Science & Tech, Business, Arts & Entertainment, Community & Government
How to Win at Work
Lesson time 01:09:00 min
Hard work won’t save you if you’re in the wrong place. Learn how to analyze power structures, pick the right boss, and position yourself where promotions actually happen.
Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars
Topics include: Map Your Path to Power Managing Up The Art of Executive Presence Build Your Brand Building Useful Networks Break the Rules Holding On to Power Once You Have It
With Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer
Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer shares proven methods for gaining workplace power, building your brand, and becoming irreplaceable at work.
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JEFFREY PFEFFER (VOICEOVER): I'm interested in power because power determines what goes on in the world and what people do. For over 40 years, I've taught the social science of power at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. I've taught future prime ministers and top executives at Meta, Google, X, and many more. And now it's my privilege to share my knowledge with you. But I want you to know something from the start. This class is going to make you uncomfortable. If you think hard work, loyalty, and waiting your turn will get you promoted, you're dead wrong. If you don't understand power, people less talented than you will take your promotion, influence your career, and determine your future. This class is especially useful to anyone who has faced extra hurdles to success because the world is stacked against them, and they need to know the tricks of the trade. I'm pulling back the curtain to show you how power really works. The stakes are your career. I'm Jeffrey Pfeffer, and this is MasterClass. Power is an important subject to be learned, whether you're doing a startup or whether you're trying to climb the corporate ladder. Power is a key to professional and personal success. And therefore, I find it my mission to help people become more successful and effective in their lives and in their careers. But power, like any tool, can be used for evil, or it can be used for good. Almost every form of social change, ranging from the civil rights movement to changing how medicine is practiced, requires having enough influence to disrupt to change the status quo. If you're going to change lives and organizations in the world, you're going to need power and influence. Because if change were going to happen without exercising power and influence, it would have happened already. Getting power entails doing things that don't come naturally to you or most other people. If it came naturally, it would be easy to do and would provide you no advantage. Typically in the world, there are differences of opinion, and power is your ability to make things come out the way you want them to. Power is not changing your temperament. Power is not about changing your personality. Power is a set of behaviors and skills. And over the decades in which I've taught this material, I can tell you, you can learn those skills. These are about behaviors. They aren't changing who you are. They're changing what you do. I have seen through my own experience, my students become better and more effective versions of themselves. So these are not just feel-good theories. In fact, everything I'm going to teach you is based upon social science evidence acquired over decades. Now let's discuss how to approach a new job or evaluate your current position because you can't rise to power if you're on the wrong path from the beginning. There is a term called product-market fit. Does the product fit the market? I would say that there is another factor called person-job fit. Do you fit the...
About the Instructor
The corporate ladder isn’t climbed by the most talented—it’s conquered by those who understand how power actually works. Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer has decoded the hidden rules of workplace success and will teach you the tactics usually reserved for future CEOs. Learn how to build executive presence, develop strategic relationships that open doors, and squash impostor syndrome.
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Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer
Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer shares proven methods for gaining workplace power, building your brand, and becoming irreplaceable at work.
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