A Duality and Paradox!

Power! “Knowledge is power.” We hear this quoted frequently in organisations when discussing power and leadership. Having and possessing the knowledge is to hold power (over and/or from others!) We quote Sir Francis Bacon as a revered oracle, yet this is a misquote that reverses the intent of the original correct quotation. The corrected version is “knowledge itself is power” with the intent of conveying the idea that having and sharing knowledge is the cornerstone of influence and therefore power.

So, what is Power and Leadership?

Etymology: Let’s have a look at where these words come from

Leadership (n):

Leader (n): Old English lædere “one who leads, one first or most prominent,” agent noun from Lædan“to guide, conduct.”

-ship: word-forming element meaning “quality, condition; act, power, skill; office, position; relation between,” from Proto-Germanic -skepi, from skap-“to create, ordain, appoint.”

Power (n): c. 1300, “ability; ability to act or do; strength, vigour, might,” especially in battle; “efficacy; control, mastery, lordship, dominion, ability or right to command or control; legal power or authority; authorization; military force, an army.”

Power (physics): power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time.

Conventional worldview

Through the above definitions the first thing that strikes us is the contradiction of their description. Leader is framed in a nurturing manner; they lead, guide from the front – a protecting role, perhaps. This is akin to the Japanese word sensei – “one who comes before.” Turning this into leadershipand the natural link to power brings a shift to a masculine framing: position, act, ordain, strength, might, dominion.

This link between power and leadership is the prevalent practice observed, encouraged, and taught in leadership environments across the world and industrial sectors. In fact, our use of the phrase ‘Leadership environments’ is also leaning on this worldview! Let’s have a think about some specifics.

Leadership is used synonymously with hierarchical position within an organisation. We promote and recruit into those ‘senior’ positions through multiple criteria with a common aspect being a ‘technical expertise,’ an ability to have the answers or know the way to run department/company based on experience. This is not to say we should ignore such experience; we are highlighting the implied expectation that is imposed on those senior leadership roles: the leader should know, operate without ambiguity to ‘be on top of things.’ The shadow side of this is that the dominant definition of leadership and power come to light (if that’s not mixing metaphors!) You also hear this form of leadership and power being linked to the mis-quote of Sir Francis Bacon. This flavour of leadership wields power to help manage their own anxieties; because the world is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) and no one can be on top of such an environment no matter what experience and/or capabilities they possess.

From an evolutionary perspective this is to be expected. Our survival instincts, encoded within our lizard brains, operate to avoid uncertainty. Uncertainty is seen as a risk to survival and thus we have reactive behaviours that kick in (by-passing the cerebral cortex) such as fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. The idea of being in control makes us feel secure and safe. For leadership, and management in general, this is promoted through methods and approaches taught in mainstream universities and business schools. ‘The Principles of Scientific Management’ written by Frederick W Taylor in 1911 (and in 2001 voted most influential management book of the twentieth century by the Academy of Management) captured positive aspects of this way of leading (such as allowing people to work at the highest grade of their capability and be rewarded for success.) However, it can be argued that Taylor promoted an expected domineering management/leadership style: his personal views being that organisations should operate through enforcedadoption of standards, which is the duty of management alone. Scientific management is now often referred to as Taylorism.

A shifting perspective

These are not the only ways to lead and hold power. There are many methodologies that promote different styles of servant leadership, and distributed leadership/power through self-organised team structures e.g. Lean and Agile ways of working/being. Despite these ideas having been around for many years they have not been able to overcome the mainstream approaches. There is a hypothesis that you are more likely to see these alternative behavioural practices in start-ups or organisations that disrupt the trend within their sector. Perhaps there is a link to innovation, which at its heart is an exploration of the ‘unknown’ – an acceptance that their business ecosystem is not deterministic or controllable.

These supportive leadership approaches are more aligned with the colloquial phrases used to describe ‘good leaders.’ Leaders that listen, support, promote others, lead from the back, encourage, develop people, maximise team capabilities … a healthy culture. Phrases that as you read them you will no doubt reflect through your own career journeys and be able to pick out those leaders you have worked with or for that fit (or not!) with these descriptors.

Continuing the conversation…

Here, we have explored different ways to think about and be, with respect to leadership and power. You will have almost certainly bumped into these ideas, the question is how to apply and scale them through organisations and sectors. Alas, there is no manual readily available – – and why would there be, acknowledging and appreciating the implication of operating in a VUCA world means there is no cookie-cutter solution. Through the years I have gathered examples of the how to and how not to. With this experience and our openness to a multiverse of future possibilities, I help clients explore, select, and implement ways to lead and grow their businesses.