Leadership and power
Whose got the power?
Bill Clinton once famously said:
Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.
Imagine thinking you have finally made it to supposedly the most powerful position on earth only to find out that there are others more powerful than you (in this case, the media).
In our line of work, it's easy to believe that others have all the power, in particular funders and other public bodies or government departments. But like leadership, power can take many forms and is available in many ways.
What kind of power can we have?
Well, here are a few to be getting on with: positional power (job title, status), physical power (size, strength, shape), locational power (where we stand/sit), informational power (what we know), experiential power (what we have done, our reputation) to name but just a few.
What if you think you have none of those? Then think about when and where you do have power. As citizens we all have political power. As participants, audience members and consumers we all have power over what we do, what we buy and what we get involved in. We all have the power of choice. Everyone reading this has exercised their power in getting involved with Sync!
Having a particular job title is traditionally the most obvious 'label' of power - but heading up an organisation is not the only 'powerful' position. All employees and volunteers have power too. Even freelancers have power (although as one it sometimes takes me a while to see it!)
You can feel powerful when someone recognises what you do. Getting media coverage, winning awards and gaining achievements can be seen as power, but so are more subtle forms of recognition.
Power and Responsibility
So when we ‘get’ power – how do we treat it? Mark Wright, Sync's leadership expert, says:
Power… comes to us in many forms and can be a subtle, considerate visitor, a fleeting, passionate beau or a boorish gatecrasher. Indeed all of these and more. Maybe this explains why our relationship with power is a complex one – some actively seek it out, others feel it is an imposition, whilst still more seem reluctant to even acknowledge its presence.
So what’s your relationship with power - do you want it, crave it, hate it? How do you exert your power? How do you experience power? And does your experience of disability impact on your relationship with power? Lots to mull over there.
Disability and Power
As disabled people, we are used to having to fight for power. As Sync member Jeff Banks says:
Disabled people are often spoken over, spoken for, or completely excluded from decision making processes… in our society disability pushes someone down the social and power structure and this really impacts on our image and credibility.
Julie MacNamara, another member of Sync, reflects on the way disabled people have been treated through history:
The word disability used to mean something that disqualifies us from entering the game. How could we raise a banner proclaiming ‘Proud to be Disabled’, if it truly meant: ‘proud to have my power taken away’…
We know barriers stop us getting work and our lives mean that traditional work models sometimes just don't work for us but does this mean we are powerless? There is an interesting article on disability and power by Sunny Taylor, an American disability activist, which looks at this in more detail.
Soft power and hard power
Some people find the idea of 'power' difficult. Perhaps its easier to think of both soft and hard power.
Hard power is very direct - you use hard power when you pay someone to do something, or when you coerce them.
Soft power is the opposite. Its the ability to obtain what you want through co-option and attraction. Getting people to want to do what you want them to do.
Leaders have always used both throughout history, but the increasingly soft power is coming to the fore.
There's a link to an article on hard and soft power below.
So have a think about power - your relationship to it, your preferences within it and how you respond (and expect others to respond) to your use of it. Leaders are powerful so you need to know how to use your power well!
Jo Verrent, Sync Project Manager
