-class origins are less likely to be comfortable with doing things that they see as just furthering their own interests. In one of their studies, Belmi and Laurin found that there was no difference in people's interest in seeking positions of power when they could achieve those positions through prosocial means. This implies that there are not class differences in the desire for higher positions, only in the willingness to use political strategies to achieve them. Following up on the insight on class differences in individualism, Belmi and Laurin found that when they couched the quest for power in terms of being able to achieve a superordinate goal of helping others, the differences among social classes in their willingness to use political strategies disappeared" (31).
"In practical terms for exercising power, this means that resistance to what you want to do is likely to be less than you expect because people will be reluctant to confront you and risk a difficult interpersonal conversation" (52).
1. Get out of your own way.
2. Break the rules
3. Appear powerful.
4. Build a powerful brand.
5. Network relentlessly.
6. Use your power.
7. Success excuses almost everything you may have done to acquire power" (xiv).
"...Often the people who most forcefully advocate authenticity and transparency are the least likely to possess those qualities" (xxi).
"How people think of themselves invariably influences what they project to others and what behaviors they will enact. The lesson: use self-descriptive adjectives that convey power, and eschew attitudes that, even if accurate, fairly or unfairly, diminish your status" (20).
"Talented people, with objectively amazing accomplishments, hold self-descriptions that disempower themselves and that, if and when internalized, inappropriately limit their career prospects. Powerful, accomplished, successful people tell their stories in ways that downplay their gifts and accomplishments. Such behavior is unhelpful" (21).
"If you want power, you need to toughen up and become able to persist in the face of opposition and persevere even when confronted by setbacks. Persistence and resistance seem to require not overly obsessing about what others think and say while processing enough ego strength to keep problems and criticism from throwing you off course. Like other personal qualities that help make people powerful, persistence and resilience can be developed, particularly with practice, experience, and social support" (29).
"Peter Belmi believes that one (but not the only) reason social class predicts willingness to use political-power-seeking behaviors is that there is considerable evidence that lower social class is associated with a more collective versus an individualistic orientation. This difference means that people from lower-class origins are less likely to be comfortable with doing things that they see as just furthering their own interests. In one of their studies, Belmi and Laurin found that there was no difference in people's interest in seeking positions of power when they could achieve those positions through prosocial means. This implies that there are not class differences in the desire for higher positions, only in the willingness to use political strategies to achieve them. Following up on the insight on class differences in individualism, Belmi and Laurin found that when they couched the quest for power in terms of being able to achieve a superordinate goal of helping others, the differences among social classes in their willingness to use political strategies disappeared" (31).
"In practical terms for exercising power, this means that resistance to what you want to do is likely to be less than you expect because people will be reluctant to confront you and risk a difficult interpersonal conversation" (52).
August 19, 2022
"Leadership is not a moral pursuit". It is above all about the pragmatics of making things happen whether they be moral, immoral, or amoral.
I struggled for a long time with my inner sense of justice, relating leadership to morality. One does not necessarily go hand in hand with the other. Only until I accepted this fact, could I open my mind to understanding why some of the worst people on the planet obtain positions of leadership and clout.
Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer teaches his class on power at Stanford University and the seats in his class are rarely, if ever, empty. He brings the principles that he teaches from the classroom to the pages of this book! These 7 rules are practical and laid out in a manner that operates regardless of moral aptitude. Since morality is subjective, it would be wise to approach this book by suspending your handle on morality and look at each rule objectively.
The examples that Pfeffer provides help you understand that the way you use these rules are up to you, however you decide to use them. Liken unto Robert Greene's '48 Laws of Power', Jeffrey Pfeffer's concise rules will have you seeking opportunities to harness and grow your own power.
I struggled for a long time with my inner sense of justice, relating leadership to morality. One does not necessarily go hand in hand with the other. Only until I accepted this fact, could I open my mind to understanding why some of the worst people on the planet obtain positions of leadership and clout.
Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer teaches his class on power at Stanford University and the seats in his class are rarely, if ever, empty. He brings the principles that he teaches from the classroom to the pages of this book! These 7 rules are practical and laid out in a manner that operates regardless of moral aptitude. Since morality is subjective, it would be wise to approach this book by suspending your handle on morality and look at each rule objectively.
The examples that Pfeffer provides help you understand that the way you use these rules are up to you, however you decide to use them. Liken unto Robert Greene's '48 Laws of Power', Jeffrey Pfeffer's concise rules will have you seeking opportunities to harness and grow your own power.
August 25, 2025
The author is the type of man one can easily imagine also writes how-to books on how to pick up chicks, with ideas like “insult them,” and “act uninterested.” Possibly relevant for an outdated definition of power, still hanging on amongst the boomers; utterly baffling and contradictory to anyone seeking to lead human beings with armed with values, poise, and inner strength.
Honestly, who respects someone who loses their temper? Why in the world would leaders want to be like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who shine brightly for just a brief moment? The leaders of tomorrow want to be leaders that endure, and see these men as pathetic examples of what not to do.
Honestly, who respects someone who loses their temper? Why in the world would leaders want to be like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who shine brightly for just a brief moment? The leaders of tomorrow want to be leaders that endure, and see these men as pathetic examples of what not to do.
November 12, 2022
7 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 by 𝙅𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙮 𝙋𝙛𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧
✊🏻Power is absolute, it's the necessity of each living organism, without it you're nothing and with it you're everything, on whatsoever you go you can see the necessity of it and get only a handful people have it. Regardless of the perspective we need power in each and every step of our life.
𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.
✊🏻People do not understand the behavioral realities of power, they are continually surprised by both what happens and the effectiveness of actions that seemingly violate conventional wisdom about leadership - mostly because much of this wisdom is largely untethered from research on the social psychology of human behavior. Sometimes the surprise is accompanied by unanticipated career setbacks that arise because people are unprepared for the realities of social life.
✊🏻 Ultimately this book will help you people better understand the everyday dynamics and political truths of organizations of all types, public and private. The objective of this book is to make people learn how to apply these 7 Rules of Power and achieve their desirable goal, or moreover have a clarification at least.
📌A brilliantly written and concisely researched read with a classic approach. It was somehow an interesting read for me though I haven't read any of the author's previous works but now I want to and will be looking to read in the near future. If you're a curious thinker and want to understand the psychology behind power then this might be a perfect choice for you.
#diabolical_nerds_bookshelf.
✊🏻Power is absolute, it's the necessity of each living organism, without it you're nothing and with it you're everything, on whatsoever you go you can see the necessity of it and get only a handful people have it. Regardless of the perspective we need power in each and every step of our life.
𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.
✊🏻People do not understand the behavioral realities of power, they are continually surprised by both what happens and the effectiveness of actions that seemingly violate conventional wisdom about leadership - mostly because much of this wisdom is largely untethered from research on the social psychology of human behavior. Sometimes the surprise is accompanied by unanticipated career setbacks that arise because people are unprepared for the realities of social life.
✊🏻 Ultimately this book will help you people better understand the everyday dynamics and political truths of organizations of all types, public and private. The objective of this book is to make people learn how to apply these 7 Rules of Power and achieve their desirable goal, or moreover have a clarification at least.
📌A brilliantly written and concisely researched read with a classic approach. It was somehow an interesting read for me though I haven't read any of the author's previous works but now I want to and will be looking to read in the near future. If you're a curious thinker and want to understand the psychology behind power then this might be a perfect choice for you.
#diabolical_nerds_bookshelf.
September 1, 2024
Surprisingly resonated. Made me uncomfortable at times because of the adherence to the type of world we live in rather than the way we may want the world to look, but suppose it’s more practical this way
July 10, 2022
7 Rules of power - Jeffrey Pfeffer
I have been a fan of Jeffrey’s critical view on topics close to my heart, like leadership. I also have been intrigued by his views on power. The moment I saw a new book on power as a review copy on Netgalley, I just jumped at it. Am really thankful to the publisher for making the copy available to me to review just when the book is getting launched.
The book is a brilliant take from multiple perspectives about a framework of power - what enables people to get power. How someone may want to use it to be powerful, or understand others. Jeffrey very brilliantly covered the biggest doubt in my mind - many of us do not want to get that kind of power - by just a simple quote “if you want power to be used for good, more good people need to have power”. He also clarifies that these rules are like tools to be used - the outcome is something he is not responsible for - whether it is for good or for bad. He also digresses on this matter to make some wonderful remarks about the impossibility of teaching ethics to students. All of these inputs are insightful and bring to the mind the need to think more about a lot of what is being taught in business schools today (on ethics).
The book covers each of the seven rules in great detail, with plenty of research and anecdotes backing the rationale behind it. In addition to publicly known famous cases (such as Theranos, Trump) Jeffrey brings in stories about his students who took his courses on power and how they have reacted to their learnings from the course. It almost makes me want to pick up his course and teach it in my b-school (with the fear that I am not one to want to follow these rules, though I want to make the world a better place, teach my students to be better citizens).
The rules are very simple - easy to recollect and keep tabs - but execution in my view seems to be a huge task. So only those who are clear in their goals and need the power will go the long haul. Rules like ‘get out of your own way’, ‘break the rules’, ‘appear powerful’, …’success excuses almost everything else’, are powerful yet simple.
Though I was completely convinced with all the research and the anecdotes that Jeffrey provides, while reading through the book all I needed to do was to run through each “powerful” person I was seeing around me now and in my past. I was amazed to see how some of the rules like “appear powerful”, “break the rules” and “success excuses almost everything…” were brilliantly played out in real life. I could see people breaking the rules - appearing powerful both through that as as well gaining power through that. People who have ongoing allegations against them getting second terms as leaders of elite institutions and so on and so forth.
TL&DR: I came away from this book totally bought in to these rules. I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially in the business world. You will learn about how the powerful around you became that way. How you may want to become powerful and improve the organization you are in.
I have been a fan of Jeffrey’s critical view on topics close to my heart, like leadership. I also have been intrigued by his views on power. The moment I saw a new book on power as a review copy on Netgalley, I just jumped at it. Am really thankful to the publisher for making the copy available to me to review just when the book is getting launched.
The book is a brilliant take from multiple perspectives about a framework of power - what enables people to get power. How someone may want to use it to be powerful, or understand others. Jeffrey very brilliantly covered the biggest doubt in my mind - many of us do not want to get that kind of power - by just a simple quote “if you want power to be used for good, more good people need to have power”. He also clarifies that these rules are like tools to be used - the outcome is something he is not responsible for - whether it is for good or for bad. He also digresses on this matter to make some wonderful remarks about the impossibility of teaching ethics to students. All of these inputs are insightful and bring to the mind the need to think more about a lot of what is being taught in business schools today (on ethics).
The book covers each of the seven rules in great detail, with plenty of research and anecdotes backing the rationale behind it. In addition to publicly known famous cases (such as Theranos, Trump) Jeffrey brings in stories about his students who took his courses on power and how they have reacted to their learnings from the course. It almost makes me want to pick up his course and teach it in my b-school (with the fear that I am not one to want to follow these rules, though I want to make the world a better place, teach my students to be better citizens).
The rules are very simple - easy to recollect and keep tabs - but execution in my view seems to be a huge task. So only those who are clear in their goals and need the power will go the long haul. Rules like ‘get out of your own way’, ‘break the rules’, ‘appear powerful’, …’success excuses almost everything else’, are powerful yet simple.
Though I was completely convinced with all the research and the anecdotes that Jeffrey provides, while reading through the book all I needed to do was to run through each “powerful” person I was seeing around me now and in my past. I was amazed to see how some of the rules like “appear powerful”, “break the rules” and “success excuses almost everything…” were brilliantly played out in real life. I could see people breaking the rules - appearing powerful both through that as as well gaining power through that. People who have ongoing allegations against them getting second terms as leaders of elite institutions and so on and so forth.
TL&DR: I came away from this book totally bought in to these rules. I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially in the business world. You will learn about how the powerful around you became that way. How you may want to become powerful and improve the organization you are in.
November 28, 2025
Book Review: The 7 Rules of Power: A Confronting and Life-Changing Manual
Jeffrey Pfeffer’s The 7 Rules of Power is not just a book—it is a reckoning. Having previously engaged with Pfeffer’s work and taken his highly-regarded class on power, I can attest that this book represents his most articulate and impactful distillation of his lessons yet. It cuts through the comforting myths of corporate leadership and forces readers to confront the stark, uncomfortable realities of how the world actually operates.
