Power - what do you think of it?

I shall start. I like having some - and I do, in a Lilliputian way, at work and socially - but at work I like to have it in a quiet way - not secret, but I like setting things in motion and inspiring, but having others run with it, and take most of the credit - I like to nurture things and seed them - not show the fruits and flowers in public.

Why? Dunno - but I do like it....

I am happy to lead at work in terms of opinions etc - if I think I know what I am talking about - I confess I like knowing I have influence - but I sometimes get scared when processes have been set in motion.
As for personal/social power - I am strong - even arrogant and abrasive at times, and over-shrinking at others...some find me scarily out there, others think me retiring - this is partly them - but partly me.

I don't want lots of formal power - too self-doubting - scared I will make an awful mistake and really do harm.

I quite like watching power in action, though.

I want the power of doing something really well, but quietly,in the main - though I like showing off too...

Power - I have it and use it humbly - cause it can do a lot - when I need.

Power comes in handy when you use it to your advantage, but then there are times it can bite you in the arse and you're right back where you started, defrocked and laying in the gutter!!!

Next question?

Er - I guess I was looking for a little more philosophical to and froing than that!

I read someplace recently, I think the NYT Magazine "The Year in Ideas" issue, that there is a fella who has been studying quite intensively why happy people are happy. There is so much research on why depressed people are depressed, but what's up with those happy ones?

He found that one of the single biggest variables, beyond simple genetics et al, was how often they were thanked. That receiving heartfelt gratitude was a major contributor to happiness.

I thought that was cool.

That is the first thing I think of for this question, because that was the "high" of having power, for me. (Not that I have no power now, but far less, or at least less quantifiable.) I absolutely loved having the power to do things that made a difference in people's lives. I LOVED the heartfelt, unprompted (that would be icky) expressions of gratitude from people whose lives had improved in one way or another.

I found that when I was trying to adjust to being a stay at home mom, I put myself in a lot of "helping" positions -- volunteer committees, etc., -- and would do all sorts of helpful things, but it ended up being more frustrating than anything 'cause I so rarely got THANKED. I knew that was a frustration, but that article kind of clarified things for me as to why.

I have always been very careful about expressing thanks when I'm feeling thankful, though I often forget of course (thank you dlowan for asking such an interesting question! ).

Anyway, I think if I had power, but didn't have contact with how it actually improved things, it would be a bust. Like, if I had scurrying minions bringing me coffee and an office way up in some glass tower and was universally feared by my enemies and ordered this and this and this to happen but remained removed from the results, it wouldn't be satisfactory.

But I'll readily admit that I dislike having no power at all. I'm probably happiest in a team setting, with some power but (and this is new) not ultimate power (I used to like it, now see it as being too much of a headache), with excellent work ethic and ideas and sense of humor all around. (The work ethic is a sticking point for me. I cannot STAND being on a team with a poor work ethic, where my choices are do everything myself or watch things go undone and the whole effort fail. )

On A2K?

Yes.

Thinking, Soz....and portalling.....

Power at work is often a result of title or level. It doesn't necessarily equate with doing anything of value, anything that contributes or helps anything. In many respects, corporate power is similar to political power, and draws people to it who really want it. When I was in the corporate world, I took pride in being respected for my ability, not for my level. Yet, I worked hard to achieve the level and wasn't about to part with it. Don't know whether that was a result of a desire for power or whether it was simply ambition.

I take far greater pleasure and feel a more significant sense of power in the volunteer work I do--tutoring immigrants in English. They need help. I provide the help. It's very straightforward. Face to face, one on one. And when I can see positive results, I feel powerful. And proud.

I think we often view power in terms of "I wanna rule the world." But I think that it comes to us in much smaller ways. I like feeling powerful. But I have no current interest in ruling the world. Just thought I'd throw that in in case you were planning a "Draft Roberta" movement.

One must consider whether we are talking about personal power, or power over others. I believe that the ability to have power over one's own life is admirable. To develop a sense of competence, to harness one's own abilities so as to live the life one desires, is the ultimate in self actualization.

Power over other people is quite another story. The reality is that there are bosses, supervisors, police, judges, and other people who have power over others. That is as it needs to be in a civilized, orderly society. And that is not the kind of power of which I am speaking.

