Powerlessness
Corrupts
It’s powerless, not
power; that breeds doctorial and punishing styles of behavior. It is powerless
in positions of responsibility that coerce when they cannot persuade. The
ultimate weapon of the powerless is to hold others back. Real power comes in
part from doing the extraordinary – creating, inventing, and planning.
Powerless people, on the other hand, are often bogged down by trivial problems
calling for instant solutions that are seductive because of the illusion of
accomplishment they provide. In turn, people stop taking them seriously.
Anticipating resistance in all directions, the powerless become more coercive
downward. People often have a neurotic need to dominate when they feel anxious
or helpless, inferior or insignificant as a protection and a defense. The
psychologically powerless turn to control over others. They may want to be
right all the time and are irritated at being proven wrong. They cannot
tolerate disagreement. In short, they become critical, bossy, and controlling.
The powerless, when in an authoritative position often become rules-minded in
responses where friendly persuasion will fail. Furthermore, getting everything
right is usually how others respond to them, who lack other ways to justify
their own worth. In turn, they demand this kind of ritualistic conformity from
others like a teacher more concerned with a paper’s neatness than its ideas. In
response to feeling insignificant, the powerless turn to their own small
territory and guard it jealously, narrowing their interests to focus
exclusively on it. They will insulate and protect their territory and prevent
anyone else from engaging in it without their participation and approval. That
in turn disempowers others and spreads powerlessness downward and outward in
the system.
The powerful can, in
contrast, afford to look generous and democratic. They are rich in resources
and can give more of them away. They empower others so they too can grow in
greater responsibility. They have little to gain by inferring other’s autonomy.
The powerless need to
insulate themselves. Insulation itself can create powerlessness. The usual
responses to feeling powerless are to control more tightly, punish, ser greater
limits, and permit fewer risks, spread the mentality of powerlessness even
further until the whole, larger organization becomes sluggish.
The alternative is to
empower other – delegate, compromise, and cut down on insulating layers. Real
power is mobilizing others towards their goals, not controlling them.
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