What type of power do you wield?
If media reports are correct it seems likely that two powerful men will meet shortly in Alaska to attempt to divide up a nation on behalf of, and without the involvement of, the people of that nation.
We can draw a line through history to many other occasions on which men – typically those commanding large armies and controlling large economies – seek to pencil lines on a map in order to determine the shape of the world. The Paris Peace Conference and the Yalta Conference are two such examples, but there are many more besides. A prominent lesson from this history is that, often, the exercise of a unilateral capacity to draw a map on behalf of other peoples has been undertaken with ignorance and in privileged isolation. Where political leaders exercise such cartographic hubris, a legacy of conflict and violence often follows. The unilateral power that the leaders suppose themselves to wield proves illusory, ephemeral, and dangerous, and is overtaken by events.
That unilateral power can become concentrated in the hands of a small number of people is an ineluctable fact of life. But history teaches us that wise leaders, when acting unilaterally, seek to wield more than one type of power in order to ensure the legitimacy of their leadership. When this happens, their actions last. This also applies to organisational leadership.
Wise leaders wield people power. Even when acting unilaterally, they understand the people they serve and know that they act with support, even if this is tacit.
They wield moral power; even in the face of opposition, they distinguish their actions, even unilateral ones, from those of the authoritarian by serving the best interests of their community and having a clear ethical basis for what they do.
They wield collaborative power, building alliances that give others power – even if it means ceding some of their own – in order to ensure that communities move together.
They wield listening power, seeking always to understand before jumping in, knowing that this understanding is key to the capacity of their decisions to pass the test of time.
And sometimes, they wield the power of doing nothing, knowing that inaction is – at least on some occasions – the way to avoid harm and let time unfold the situation further.
Sometimes, being the boss means making the call. Sometimes you need to act alone. Doing so wisely, with more than one type of power, makes all the difference.
Let us hope for wise leaders.