The recent tornado that hit Joplin, MO or the massive flooding along the Mississippi River—those are forces over which we have no control. Same goes for the big boss who goes beserk in a meeting, shouting and pointing fingers.
It’s not the same with power…our capacity to change “what is” to “what can be.”
Not the same at all.
Recently, the media has been full of stories of people (mostly men) in high places who have exploited their power in despicable ways.
As I see it, those people had a choice. They weren’t victims of forces beyond their control. They knowingly chose to abuse their personal or their professional power, or both.
At some point, these unsavory individuals choose to believe they were more special, more privileged and hence above the rules that are applicable to us lesser mortals.
Power, office politics, and countless other topics are labeled as corrupt, evil, and something to be avoided because someone elected to apply them in a ‘I win, you lose’ manner. Taking that position is akin to the old saying about throwing the baby out with the bath water.
By definition power isn’t bad nor are office politics. Power and office politics only becomes bad when people choose to use them in self-centered and self-serving ways.
Power, in and of itself, does not corrupt absolutely…unless one chooses to let corruption be the outcome. Having power merely reveals what the person was all along.
What say you? Disagree? Agree?
Whew…stepping back from the edge, mini-rant over…looking forward to hearing what you have to say!
Quotes about power
Personal power is the ability to stand on your own two feet with a smile on your face in the middle of a universe that contains a million ways to crush you. ~J.Z. Colby
He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. ~Lao-Tzu
What lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do. ~Aristotle
Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs. ~Maxwell Maltz
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. ~Alice Walker
Image source before quote added: Pixabay
I agree Jane. It does seem though that power that brings considerable press coverage or people fawning over you makes people more vulnerable to abusing their power. There’s no one, or few, that disagree or call them out. Read a wonderful and disturbing article in Mother Jones about the Science of not believing science and it talked about how the brain works. It talked about the difficulty of changing people;s minds and the large degrees to which people rational their behavior. I’m rambling now…
What troubles me about the press coverage about people in power doing bad is that the concept of free will and choice is ignored. Have you read “Switch” by Chip and Dan Heath? Some great insights into change there. Thanks for stopping by and sharing, Cherry!