EVery Day is a Gift: Alongside Power Comes Great Responsibility

Saturday 25 October 2014

Alongside Power Comes Great Responsibility

Are you a person whose holding power in your hands? Are you one of those who administer control over others especially people in your own capacity? What is power then? Too many defintions can correlate with this one yet allow me to just pick up 2 definitions for my input here.These 2 are:

1. "the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way"

2. the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events" 1

With these two, I would like to relate it with the famous catchphrase from the movie, Spider-Man that when somebody has power on his hands, there goes alongside of it a great responsibility. At times, the situation becomes difficult, if not complicated, when the person holding the power over others doesn't know how to handle it. What makes the situation worse is when he abuse it thus becoming detrimental to the growth, welfare and dignity of others especially those directly under him.

What should be keep in mind is that power begets respect, honor and dignity. As we grow older, we seem to bit unknown and unfamiliar even to our own negative actuations but somehow, if we indulge in retrospection, we will feel remorse (if we will also allow ourselves to dwell on it) on how we become so unfair and unjust to others.

imagecredit:http://pixabay.com/en/winter-yellowstone-national-park-200894/

Some years back, I was in charge of the Human Resources of a certain company made up of more or less 200 people. All throughout my service in that position, I religiously told myself never to think that I am superior nor more essential to the Company than them. What I reflected upon as weakness of others in higher positions is their insecurity and hunger for power. Consequently, they tend to use it to control people. Thus, subordinates tend to follow their commands/requests/programs etc. usually not because of respect but out of fear. This results to a very unhealthy workplace environment since workers are not treated fairly and they are hindered to facilitate their creativity and share their talents/resources.

What I usually did with fellow workers in that previous company was to consistently focus on their individual contributions to the total output of the company. And those opportunities that I engaged with them allowed them to just be themselves and be free. Though I was also very cautious that people will not exploit my type of leadership and at the end of the day, I always asked myself, " Did I perform as an effective leader this day? Did I instil positive things on the minds of my companions at work or not? How did I treat my subordinates this day? Did I become an assertive leader but not an abusive one today? etc."

Thus, when we hold a certain amount of "power" in our hands, may it be over subordinates, friends or children, let us incessantly think of and consider the interest of others more than our own.