Power

Power is often seen as a dirty word. It should not. At its simplest, power is the ability to do something. Most power complaints have to do with its utilization or overutilization. There is a bullying style of leadership that suggests “might makes right” that is regularly condemned and rightly so. Bullies can be followed or even admired for a while, but that admiration will not stand the test of time.

Fear-based leadership is a path to disaster.

Yet in our disdain for the overutilization of power, we miss another challenge: the underutilization of it. As leaders, we are granted power that no one else in our organization has. If we do not utilize it, it will go unharnessed and the opportunities it presents lost.

In our last blog post, we shared that we have the teams we earn. Often, an underperforming team is created and continued by an underutilization of power. The leader has the power to improve things but chooses not to use it—a classic underutilization of power.  Often, this stems from a fear of necessary conflict. The leader has the power to address the situation but not without conflict, and so the problem remains uncorrected.

Much power is vested in only one person within the organization. (For example, rarely will a team member put themselves on an improvement plan.) It is incumbent on the person with the power to utilize it for the good of the entire organization. Do we, as leaders, have the right to thwart the full potential of our organization because of our own fear? Or do we have a duty to fully utilize the power that is vested only in us?

Do we, as leaders, have the right to thwart the full potential of our organization because of our own fear?

The underutilization of power is as pernicous as the overutilization of it. As leaders, we must fully utilize the power granted us. We must set the ground rules and the rules of engagement with great clarity and be certain they are followed.* We coach, model and correct every day. We do with firmness, kindness and conviction.

So, dear r/leader, what are you tolerating that you should change? (Remember, that which we tolerate, we will have in abundance.) What could you improve if you were willing to fully utilize your power? We do not need to be dictatorial, only abundantly clear. Share the why as much as the how and fully utilize your power. Encourage your team members to fully utilize their power (providing differing points of view, speaking truth to power, even disagreeing as long as they commit.)

The underutilization of power is as pernicious as the overutilization of it.

We don’t need to bully—the world has too many of those. “Might makes right” is a poor leadership mantra. Yet if we fully utilize our power, and expect others to fully utilize theirs, right makes might.

You got this.

*In discussing this in a coaching session with one of the senior-most leaders in higher education, he reached into his desk to share a copy of an incredibly precise set of “rules of engagement” for his team. The clarity was inspiring, the timing even more so: he sent it to the team he was inheriting three months BEFORE his arrival in the new position. Talk about clarity and full utilization of power!