“…an unimportant clerk/Writes I DO NOT LIKE MY WORK/ On a pink official form.” W. H. Auden
Harvard Business Review articles are often written from the point of view of leaders. For example this excellent article describes how power impairs your normal ability to feel empathy for others, and how you as a leader can develop practices to heal yourself. But what about those of us who find ourselves having to work for or with one of these power-corrupted, empathy-impaired leaders?
I’m going to propose something radical: let’s stop conceptualizing workplaces as power hierarchies.
My boss has no power over me, and I have none over my team.
I think it’s useful to start by understanding what is meant by power: “the ability to influence the behaviour of other people, often through control over their outcomes (i.e., by provision of rewards and punishments).” Social Brain Body & Action Lab
One of my first decisions as a new manager, many years ago, is that I would not be influencing people’s behavior by giving them rewards and punishments. I simply refuse to do that. It isn’t ethical, it isn’t respectful, and it isn’t necessary. In fact, the very opposite is true: motivating a great team of experts absolutely relies on my eschewing this ridiculous power dynamic. My colleagues earn their rewards, and they are owed them contractually for the work they do. I certainly do influence people’s behavior — like a coach, by talking, listening, understanding, and joining in a shared goal.
And yet… and yet, I see it all around me. Leaders who think they wield this power over other people and do their best to use it. If you are one of them (probably secretly), let me suggest this: stop it.
What you have is not power, but responsibility.