Symposium Paper

Reflection on the Concept of Power

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Introduction

Power refers to the act of exercising authority over a person or a group of persons. Also, the term can be defined as the ability or capacity of someone to do something in a particular manner and hence be able to influence the actions of a person or a group of persons in the direction that one wishes. While people may think that power is something that one gains as they grow, this is actually not the case. Power is an inborn thing that one gets right from birth and going forward. The Books “The Power Paradox” and “You are More Powerful than You Think” elaborates on various elements of power.

Dacher Keltner (2016) a renowned professor of psychology in his book “The Power Paradox” puts forward some controversial sentiments concerning the concept of power. According to him, power is all about force, being ruthless, about frauds and strategic violence. The professor continues to explain that people do not gain power by seizing it but by gaining it through reaching out the various needs of others persons or groups. I believe this is actually a valid reasoning as we have time and again seen the way politicians work around the interests of the people they lead for them to gain power. In most cases, you find that this people deceive the general public that they are going to advance their needs and this forces them to subscribe to their leadership. Keltner says that by doing so, they gain respect, self-esteem and status which are generally the main elements of power that one needs in order to lead others. Into the book , Keltner continues to illustrate the consequences that power might have on people. In fact, he clearly likens power to a drug arguing that the kind-hearted focus that helped one gained the power immediately gets washed after the have become powerful. He says that after one becomes powerful, they tend to forget about others and enhances their wellbeing only (being selfish) and becoming disrespectful towards others.

It is important for individuals to know how to control their power especially towards those they lead. Keltner outlines various things that a leader can do to endure power through doing good to others. Most importantly, he elaborates on the need for one maintain their focus on the people they are leading, prioritizing their needs as much as their own and maximizing the good in them. I believe this is a good sentiment as I also believe that for a leader to succeed in leading, they have to be focused on their subjects and bringing the best out of them. Those in power need to be the ambassadors of their subjects and they should always be delighted by the positive impacts they are contributing into the world rather than ridiculing them for the things that they have done.

Power is an essential aspect of society and can be used to bring either good or bad. Powerful people make decisions that affect the less powerful. In situations where the powerful people are insensitive and immoral, the less powerful suffer from the decisions made by those in power. For instance, many nations across the globe are governed by immoral leaders who use their power to amass wealth while they leave their citizens to suffer. In such countries, the powerful engage in vices such as corruption, embezzlement of public funds and dictatorship.

In the book ‘You are More Powerful than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide for Making Change Happen’ by Eric P. Liu explains how people can use power to implement change. He also explains how the powerful people in the society use power to benefit themselves. He gives an example of the American political system where power has been used to enrich a small percentage of the population. The use of power to benefit a small section of a population excludes other sections of the population from civic participation. In such a system, decisions made by the powerful members of the population do not address the needs of the entire population.

To address the situation where power is used to benefit a few people in a society, Eric emphasized on powerful citizenship (Liu, 2017). It entails the use of power by the governed, not the rulers. In the book, his message of powerful citizenship is about empowering people who want to become agents of change and not those who defend the status quo. To promote power among the people, some strategies can be used. One of the strategies that is suggested by Eric is changing the existing systems. This involves the use of political approaches that are different from the existing ones to bring change. Another strategy is the use of self-awareness programs to educate people about change. This strategy is meant to show people that it is possible to change the current state of affairs as far as power is concerned. According to me, the strategies can be made more elaborate to make sure that inclusive leadership is attained. Through this, the locals (who are the ones always led) should be included in law-making processes so that they become part and puzzle of it and they get to know it very well.

Conclusion

It is clear that power is an important aspect of every society. It can be used to bring either good or bad results. In reference to the two books, I have learnt how people acquire power with good intentions and end up using it to serve their own interests. Misuse of power is a common problem affecting most governments across the globe. It negatively affects other citizens as they do not get the expected results from their leaders. It is the responsibility of the governed to use their power empower themselves and change existing systems for their own good.

References

Keltner, D. (2016). The power paradox: How we gain and lose influence. Penguin.

Liu, E. (2017). You're More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen's Guide to Making Change Happen. PublicAffairs.

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