image: Julie Battilana is the Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School and the Alan L. Gleitsman Professor of Social Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School, where she is also the founder and faculty chair of the Social Innovation and Change Initiative. Over the past fifteen years, Battilana has studied the politics of change in organizations and in society while teaching on power and leadership. She has advised change-makers around the world in the public, private, and social sectors. She is also the cofounder of the Democratizing Work initiative, a global alliance of researchers and practitioners collaborating toward a more just, green, and fair economic system. Originally from France, she received a joint PhD from INSEAD and from École Normale Supérieure de Paris-Saclay. Tiziana Casciaro is a professor of organizational behavior and human resource management and the Marcel Desautels Chair in Integrative Thinking at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. Her research on interpersonal and organizational networks an the power dynamics has received distinguished scientific achievement awards from the Academy of Management and has been covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Economist, Financial Times, MSNBC, ABC, CBC, Fortune, and TIME magazine. She advises organizations and professionals across industries and has been recognized by Thinkers50 as a management thinker most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led. Originally from Italy, she received a Laurea from Bocconi University and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University. view more
Credit: Battilana/Casciaro
Toronto – Power is one of the most misunderstood—and therefore vilified—concepts in our society. Many assume power is predetermined by personality or wealth, or that it’s gained by strong-arming others. Many write it off as “dirty” and want nothing to do with it. Our misconceptions about power have devastating consequences, since these beliefs cause us to disengage with one of the world’s most renewable resources. In fact, pioneering researchers and professors Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro show that power is energy for everyone to harness to make our lives, work, and societies better.
Their new book Power, for All: How It Really Works and Why It’s Everyone’s Business published today by Simon & Schuster offers a timely, democratized vision of power. Everyone can understand how power operates, and research shows that once you understand, you can take action to improve life for yourself and others. We all must engage with power to ensure we protect our freedoms and act together as enlightened citizens.
Disrupting who’s at the top and who’s at the bottom is often daunting, but Battilana and Casciaro show how those with less power can band together to challenge established structures and make them more balanced by agitating, innovating, and orchestrating change. They also teach readers how to power-map their workplace to find who has influence and why, and plan for and bring about enduring power shifts. Through vivid storytelling, they demystify the essential mechanisms for acquiring and using power for all.
Inspiring, accessible, and life-changing, Power, for All is an essential guide to understanding and navigating power in our relationships, organizations, and society
Julie Battilana is the Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School and the Alan L. Gleitsman Professor of Social Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School, where she is also the founder and faculty chair of the Social Innovation and Change Initiative. Over the past fifteen years, Battilana has studied the politics of change in organizations and in society while teaching on power and leadership. She has advised change-makers around the world in the public, private, and social sectors. She is also the cofounder of the Democratizing Work initiative, a global alliance of researchers and practitioners collaborating toward a more just, green, and fair economic system. Originally from France, she received a joint PhD from INSEAD and from École Normale Supérieure de Paris-Saclay.
Tiziana Casciaro is a professor of organizational behavior and human resource management and the Marcel Desautels Chair in Integrative Thinking at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. Her research on interpersonal and organizational networks an the power dynamics has received distinguished scientific achievement awards from the Academy of Management and has been covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Economist, Financial Times, MSNBC, ABC, CBC, Fortune, and TIME magazine. She advises organizations and professionals across industries and has been recognized by Thinkers50 as a management thinker most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led. Originally from Italy, she received a Laurea from Bocconi University and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.
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The Rotman School will host an online launch event for the book on September 9, 2021.
Advance Praise for Power, For All.
“A remarkably insightful read on what power is, how it’s gained and lost, and how it can be used for good. The masterful analysis by two leading experts will make you rethink some of your most basic assumptions about influence.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again
“In Power, for All, Battilana and Casciaro help us understand that power doesn't always have to destroy and take—it can be used to serve and build; and they show us how to organize in a way that combines our power with others. A necessary work for this cultural moment.” —Tarana Burke, founder of the 'me too.' movement and co-author of New York Times bestseller You Are Your Best Thing
"Power for All is an instant classic: a brilliantly conceived, beautifully written and highly informative guide to the critical but often misunderstood phenomenon of power. Battilana and Casciaro weave together insights from a wide range of research studies—brought to life through compelling stories—to present a profoundly moral case for how to use power to make our world better.” —Amy C. Edmondson, professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Fearless Organization
"In an age when authoritarians are on the rise and freedoms are imperiled, Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro offer a fresh, more hopeful view of how power can be shared by all citizens. Their conclusions, rooted in research and world-wide reporting, show that power can be dirty but in honorable hands, can also be an enormous force for good. This book will be invaluable to anyone asking how to acquire power, how to keep it and how to exercise it for moral purposes." —David Gergen, CNN political analyst and adviser to four U.S. presidents
“Power dynamics are tricky, frustrating, and frequently destructive. A central cause is the lack of a concrete, usable model for thinking through how to diagnose and shift power dynamics. In Power for All, Battilana and Casciaro fill this void by providing both a model and numerous case studies to illustrate how each one of us can manage power to more productive ends.” —Roger Martin, professor emeritus and former Dean of the Rotman School of Management and bestselling author of Playing to Win
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The Rotman School of Management is part of the University of Toronto, a global centre of research and teaching excellence at the heart of Canada’s commercial capital. Rotman is a catalyst for transformative learning, insights and public engagement, bringing together diverse views and initiatives around a defining purpose: to create value for business and society. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca
For more information:
Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
E-mail:mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca