Friday, July 15, 2016

How do we deal with power and success?

 The question is whether power position defines you or you define the power-positions. External notions of power is basically an illusion of perceptions. Power is not often what you have but others perceive you have. Management of power is to a large extent management of perceptions through multiple modes of communications.
Power that is given to you by a system or an institution can be simply taken away from you. Most of the governmental power is based on dominance called 'power over'. And that is also the primitive power of might over right. But often what transform is creative 'power within' and solidarity power of 'power with' and action oriented 'power to' create and act. Here power is creativity.
The paradox of dominant mode of power(power over) are that those wear it lightly become more influencing and powerful rather than who show off power .
It is rather easy to be arrogant or brash.Those who have real power within desist the temptations to be dominant or arrogant.
It is often tempting and easy to score a brownie point over another, in little games of little power tussle. But leadership is more than brownie points. Sometimes it is great to say a simple 'sorry'. In the long run - the history and life always salute people who are confident enough to be humble and humble enough to be inspiring. Smart people often tend to impress and impressive people often do not inspire
We all need to outgrow the image-trap as position of power tend to create false images. Our own self perceptions of false images of power can sometimes create delusions of power. Self-righteousness is also our own tactical way to make 'mileage' in a particular power game of moral tussles. Success create its own delusions of self and many end up as the prisoners of their self. As long as we are prisoners of 'self' and 'self image' of status, we cant be free. Freedom is an everyday act of liberating oneself from the prisons of self. Professional success often can create prisons of our own images.
To those who become professionally successful at a relatively young age and popular early in their career, it is important to remember the cardinal principle : 'don't become a victim of your own success'.

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