Power is having the means to move from “point A” to “point B” and doing it in the most direct and efficient way possible. Power itself is neither good nor bad, but it can cause leaders to become overly obsessed with outcomes and control, inadvertently ramping up people’s fear – fear of not hitting performance targets, losing bonuses, failing – and as a consequence, their drive to experiment and learn is stifled.
The most effective leaders don’t use hierarchical power to tell people what to do; they don’t coerce or intimidate people, they don’t use information to control, mislead, or manipulate others. They make the time to learn about and understand human behavior – people’s nature and how they learn – and they focus on helping people think better and think differently to take action and solve problems. You can only help a human system help itself. To be more effective and get the best results, authentic leaders create the environment and conditions in which learning and change can occur.