# Unlocking Your Power at Work: Why you underestimate your own power with Deborah Gruenfeld

An episode of [TED Business](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/470622782), 30 Oct 2026, 43 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/675727607205a5bc68e57057/e/6adbaaaf02b9e3b259f81745/media.mp3

In the modern workplace, hierarchy and power differences are often viewed as problems to solve. But Deborah Gruenfeld has a different perspective: hierarchy is not only essential to organizations, but we actually crave it in our relationships and communities. Deborah is a professor at Stanford University and a social and organizational psychologist who studies power and powerlessness. In this episode, she joins Anne and Frances to demystify how power actually works at work, why people underestimate their own power, and how to use the power you already have more skillfully. She also offers practical tips for playing your own power up or down, and shares what she has learned studying power dynamics in marriages and long-term relationships. Anne and Frances put their own marriage to the test, exploring whether their partnership truly is—or even should be—equal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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