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Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, or has been studying how we gain,exhaust, abuse, and lose power for the past 25 years.
In his recent book,"The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence," Keltner makes the case that the skills we rely on to achieve positions of power — things like social intelligence, or empathy (sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own),taking an interest in others — are exactly the traits we forget when power is achieved.
He argues that pride comes before destruction, and power, and which feels very much like pride in the moment, results in abuse of those we once helped. Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear our full interview.
Source: wnyc.org