Right now, you might be feeling uncomfortable. Everything in this chapter challenges what you've been taught about being a good person, a good employee, a good colleague. That discomfort is your growth trying to happen.
The nice person's dilemma isn't really a dilemma at all. It's a choice between being used and being useful. Between being liked and being respected. Between being convenient and being valued.
You don't have to become a villain to stop being a victim. You just have to stop confusing being nice with being powerless.
But here's the question that changes everything: If being nice isn't enough, what is?
The answer lies in understanding the power paradox—how the most influential people get others to say yes while maintaining the right to say no. That's where we're headed next.
Are you ready to discover why everything you believe about power might be wrong?
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# Chapter 2: The Power Paradox
The elevator doors were closing when David saw his CEO approaching. Six months ago, he would have frantically pushed the "open" button, smiled apologetically, maybe even made small talk about the weather.
Instead, David maintained eye contact, nodded acknowledgment, and let the doors close.
The CEO caught the next elevator. But when they both arrived at the executive floor, something unexpected happened. The CEO approached David.
"You're David from Product Development, right? I've been meaning to talk to you about the Singapore expansion. Do you have five minutes?"
That five-minute conversation led to David leading a $10 million project. All because he'd learned the most counterintuitive truth about power: the more you chase it, the further it runs. The more you grasp it, the less you hold.