5 Benevolent Traits of Powerful People

You don’t have to be smart to be powerful. You don’t have to work harder than everyone else. You don’t even need to be liked. Research out of Stanford University shows perception is the main ingredient that separates leaders from followers.

This means what people think you do, who people think you are, is more important than who you actually are. Don’t get me wrong — hard work and an intelligent approach are crucial to success, but they’re not the key ingredients that will land you on top. So what are
some traits you can work on to radiate power?

Confidence

It may be the most important trait powerful people share. It’s also what shapes others’ perceptions of you. In general, people are ultimately more attracted to confidence than to good looks. It’s also what will put you at the top of your career. You can spend years getting a good education and experience, but confidence is what pushes people to go for what they want.

Failure

Confident people aren’t afraid to fail. They’re also not afraid of rejection. Or, if they are, they don’t let these fears stop them. Everyone fails. Everyone gets rejected. The thing about failure is it’s critical to success. Overcoming failure actually builds self-esteem. Self-motivation and confidence are born from the successes that follow failure. Powerful people don’t waste time justifying failure or blaming others. Excuses are what weak people make. Owning a mistake, taking responsibility, accepting the consequences, then learning from them are going to get you much further than looking for someone else to pin it on.

Appearance

Several studies show attractive people get hired sooner, get promoted more, and make better money than their less attractive co-workers. I’ll let you in on a secret: You don’t need to be the most beautiful person in the room to be the most powerful. (You don’t even need to be among the most beautiful, but you do need to act like you are.) Being attractive can, and often does, breed confidence — but so can having unattractive traits. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Napoleon complex — the belief that shorter people tend to be more aggressive and domineering to compensate. If you feel ugly, left out, or rejected because of your looks, use it to your advantage. Compensate like crazy! Dress well. Work on staying healthy. Make your presence known.

One experiment shows people who stay in a position that takes up more space for longer than one minute (like raising your arms triumphantly toward the sky, for example) feel more powerful. This is caused by a biochemical reaction that increases testosterone and decreases cortisol. That’s right: Standing as if you’re larger than life makes you feel like you’re larger than life. Take up space. Smile. Hold your head high and walk with confidence.

Communication

Good communication is key. This means you need to know what you want. Take time to get to know yourself, to develop a vision. Then work on communicating your vision as clearly and precisely as possible. Listen to others. This is important for two reasons. First, you’re letting people know you care about what they have to say. Second, you’re building support, and you need the support of others to be put in positions of power.

However, don’t confuse teamwork and team building with likability. Not all strong leaders are liked — but they do listen, and they do implement others’ ideas and give them credit when doing so. Jeffrey Pfeffer is a professor at Stanford University who wrote Power: Why Some People Have it and Others Don’t. He says Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is a perfect example of showing it’s better to be respected than to be liked. “He’s very tough.” Pfeffer tells Forbes Magazine that Jobs illustrates that “likability is highly overrated. If you get power, the likeability will follow. People love to be associated with success.”

Keep in mind that how you communicate matters. One particularly interesting study shows it’s important to break eye contact because continuous, direct contact lessens persuasion. Instead of looking at someone’s eyes, look at their mouth. Another study published in Science found that people who sat in uncomfortable chairs were better negotiators (likely because the rigid sensation lessens a shift in decisions). This same study finds people who carry heavier objects are perceived to be more important.

Power

Powerful people remain powerful by not abusing it. Don’t use your position to make others feel bad. Be kind. Be ethical. Lead by example. If public opinion sways against you, your power decreases considerably.