I am thinking of the kind of person who has so little within himself, that he needs to gain his own sense of self worth through having power over other people. The nasty boss, who gets his "jollies" from berating staff, comes to mind. The politician who uses his position to grant favors, and enjoys the power his position brings, is another example of power gone wrong. It is this lust for power that produces sadists, who enjoy having control over other people, and serial killers, who use their power to have the control another's ability to live. Mass murderers fall into this category. Saddam Hussein gained his power over the blood and bodies of thousands of people, as did other power hungry despots throughout history.

(Edit: This post responds to Roberta's)

LOL! Sounds good to me! Drafting you, I mean.

Your comments about work are interesting. I have often wondered, in my sort of job, which power is most powerful - the formal hierarchy or the informal hierarchy - based, in my area, on perceived skill and wisdom plus liking and/or anxiety, and professional discipline (though that is a complex one where I work) I guess.

In the end, the formal hierarchy has a lot of power, but I less, I think, than its stupider members believe.

I am very happy with the informal power - having helped get my "juniors" re-classified to the same level as me! Interestingly, though no longer having a classification more senior to ANYONE, I occupy an informal position that is very senior. This mainly means pain and bother - since it means that I, and a couple of others, feel we have to step up to the horriblest cases, and stand up and be counted more in conflicts with management, and be very available to support other staff. Well, I like that bit.

This is an odd reality, though, since some people who earn more than I, and the others who fulfil the same functions informally, do, and have been around a lot longer do not feel such obligations. That seems to be a very personal style thing. They have less respect, too - so it goes.

The problem with "informal" power can be that it is power without responsibility and accountability.

This was amply illustrated when I first went for the job I now hold. I was aware that the secretary had been very unhelpful when I was ringing to enquire about the job. As I sat in the waiting room and observed her at "work", as clearly as anything I had the words "power without responsibility" repeating themselves over and over in my head.

As it happened, she was severely personality disordered and created merry hell. She knew enough to butter up the boss, though, and, while he realised there were problems, he was sufficiently in her coils to see them as far less serious than they were.

When a new person took over, she was underwhelmed by the secretary's behaviour, and was able to get rid of her.

The secretary had ridiculous amounts of power, because people were unwilling to create the enormous scenes that challenging her caused, and suffered for some years, as did the clients. Appalling.

Like I said, power sans accountability and responsibility.

Deb, Power without accountability and responsibility is frightening.

Your efforts to get others in your workplace the same level as you are interesting. Despite the leveling of level, you're still the senior person and still wield power--with responsibility.

I think there are different kinds of power at work at work. (Not a typo.) The power of level, the power of respect, and the power of the personality. In my corporate life, I learned that I unawares scared people. Rarely my intention. My boss informed me that I was leaving trembling masses in my wake and encouraged me. I didn't know I was doing it. I have a strong personality. I'm sure you do too. The power of personality cannot be discounted in the power equation. Some folks are just powerful in their nature.

LOL! You will have me on my "tyranny of the meek" schtick if you are not careful!

Thing is, we all do meek some time or another...

and the meek shall inherit:

Smeg the meek!

LIte - reading

Will be back !

"LOL! You will have me on my "tyranny of the meek" schtick if you are not careful!

Thing is, we all do meek some time or another... "

Deb, I remember your tyranny of the meek. Did I comment? Probably. I'm trying to remember the last time I did meek. I musta once. I don't like conflict, so I guess I might appear meek as I try to avoid it. But I don't feel meek.

I like P_O_W_E_R

I enjoy it the most, when I accomplish the impossible and there's no one around but me myself to discover that. Total happiness.

I believe it was Nietzsche who said: "Joy is a surpluss feeling of power."

I like power in others, because (assuming it's positive power) that means I can relax and let them take care of stuff.

Just coincidentally, I was reading about the novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett the other day. She wrote a series of novels about dysfunctional families that the Oxford Guide to English Literature describes as follows:

"Each family is ruled in almost complete isolation from the outside world by a more or less tyrannical parent or grandparent: hence the consistently high rate of domestic crime, ranging from adultery, incest, and child abuse to murder and fraud. Dame Ivy held that 'nothing is so corrupting as power,' and her inward-looking, self-contained, and heavily monitored high Victorian households provided her with an ideal environment in which to examine the misuse of power together with the violence and misery that follow."