We may have met all types of leaders at work: ones who say ‘call me the boss’, ones who enact the almighty, ones who are assigned to do the dirty jobs, ones who always sacrifice a pawn to evade responsibility, ones who varnish the truth to the top management and align the rest of the organisation so that the statusquo is not disturbed, the control freaks or the good guy totally lacking the courage to challenge the system, make a difference, innovate or steer their teams or companies forward.
 The above description of leadership categories comes from one of Sri Lanka’s well-known organisational personalities from a well-known company. Have you ever wondered why good people change in the face of power?
Strictly limiting this article to the power issues in the organisational arena, I would like to explore this question further, especially after a comment made by the same person, ‘there are some megalomaniacs in this organisational culture; whatever the company maybe, you would at least find one such human being who had been poisoned by power’.
Power comes with any form of leadership and it challenges us to guide, drive and inspire our teams whilst conserving the essence of who we are: our individuality. How often do we really protect this sense of self against the authority the circumstances offer? Can external conditions force good people to behave badly? Even if that is the case, is it a valid excuse?
Abuse, be it verbal or non-verbal, does not occur where there is responsible leadership. As leaders we have to make it clear that we will not tolerate doing harm and that personal integrity will always be respected, that the rules of engagement will be known by all, that everyone is ultimately accountable for their actions and the violations of such protocol will result in punishment.
Quoting John Milton’s classic statement ‘make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven’, most may appreciate mind’s infinite capacity to make any of us heroes or villains by enabling us to be caring or indifferent, selfless or selfish, creative or destructive. We are pushed by nature with a genetic template that would partly suggest who we are, but ultimately humans are complex processes of cultural, historical, religious, economic and political experiences. So, can we change when a part of us is hard-wired and the other part is dependent on the circumstances? ‘Yes, we can’.
Ultimately our experiences will be based on how we react to the external demands. Changing the way we think will eventually result in changing the way we react; thus changing our experiences. These experiences will make a difference in our circumstances in the future, whereby making them more desirable to be in line with our values.
Humans are called ‘cognitive misers’ as we are known to be lazy in processing all the information available before making decisions. We make these less than ideal decisions via convenient mental short-cuts whilst paying ‘selective attention’ to some and not the others. When we are overwhelmed by the superiority the organisation has bestowed upon us, our ego is allowed to feed on a sense of power. Then, some of us cloak ourselves in an illusion of supremacy that seems to be inherent, and wander around with an air of arrogance and an authority to practise our free-will over those who are under us. Hang on, there is something wrong here; we were not thinking wisely in the first place.
The history of our civilization demonstrates the ease with which ordinary people can be seduced to become dictators, propagandists, blind followers or mindless conformists. It is no wonder why most companies are more and more conscious about succession planning. Indeed this should be the case, as promotions have to be based on, less in terms of technical and skill competency (as these are trainable) but more in terms of attitude and personality, courage and heart, people-orientation and sharing a vision.
Some say leaders are born; some say leaders are made. Some may have a higher need for power than others to feel motivated. Whatever it maybe, there is an inescapable prerequisite to be a good leader; leaders should be conscious and think clearly and carefully.
Power does not corrupt us; we use power as a reason to be corrupt when the circumstances bolster our egos. It is a choice we make; it is a battle between our ego and our values.
(The columnist is a Business Psychologist. She can be reached at rozaine@forte.lk).
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