Karen Restivo
In Other Words....
People associate the words power and control with those individuals at the top of the wealth and status hierarchy.
Ironically, power and control aren’t synonyms; instead, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
An authentic leader encounters opportunities to discern the true meaning of power vs. control during multiple crossroads throughout their life.
Power is defined as the ability to do something or act a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality; Control is defined as to determine the behavior or supervise the course of events.
If you find yourself stuck on the fence of whether power and control are the same, please join me further.
Author Steve Freishtat in his article, “Control vs. Power” surgically separates the two conjoined words by inserting two additional words -wisdom and freedom - into the potential mix to strengthen true transformation.
Freishtat says, “We tend to believe that the more we control (in business), the more power we have.
“Conversely, as my business matured, I increasingly found that empowerment lies in the space between wisdom and freedom – the wisdom of knowing when to relinquish control, and the freedom to do so, once known.”
Here lies the secret of true leadership in women and men.
He equates the wisdom side with our rational or ‘thinking selves’ and the freedom side from our emotional or ‘feeling selves.’
According to Freishtat, practicing mindfulness will balance the qualities of both.
Before delving further into the author’s diagnosis and treatment, let’s conjure up an individual(s) in our professional life lacking in authentic leadership qualities, the one in meetings choosing to tear team members down to build themselves up. (Notice how quickly their names come to mind.)
Freishtat states, “Wisdom and freedom alone do not cause an inversion in the relationship between power and control in the workplace.
“It is still possible with wisdom and freedom fully realized, maintaining control could be the best decision for optimizing effectiveness of power.
“The inversion would occur in dismissing the tendency to conflate control and power – to understand that power is the ability to let go of control, not to retain it.
“As we move across the continuum of increased wisdom and emotional freedom and are more aware of when to take and when to relinquish control, we are likely to relinquish control more often.
“And more importantly, as we shed the constraints of ego, we are likely to create the conditions by which we can benefit from relinquishing control.
“These conditions may include hiring people that we believe are smarter and more capable than we are – people with complementary skill sets.
“There may be an improved ability to attract and retain key employees, and for talent and engagement levels to become positive correlates.
“The same willingness become positive correlates. The same willingness may involve embracing our dispensability.”
In other words, Freishtat concludes, “As we create these conditions and relinquish control, we are empowered. It seems we are less compelled to exert control over others when we are more effectively under control, ourselves.”
The proof of Freishtat’s system may be found within our own county leadership and our recently awarded citizens Crystal Folse and Mike Ferdinand, together generating a balance of the female and male perspective, extinguishing old guard egoic behavior and replacing it with integrity and humility. Karenrestivo57@gmail.com