According to an old story, a nobleman from ancient China asked his doctor, who belonged to a family of healers, which of them was the best in the art of healing.
The doctor, whose reputation was such that his name became synonymous with "medical science" in China, replied: "My older brother can see the spirit of the disease and eliminate it before it takes shape, so that his reputation does not reaches beyond the door of the house.
“The second of my brothers cures the disease when it is already extremely serious, so his name is not known beyond the neighborhood.
"As for me, I pierce veins, prescribe potions, and massage skin, so that from time to time my name reaches the ears of the nobles."
This is a story that beautifully captures the essence of the relationship between the art of healing and the art of "exercising authority"; Possibly exercising authority and healing are worlds apart, but they have a parallel: to recognize, as history tells us, that the less you notice someone's actions, the better; whether a boss, manager, president, supervisor, etc. it is very "bulky" in the task of its function, if it is noticed when it is commanding, something in the organization is not working properly.
Introduction
Some define power as the ability to do what you want. Since man is a social being, doing what you want often involves other people.
The dictionary defines authority as the power one person has over another who is subordinate to him; like that of the father over the children, that of the guardian over the ward, that of the superior over the inferiors. This is how the concepts of power and authority are intermingled and linked.
The fact of belonging to a company, whatever position one occupies, means that we relinquish some control over our work.
This simple premise is not recognized and accepted equally by everyone.
In the context of business management, we are going to develop some concepts related to power and its traps, and some concepts about the exercise of authority.
Who has the power?
Gregory Bateson, an American anthropologist who died a few years ago, said that power was a relational situation. Someone has power if there is another who grants it. So who has the power? "Goebbels himself, Bateson relates, believed that he could control and dominate public opinion in Germany by means of a vast communications system. But in fact, the would-be driver would always have to have his spies on the street to…
To be told what people are saying about their propaganda. Therefore, he continues, you cannot have a simple unilateral control of power «. Goebbels, almighty, realized that he could not do it alone, he needed to know the opinion of those recipients of his decisions (German public opinion) to make his decisions.
The power
According to M. Grondona, etymologically, power comes from an Indo-European voice, poti, which means "leader of a group." Poti alludes to the heads of the family or clan who roamed in the times of the caves. So the first thing there was was absolute command of the "boss." Out of it came even the generic sense of "power" in terms of the ability to do something in any other field. It seems that the first thing there was was to order and obey. First the head of the family, then the king, an almighty, to him and only to him belonged the secret of his decisions. No one could ask why. The chief kept to himself the reasons for what he ordered.
In many seminars with company executives, professionals, and graduate university courses, I have developed an exercise that is done in groups of three people, A, B, and C. I announce it as an exercise to negotiate under unequal conditions of power. They must negotiate among themselves, on the number of points, how many correspond to each one, following the guidelines indicated in the rules of the exercise. In development they can reach an agreement, the three (A + B + C), two (A + B, B + C, A + C), or not reach any agreement. The rules establish an apparent superiority of the role of A and an apparent weakness of the role of C, reserving for the role of B a more neutral place. The final results are usually very different in the different groups. The more groups participate the more the variety of results is perceived. The most common results are:a) A and B exclude C, b) A and B include C, but give crumbs, c) Some type of equitable solution type 40%, 33% and 27%. This exercise is very interesting to review beliefs about power and traps of power.
For the "almighty" A, the trap is to believe that he can control the situation without help from anyone, that he does not need to take into account the weakest to establish alliances; He who believes himself stronger is tempted to impose his will and commit abuses.
For the "powerless" C, the trap is to believe that he must be grateful for any alms thrown at him, not to recognize that he can increase his power by making alliances with others; He who believes himself weaker is tempted to take offense, resist, or expose himself to being abused.
The exercise related above is very interesting in this sense, when one analyzes the different results, some A and C meet their expectations, much for A, little for C. Others are puzzled when they see the results of other groups, in which A resigned several of his points and C achieves many more than the other C. With the same initial conditions, different beliefs about own resources (power) and, different attitudes towards alliances lead to different final results.
Many times the concept of power is confused with the use of force. If an audience is asked to give a symbolic gesture of power, many will show their fists, threateningly or insultingly.
Strength is taken as a concept of domination; There is a tendency to identify power with the capacity for victory, that is, to exercise it over another person or organization.
These confusions and tendencies become evident in the abuses of power, understanding abuse as the misuse, excessive, unjust, improper and improper use of something (Dicc. Encicl. Salvat).
The abuses of power of the type: - because yes!, - it is done this way because I say so!, - I'm the boss and that's enough! You are not going to teach me how to do it!, -if you don't like it you already know what to do!, - Follow your orders and stop it!, they are not good for any of those involved in the situation.
The "victim" of abuse may obey, but she will do so with anger and will not recognize the legitimacy of authority, she will react with hostility, her self-esteem will drop, her performance will decrease, she will be more exposed to errors and accidents, etc.
The one who commands in this way, is also a "victim" of the same situation, because he sees other risks and dangers, insufficiencies and defects, he is also not reliable for his subordinates, he loses contact with them, therefore he loses the possibility to be aware of what happens.
When leadership and standards are rigid, fixed and immutable in a company, communication is indirect, vague, and insincere. This is a foolproof way to create a troublesome organization.
Instead, leadership and standards are flexible, appropriate, and subject to change, communication is direct, clear, specific, and sincere. While there are no guarantees, they are more likely to create a vital organization that supports and nurtures its members.
The authority
Although there are people who seem to be born to be leaders, to exercise authority, the truth is that the majority of people who occupy leadership positions, whether in nations, large and small organizations, companies, etc. They do it through a demanding and disciplined preparation. There are some routes to get to lead. It is necessary that someone wants to do it, that does to the motivation of the leader; then you need to believe that you can do it, this is linked to self-esteem; Then it is good to know how to be a leader, to recognize yourself as such, it makes identity; and finally all this is possible if one knows how to do it, that is, if there is training.
Synthesis
The art of driving, of leading, of exercising authority, are based on knowledge, experience, the ability to involve others, self-confidence and that of others, in the motivation to do so, in training, more than in the use of force, the threat, believing himself the owner of the truth, the sole possessor of knowledge and the knower of all answers.
This reminds me of a story…
Once upon a time there was a man who gave a class to parents on how to be parents. He titled it "Ten Commandments for Parents," and parents, unsure of their abilities, came from all over to attend their class and learn how to be better parents. Back then, that man was neither married nor had children. One day he met the woman of his dreams and got married. In time they had a son. Then he changed the title of his class, "Five Tips for Parents." In time they were blessed with another son. And then he gave the class a new name, "Three Temporary Parenting Clues."
When her third child was born, she stopped teaching.