The initial response to Pfeffer's material is often a visceral rejection of everything he suggests. We are taught to believe that competence, modesty, and hard work are sufficient for success, but Pfeffer, rooted firmly in social science, reveals that social interactions and organizational politics are far more primitive and transactional.
The profound journey of reading this book begins when the initial resistance fades, and you start looking at the world around you: the organizational power dynamics, the career trajectories of those who "get ahead," and the unspoken rules. In that moment of uncomfortable acceptance, the true, thought-provoking work begins.
This book forces a deep, life-questioning internal dialogue: Knowing these truths, how do you respond in a way that remains congruent with your own values? This is the journey I have been on for years, and it is a battle. Pfeffer expertly illuminates the paradox that our own integrity and commitment to traditional values can become the very obstacles that prevent us from achieving goals that are deeply important to us. We alone get in our own way, our self-imposed limitations acting as powerful, invisible barriers.
The 7 Rules of Power is a powerful, life-changing manual that offers tough, necessary lessons. It teaches that understanding these primitive human social dynamics is the key to achieving the power required to accomplish the things that truly matter. I wholeheartedly encourage every professional and every person seeking to create meaningful change to read this book with an open mind. Be warned: the lessons are tough, and the truth of them may initially feel like a harsh, negative contrast to your ideals, but once you read it, you will not be able to unsee the mechanisms of power in the world around you.
Jeffrey Pfeffer’s The 7 Rules of Power is not just a book—it is a reckoning. Having previously engaged with Pfeffer’s work and taken his highly-regarded class on power, I can attest that this book represents his most articulate and impactful distillation of his lessons yet. It cuts through the comforting myths of corporate leadership and forces readers to confront the stark, uncomfortable realities of how the world actually operates.
The initial response to Pfeffer's material is often a visceral rejection of everything he suggests. We are taught to believe that competence, modesty, and hard work are sufficient for success, but Pfeffer, rooted firmly in social science, reveals that social interactions and organizational politics are far more primitive and transactional.
The profound journey of reading this book begins when the initial resistance fades, and you start looking at the world around you: the organizational power dynamics, the career trajectories of those who "get ahead," and the unspoken rules. In that moment of uncomfortable acceptance, the true, thought-provoking work begins.
This book forces a deep, life-questioning internal dialogue: Knowing these truths, how do you respond in a way that remains congruent with your own values? This is the journey I have been on for years, and it is a battle. Pfeffer expertly illuminates the paradox that our own integrity and commitment to traditional values can become the very obstacles that prevent us from achieving goals that are deeply important to us. We alone get in our own way, our self-imposed limitations acting as powerful, invisible barriers.
The 7 Rules of Power is a powerful, life-changing manual that offers tough, necessary lessons. It teaches that understanding these primitive human social dynamics is the key to achieving the power required to accomplish the things that truly matter. I wholeheartedly encourage every professional and every person seeking to create meaningful change to read this book with an open mind. Be warned: the lessons are tough, and the truth of them may initially feel like a harsh, negative contrast to your ideals, but once you read it, you will not be able to unsee the mechanisms of power in the world around you.
August 30, 2022
In 7 Rules of Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer outlines what he views as the (seven) most important strategies to achieve, accumulate, and maintain power. Unsurprisingly, because he is a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, much of what he discusses is related to the implications and importance of power in professional settings. Here are what I viewed as the main points from the 7 sections:
1) Get out of your own way – Get past the uncomfortable aspects of aspiring for or acquiring power. While many people view power as having a negative connotation, Pfeffer emphasizes that power is amoral; whether or not power is “good” or “bad” depends on who is using it or who has it. Aside from providing examples of Stanford students that were out-maneuvered in high-level business and start-up situations, Pfeffer also stresses the importance of getting over one’s imposter syndrome in order to exude greater confidence, which of course leads to having greater power.
2) Break the Rules – Often times the ends justify the means, and Pfeffer is more or less on board with the age-old adage of “it’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” While he does provide some examples of accomplished and powerful individuals who got their way by breaking the rules, I think the most important part of this section is really his emphasis on not being afraid to break social norms and conventions to get what you want.
