Let’s fix the problem with power

by Jane Perdue | Power

Power has a reputation problem.

When I use the word power, I’m referring to changing “what is” to “what can be.”

When I ask people to talk about power, they wrinkle their nose in disgust or say, “I’d rather not.” When I ask them why not, they offer up reasons why power is bad, saying things like:

• Power makes people selfish and insensitive.
• Power makes you over-confident, narcissistic, and corrupt.
• Having people makes you intimidating.

People aren’t wrong when they say these things about power. Who hasn’t worked for bosses who were all these bad things—and more? If personal experience isn’t enough, research affirms that some people who have power are selfish, corrupt, and cruel.

As a result of these unsavory encounters, power becomes the bad guy to be avoided, like the creepy stranger who lures kids into cars with candy.

The problem with this avoidance solution?

It leaves the bad guys in charge.

In reality, power, in and of itself, isn’t inherently good or evil. Power takes on either the goodness or badness of the person using it.

Power undirected by high purpose spells calamity; and high purpose by itself is utterly useless if the power to put it into effect is lacking. ~Theodore Roosevelt

Because so many people abuse power, we confuse power with the bad person misusing it and say we don’t want power.

When thoughts like this get into our heads, they can be hard to get rid of. However, for the greater good, now’s the time to let go of the notion that power is a bad thing and reclaim it as something good.

The problem? The bad person misusing their power

The problem with seeing power as an evil force to be avoided? This view removes the person who has the power from the equation. They become an innocent bystander to a situation of their own making. That’s not right.

Linguist Julia Penelope says the nouns we use and where we place them in a sentence changes how we interpret a topic. She says we sometimes go so far as even to forget that a person is responsible for what happened to us.

Julia uses the following series of sentences to illustrate this omission:

John beat Mary.

Mary was beaten by John.

Mary was beaten.

Mary was battered.

Mary is a battered woman.

By the time we get to the third sentence, John has disappeared, and the topic has shifted from John beating Mary to Mary’s identity as a battered woman. When these thinking shifts occur, whomever or whatever initiated the event is deleted. OMG.

We’re doing the same thing when we say power is bad. Power itself isn’t bad, it’s the greedy or egotistical person who’s changing “what is” to “what can be” to suit their own purposes who is.

What power does is that it liberates the true self to emerge. ~Joe Magee, power researcher and professor of management at New York University

Professor of psychology and sociology G. William Domhoff notes that power is one of a few universal dimensions that humans encounter at the interpersonal, group, and societal levels.

Why is power’s universality important to recognize? Because doing good involves having and using power—but for the greater good, not personal gain.

It doesn’t matter if the doing good happens at work, at home, in the community, or in pursuit of social justice or equality. Changing “what is” to “what can be” requires power. If you’re like me and want society and workplaces to be more equitable, inclusive, and kind, we need power to effect those changes.

Eligibility checklist for power?

I confess. My tolerance for selfish, money-oriented, glory-grabbing people in positions of power has been exhausted. Because of that, I’ve been thinking about what can be done to ensure that the people who have power are the ones who can properly handle it.

Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. -Seneca

Here’s what is on my list so far:

1) Change what’s measured and rewarded. Require that leaders at all levels be held accountable for people, principles, and profits. Measuring success only by dollars and cents perpetuates bad behaviors while encouraging more of them.

2) Call’em out. Rather than lauding their actions, criticize CEOs and Wall Street analysts who focus on only the bottom line. Who says capitalism must be heartless?

3) Take a leadership oath of office. Doctors do it. So do new citizens, politicians, soldiers enlisting for the U.S. Army, nurses, lawyers, and pharmacists. Part of the oath would be a promise to hold people, principles, and profits equally important.

What would you add to the power-eligibility list?

Image credit before quote: Pixabay