Being powerful and how to use it meaningfully

It wasn’t unnatural for Charlie to yell at his team. The moment he felt that there was something not going along with “his” opinion, his volume would increase. Charlie preferred his own opinion over any of the others’. He had grown up the ladder. Young and passionate, he delivered numbers easily and the next rung was easily his for the taking. Now, almost after 15 years with the same organisation, Charlie was closed to new learning. He believed that he knew everything that there was to learn. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Charlie was acutely aware of how powerful he was in the system. And he played that power to his advantage, or more importantly to disadvantage others. But yes, there was no ill intent there, only misunderstood scope of his own power.

A young intern, Jon had joined his team and was working closely with him on some matter of inconsequence. Not used to being patient around people anymore, he was constantly finding fault with whatever that he was doing. About 20 days into the internship, he broke down and accused him of misbehaviour in a staff meeting. He said he had been trying to ignore it because everyone kept saying that “Charlie wasn’t bad at heart and that he just yelled, that was all”; but in all that yelling and humiliation, he just couldn’t work.

Imagine. Imagine the amount of “indignity” that the intern would have had to endure, to then have no choice but a supposed career ending move by calling out a senior leader on his behaviour.

Did Charlie’s power make him so oblivious to the discomfort and humiliation of others?

How did he not realise that all this power had such a devastating shadow side?

All that blatant confidence that made him a great leader before, was now turning him into a very difficult person to work with.

Let’s look at Jon too. Power is also our ability to persevere under hardship. It helps us make decisions that alter the course that we are currently on. Much like what Jon did. While power has a shadow side that gets under people’s skin, it also has a bright side that reflects a strong sense of self- belief.

But given the context, of what’s happening with Credit Suisse and their surveillance scandal, this article will be around the Charlie's at the workplace. Power is always under observation, people are on tenterhooks to see how a person in power behaves.

When does power backfire?

Power backfires when it is used to boost low self worth. The typical what got you here, won’t get you any further limbo. You know that that’s true, but don't know what to do about it.

Power also backfires when you are suddenly surrounded by yes men. You’ve handpicked this team around you, you’ve created a culture of “nobody having the permission” to challenge your ideas.

Power backfires when you see yourself as not being accountable to anybody. You think you are more powerful than everyone else at the table. You let your temper get the better of you, you think being righteously indignant is the right response for any situation, and hence you fail to manage your emotions under stress.

How can we use power responsibly?

First understand that people who use power could just be any of us. Pick any word that you like- influence, authority, strength, leverage- any word at all and it would be just an euphemism for power. And this power is wielded by normal human beings like you and me.

Second understand that ignoring power isn’t doing anybody any favors. By dismantling layers, and moving to flatter organisation structures, you aren’t doing away with power. Authority maybe, but neither influence nor leverage. Be mindful of that.

Finally, being in power doesn’t have to be an “all is vested into one” situation, right? The more people feel “empowered” at work, the more diversity and inclusion are real and not a 'tick in the box', the better engaged people are and also more productive. This kind of power helps people connect across ideological chasms too.

Much as we see the skewed aspects of power, power in itself helps to build equitable workplaces and societies. The idea is not to concentrate power in a few, but to distribute power to as many as have earned it. When power is based on personal growth and not on “position”, there’s far more acceptance around it. People expect revolution and resolution from power; we are those people too. But being powerful can be a very acceptable way of being, once we understand that power resides in many and each is powerful in their own way. Some by means of their superlative skills, others through leverage and influence and still others through experience. Power is a powerful tool to resolve conflicts - it allows us to engage “fully” with our circumstances. 

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About the author:

My passion is to create opportunities and catalyse relationships that help us thrive! I believe that personal, organisational and societal change is an interactive development process and through my interventions I seek to build awareness and action across all. I have had the privilege to have coached and trained leaders and management teams in 40 plus countries globally and on all continents.

Over the last two decades, I have engaged with leadership development, L&D and talent management across the entire spectrum from diagnosis to design to implementation. Currently I run my own niche Executive Coaching Practice to accelerate the leaders path to success through my focus on #LeadershipBranding.

Drop me a message at [email protected] or to schedule a call with me please use : calendly.com/shivangi/15-mins-call

Here are 2 initiatives I have founded : www.thrivewithmentoring.com, a non-profit that catalyses women to women mentoring (currently present in 5 countries) and www.xponential.cc (through which I bring award winning leadership trainings such as Crucial Conversations and Power of Habit).