In April 1887, the British historian Lord Acton
wrote to Bishop Creighton observing ‘…power tends to corrupt; absolute power
corrupts absolutely…’
I have been reflecting on this statement and have
come to the conclusion that ‘power’ has nothing to do with leadership. Please allow me to explain.
Leaders are put into place in all aspects of our
society. Business, politics and religion
are just some examples. In every
instance there is either an explicit or an implicit understanding among all
parties. Specifically, the leader is
granted both the responsibility and the authority to carry out a clearly
defined mandate. At the same time, the
third leg of this agreement holds the leader to account for their actions and
their results. This third component is as important to the equation as the two
former aspects for without accountability we have no way to judge performance.
However, some ‘leaders’ believe that they deserve
certain entitlements above and beyond that which was intended in their
appointment. These individuals seek not
leadership’s authority but power because, in their determination, power allows
them to amend the bounds ascribed in the ‘responsibility and authority’
elements and to ignore the accountability entirely. They desire unilateral
freedom to operate as they choose without any of the normal checks and
balances.
We have all had our personal examples of situations
where this has played out. In these
instances you must run, not walk, away as quickly and as far as possible.
Typically these people are incorrigible. And more so, they are dangerous. They are often
sociopathic and narcissistic in spite of their apparent charm and appearance.
Power is addictive and generally self destructive.
The world has several of these types operating
politically; Russia, North Korea and China obvious examples. These are the most notorious because they are
the most visible. But do not be
deceived, countless others lurk in the shadows.
Religion has offered us far too many examples as
well. You need to be in those circles to
recognize the names. But be assured that power has been exploited far more
frequently than one might imagine.
We have seen power play out in business as
well. The tech world offers several current
examples. The landscape is littered with
so many others – think Nortel and Enron to get you started.
In all of these examples, individuals sought power
to broaden the scope of their influence and/or abuse the influence that they
were granted. They expected, without
justification, that they would not have to face scrutiny because they were
self-diluted to believe that the rules did not apply to them.
These
people are not leaders. They are abusers.
Authentic leaders achieve through the efforts of
those they lead and they recognize those contributions. These impostors seek
only recognition for themselves through deceit, deception and defamatory
behaviour.
Lord Acton was right in 1887. The past 135 years have done nothing to
dispel his assertions.
Hopefully we can all learn from history!
