The 4 Confessions of Power and the failure of leaders

How many leaders would make a confession that power has once in a while made them make decisions they never thought they would make. In the presence of power people tend to act differently sometimes good and sometimes bad. Defining what power is can be one of the most difficult things to do but in the end power makes things happen or not happen, and creates an influence like no other. Many people crave for power but very few people understand that power is there to serve not to be served. If one is going to unlock true success then they need to be aware of the potential pitfalls of power. Success is power, and being able to use that power is the perpetuating of success.

Confession 1: The confusion of emotion

Humans and power are an interesting combination, one may never really been a power hungry person per say or believe that they are a leader but once power settles in, even in leading a pack or group of people one can become a tyrant experience come true for others.  Leaders who never really understood what power is and the responsibility that comes with it might still be working on their emotions. Instead of making sound decisions, bad leaders sound their emotions more than the logic of the decision. Lost in emotion, a confused leader will create power commotion and everyone suffers. If you find that you have emotional issues then get the right advisers by your side and sound them out once in a while.

Confession 2: Experimenting with power to get the right mix

“I have been wondering what would make me want to be in power, money, or fame?”, this is a question some leaders are not too sure about and in the end the lure of money becomes more dominant. So instead of being consistent they experiment with whatever power means to them at that moment which can can be power, money or fame. Any blade of grass suffers when the elephant runs amok with no defined direction, there is no allegiance.  If it is money, the question becomes,  how much money, and the infinite answer to that becomes the infinite suffering of those under the power hungry person as they will do whatever it takes .  In all that, if you are in power you need to stay true to who you are, as a leader regulate power and do not let power regulate you.

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Confession 3: Groupie Power for Justification

People have been in power in different positions and one of them is in groupies. They go on a power trip to keep those who seem subject to them to be enslaved to them as much as possible. So they create power bases of a few people who would never let them relinquish power or to whom they pledge unending allegiance. It becomes a vicious cycle on keeping power and perpetuating that groupie power. Success is not about forced relationships or forced social networks, it is about the free flow of interaction. If you find that your success is about forcing people to follow you then your success is only imagined, in real essence its just a time bomb.

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Confessions 4: Allegiance to a higher power

At the beginning when one is still seeking power or success, the prayer is “Lord if you do bless me to lead or have power beyond my wildest dreams may I please have the strength and composure to handle it all.   With  great power comes great responsibility,”, at the end when the person has power the prayer becomes “All power belongs to me it was handed to me and I am in charge.”

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I  looked up some definitions which I found interesting, there is so many different aspects of power from the usual politics, religion, family settings; you see people so power hungry in  societal groups or professional settings and I sometimes debate, maybe its the human aspect of us being complex or the need to prove or lead