The sections on the other 5 rules - Show up in a powerful fashion, Build a Powerful brand, Network, use your power, and once you’ve acquired power, what you did to get it will be forgiven, forgotten or both - also had plenty of useful snippets of wisdom For example, while I’ve heard this plenty of times over the course of my adult life, the examples he provided for “weak” ties (as opposed to strong ties) being more important and more powerful when it comes to getting a job or career growth were convincing. I also appreciated his description of how and to what extent some of the most powerful business people we know (Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc) have done to shape and cultivate their image and brand (and ultimately, their power).
1) Get out of your own way – Get past the uncomfortable aspects of aspiring for or acquiring power. While many people view power as having a negative connotation, Pfeffer emphasizes that power is amoral; whether or not power is “good” or “bad” depends on who is using it or who has it. Aside from providing examples of Stanford students that were out-maneuvered in high-level business and start-up situations, Pfeffer also stresses the importance of getting over one’s imposter syndrome in order to exude greater confidence, which of course leads to having greater power.
2) Break the Rules – Often times the ends justify the means, and Pfeffer is more or less on board with the age-old adage of “it’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” While he does provide some examples of accomplished and powerful individuals who got their way by breaking the rules, I think the most important part of this section is really his emphasis on not being afraid to break social norms and conventions to get what you want.
The sections on the other 5 rules - Show up in a powerful fashion, Build a Powerful brand, Network, use your power, and once you’ve acquired power, what you did to get it will be forgiven, forgotten or both - also had plenty of useful snippets of wisdom For example, while I’ve heard this plenty of times over the course of my adult life, the examples he provided for “weak” ties (as opposed to strong ties) being more important and more powerful when it comes to getting a job or career growth were convincing. I also appreciated his description of how and to what extent some of the most powerful business people we know (Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc) have done to shape and cultivate their image and brand (and ultimately, their power).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2022
The 7 Rules of Power is a great book harness untapped potential. I enjoyed learning the rules of Power and learning that I already use some of them and how to improve my use of them. I feel like some self-improvement books talk and boast but do not give you the actionable steps this book was not the case. I felt I was given the knowledge and tools needed to apply these rules to my life without the extra fluff some books add in. I was hooked on this audiobook immediately and binge listened to this one. I feel like I will be visiting these rules repeatedly.
Thank you netgalley for the arc audiobook.
Thank you netgalley for the arc audiobook.
September 1, 2024
Corporate strategy and politics expert Julian Cole (seriously, check him out on social media) recommended "7 Rules of Power" by Jeffrey Pfeffer, and I have to say, it opened my eyes. As a liberal with a picture of Barack Obama hanging above my desk, I've always equated influence with persuasive elegance and eloquence. But Pfeffer pushes beyond that, delving into the uncomfortable yet necessary avenues of building power. It’s an eye-opener, especially for someone like me who needed a broader perspective. As Cole reminds us: the higher you climb in any organization, the sharper the competition. Equipping yourself with proven, scientifically-backed strategies like these is essential for the journey ahead. Highly recommend!
August 18, 2022
Undoubtedly, this is the ultimate guide for the Sacklers, Ghosns, Holmes and Paliafitos of the World. Alas, those people got caught and this is the only sin unforgivable by Jeffrey Pfeffer!
My recommendation is that if you have a ‘balanced scorecard’ in life take the advice in this book with a grain of salt. A person with any sense of morality can also find this book useful as an alarm bell not to be eaten by sharks.
Power, is important and should be exercised with skill, but towards which end?
This book should be rewritten with an eighth rule on how to manage yourself when you lose power. This is in my opinion the rule that will balance it all.
My recommendation is that if you have a ‘balanced scorecard’ in life take the advice in this book with a grain of salt. A person with any sense of morality can also find this book useful as an alarm bell not to be eaten by sharks.
Power, is important and should be exercised with skill, but towards which end?
This book should be rewritten with an eighth rule on how to manage yourself when you lose power. This is in my opinion the rule that will balance it all.
October 4, 2022
I was tempted to rate this book lower, since most of what's talked about sounds unnatural and goes against all the trainings you get in corporate world. This is reflected aptly in a quote in the Coda chapter. However as the author states, the leadership stories and kindness that's often reflected comes after leaders reach the top. The author claims this is purely based on empirical evidence and has a lot of research to quote. I think the book misses an opportunity to balance the studies to avoid coming across as cherry picking the evidence. Nonetheless, the acknowledgements section which had nothing to do with the book, was somehow the highlight for it's raw and unfiltered expressions.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews