Do Something

At the US Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech did many good things, but one stood out to me with regard to power. Harris drove home the point that it’s not good enough to talk about a problem—you need to get out there and do something. The way she presented this was brilliant.

First, as my colleague Joe Magee first noted in 2009, leaders who take action are seen as more powerful than those who are deliberative. US voters want someone strong—Bill Clinton observed once that these voters believe “Strong and wrong is better than weak and right.” Harris seems comfortable with strength, and she can look steely while talking about her tough actions as a prosecutor and senator.

But Harris, as not only a woman but also a Black and South Asian woman, faces a challenge past candidates didn’t. Women are expected to be warm and relationship-oriented, not powerful—being powerful can look like being “cold” and lead voters to see something wrong in the female candidate. So think about how Harris introduced her bold action orientation: by talking about her mother. By grounding “do something” in her mother’s love and high expectations, she conveyed power tightly coupled with a warm relationship. And it didn’t hurt that she was building on an earlier speech by Michelle Obama, using the same words—Obama’s public image is suffused with warmth.

In my teaching and training, I often talk with women about the “double bind” we face when we need to be strong and competent, but are penalized for not showing enough warmth. (My friend and colleague Alison Fragale has just written a book on this topic–not the double bind itself, but how managing one’s status can help with unbinding. It’ll be published in early September and is titled Likeable Badass—check it out!) We also know that women are penalized for seeking power, even though they are often well liked once they’re in power. Harris’s approach is a smart way to convey strength and warmth on her way to gaining power.