The international headquarters of A Renewal Enterprise are located in Chicago, the largest city in what has been named the 18th most corrupt state in the union according to research by the staff of USA Today. Many of you are scratching your heads. The eigthteenth most corrupt? How can you get any worse?!?
From our downtown office, we have a front row seat at the most embarrassing, if not shocking, scandal our state has seen yet. It's almost all anybody is talking about. Today, reporters are warning that more political and community leaders will fall. Illinoisans are calling for the resignation of the governor. Everyone seems offended by the potty mouth of our state's First Lady and her foul-tempered husband. And pundits are arguing that the problem in our state politics won't be solved by removing one bad apple from the tree, that the tree itself is rotten.
As disheartening as the whole situation is, for those of us interested in all things leadership-related, it does offer a fascinating case study. One question on a lot of our minds: Is it possible to be in leadership and not be corrupted? Isn't it widely accepted, in fact, that power tends to corrupt...and absolute power corrupts absolutely (a statement attributed to Lord Acton, a British historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries)?
One reporter got the opinion of a local expert today. His view: Power doesn't corrupt. But it does reveal the true measure of a person. Adam Galinsky teaches at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management; he studies power for a living. His research shows that power gives people more confidence. It makes them feel more free, more in control. They are more willing to take risks, less concerned about the consequences, less afraid. This doesn't have to be a bad thing. In fact, this can be a very good thing, which is why Renewable Leaders seek to empower people by using participative processes and inviting people into meaningful conversations for the sake of helping them see possibilities and get things done.
Power sets people free by removing many of the restraints that are typically used to keep people "under control." And without those external restraints (i.e., the threat of being fired, getting arrested, etc.) people are free to, well, act according to their nature. That's when you get to see who a person really is.
The folks over at the Center for Creative Leadership have written a white paper on how to use power effectively. Their key points:
- Make relationships a priority
- Don't overplay your personal agenda
- Maximize your communication network
- Be generous with information
- Be the expert
- Tailor your power to reward others
- Reward with words
- Punish with purpose
- Teach others
You don't have to have an official title to have power. Some of the most powerful people in history never had one. But the truth is: Without power, there is no leadership.
How are you using yours?
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