When I say the word 'power' what is the first thing you think of?
How does that word make you feel?
Power can be a polarising word in our world today. Power, when used well, can lead us to a better future. Conversely, when used poorly, it can lead us towards great suffering.
At a time on the planet when the stakes are so high, expectations of people in power are high, as is scrutiny and scepticism. Trust in power is at an all-time low. We are wary of power and awake to the potential that those systems and people with power may not have the answers we seek. And yet, power is embedded into the way our systems and structures operate globally, and this is unlikely to change in the imminent future. So perhaps it is time we considered how we can use a greater degree of intelligence with power, so that we may cultivate power ‘with’ as opposed to power ‘over’ others.
The wellbeing of our planet depends on our ability to use the power we have with intelligence, so that we can indeed create a better future.
Power used with intelligence is power ‘with’ others. It is a skill that can be learned and sits at the core of inclusive leadership.
When we think of power, we tend to think of those in positions of authority and yet this is only part of what constitutes our personal power print. Our personal power is a combination of factors that we were born with, coupled with our social and positional power.
There is great nuance in accurately understanding our personal power print, but an intelligent use of power and the capacity to cultivate power ‘with’ is dependent on an accurate understanding of your personal power print.
When we are unconscious of our personal power print, we are more likely to misuse our positional power in one of two ways. We either use too much power, or too little power, and there are significant consequences to both.
When we use too much power, we have underestimated our own power and lack trust in our own authority. Using too much power silences the voices and perspectives of those around us, particularly those with less positional power than us. In doing this we may force minority perspectives underground. Over time, having lost faith in our ability to exercise leadership for a better future, these voices will coalesce and resist our authority, making it difficult for us to gain support for our initiatives. Leaders who overuse their power over time may create teams that actively work against them.
Conversely, when we use too little power, we have too much self-doubt and are struggling to find the confidence we need in ourselves to exercise leadership in our roles. Using too little power represents a failure to step into healthy authority. Healthy authority provides the necessary guardrails we need to work collaboratively in the spirit of a greater good.
We can and must engage in healthy debate as a collective to harness the wisdom we need to make good, sustainable decisions. Healthy authority fosters the right environment to hold different perspectives, with respect, so that we can engage in robust conversations.
When we use too little power, we avoid healthy conflict. In the short term this can feel comfortable, and we can be seduced into believing that we all get along and everything is fine. However, longer term our decisions lack the depth and strength that comes with the healthy debate required to engage different perspectives.
If we are using too little power, we may find that our strategies and initiatives fail, and the dynamics of our teams become turbulent. Leaders who fail to use their power intelligently can find themselves fostering inwardly focussed organisations and teams, gradually losing connection and relevance with our clients and customers.
Our beliefs about power are shaped very early in our lives and are often based around the way power was used when we were small and powerless. These experiences are hard wired into our way of being in the world and they shape our unconscious behaviours. Our views are not wrong, nor bad, in fact they are highly intelligent and were likely key contributors in our early survival. However, they may no longer be serving us, and in many cases, they may in fact be causing us to over or underuse our power in adulthood.
Developing power intelligence requires us to explore our deeper beliefs about power and to recognise where those beliefs may no longer be helpful.
Developing power intelligence invites us to see where the conditions of our birth, such as our gender, cultural identify, sexual identity, financial circumstances, relational, and familial circumstances, have either benefitted us or disadvantaged us in relation to those around us.
As we move through life, we may be called on to play a leadership role both formally (in positions of power and authority) and informally (in our communities, families, and friendship circles). To use our power intelligently we must have the ability to see ourselves through the eyes of those around us and to measure their perceptions of our own levels of privilege. If our own levels of privilege are unconscious to us, we run the risk of misusing our power.
The most effective leaders of our times have one thing in common, they use power with dexterity, skill, and humility. They are rich in personal empowerment and use the privilege of formal authority lightly. Their humility, vision and generosity of spirit leave a lasting impression on us, inspiring us to be the very best versions of ourselves. This is power intelligence at its very best.
At encountas, we are deeply committed to growing our collective power intelligence so that we might work together to solve the challenges of our times and to realise the tremendous opportunity for transformation that this time on the planet holds.
