Cancel the Power Trip

Being Aware of Power Dynamics

Recently, I wrote about different aspects of your role as a leader and why superimposing qualitative differences on titles is unhelpful. Highlighting the inherent authority of a management position actually works as a nice segue into this next series addressing power dynamics in leadership. When you become aware of the issues that surround power and authority disparities in working relationships, you will also become aware that there are ways that you shouldn’t act when communicating from a position of authority.

Fair warning: this series is going to get more theological than I’ve been in other writings. If you’re not a Christian, but you’ve wandered over here and have found my writing on leadership helpful, you likely will find some points confusing or annoyingly religious, but I hope you can still find some practical tips in dealing with the power dynamic as a leader.

It’s likely you’ve seen this quote (or a snippet from it) before:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority." – John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1887

The context, historically, is post Vatican council, which established an official doctrine of papal infallibility at the height of the British empire’s global influence. Much as you might call out corruption today in various sectors, Acton was noting that power and authority were being used in a corrupt way.

It is not authority itself that is evil or corrupt, the issue is people using power in sinful ways that lead to oppression and exploitation. We live in a world that has been corrupted by sin. Each human being you engage with sins. You, individually, have been corrupted by both Adam’s original sin and your own personal sins.

God Himself has power and authority and yet is completely incorruptible. For you and me to understand how to exercise legitimate authority in clear, gentle, and godly ways, we need to be able to discern between honest and good use of power and that which hurts.

As we dive into the subject of power dynamics, remember these two truths as foundational:

1. God, including Christ the God-man, is a perfect example of how authority can and should be used

2. Neither you nor I are God

God and Christ are perfect examples for all of our activities, including when you are exercising legitimate authority as a leader and boss. “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” (1 Peter 1:15-16, ESV)

Because God is our ultimate example of perfection in leadership, I’m going to be looking at the ways He refers to Himself as a jumping off point for each article. There are sixteen names God uses in the Old Testament and we will use them to highlight ways that God acts as a loving leader in concert with His authority of position.

Even as we look at God as our perfect example, it is important to point out that you are not God. That distinction goes beyond acknowledging that you sin and continues on to understanding the limits of being human. The aspect of being human that I want to especially highlight at this point, is that any authority you hold is limited. God’s authority is not limited.

Your work as a supervisor gives you a responsibility to hold your direct reports accountable for their work. That will include exercising power, but that power is narrowly defined. Power births exploitation or oppression when the use of power crosses the boundaries of where that power is legitimate. A large part of our discussion around the power dynamic in leadership will involve clearly defining authority boundaries.

Our goal here is for you to recognize the subtle ways that you might use your power as a leader that harms others in your normal activities. I want to help you build better practices that empower, encourage, and build up those under your care. Many times you’ll find that you are completely unaware of the ways you unintentionally create a hostile environment by not deliberately taking care in the way your power is exercised.

Being self-aware is a hallmark of a good leader. Self-awareness goes beyond understanding your own gifts and talents and extends to seeing how your presence lifts up or deflates others around you. The existence of authority brings weight into every relationship. That is not a bad thing, but it’s crucial that you see that weight and use it gently with those you are serving, just as God has been gentle and generous and merciful with each of us.

Here are the names we’ll be using as jumping off points for discussing power dynamics. I’ll add links as the corresponding articles are added to Substack.

ELOHIM: Creator God — Creating in Safety

YAHWEH: LORD Jehovah

EL ELYON: Most High God — Filing Your Rank

ADONAI: Lord Master — also Filing Your Rank

EL SHADDAI: Lord God Almighty — With Great Power

EL OLAM: The Eternal God — Eternal Loyalty

JEHOVAH JIREH: The Lord Will Provide — Provisions of Care

JEHOVAH RAPHA: The Lord That Heals

JEHOVAH NISSI: The Lord My Banner

​QANNA: Jealous God

JEHOVAH MEKODDISHKEM: The Lord Who Sanctifies

JEHOVAH SHALOM: The Lord Is Peace

JEHOVAH SABAOTH: The Lord of Hosts

JEHOVAH RAAH: The Lord My Shepherd

JEHOVAH TSIDKENU: The Lord Our Righteousness

JEHOVAH SHAMMAH: The Lord Is There

Have you struggled with the repercussions of authority in relationships as a pastor or manager? Feel free to drop questions and experiences here and I’ll be sure to address those issues as the series progresses.