A few days ago I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of interns from a number of profit and nonprofit based organizations in the Victoria County area.
They are approaching the end of their program of internship and The Kawartha Lakes Community Futures Corporation that manages the program for Industry Canada, wanted to hold an event to celebrate the end of the year. It is a wonderful program and the opportunities for the interns expand exponentially as a result of the experience.
Although the interns were unanimous in their appreciation of the program and its value to their future, they were not all of the “celebrating” mind. The program was coming to an end and many did not, and still do not, know what comes next in their career.
I was asked to provide a motivating meaningful seminar to a group of people about to lose their jobs. The irony of this was not lost on the group.
In hind sight it is possible that there could be no better send off than to remind them that they are not powerless in a power-based world and that though they are unsure of their prospects, they still had the grandest of possibilities ahead.
So in a self examining way we started to look at where power fit into their lives and how they felt about it. There was no shortage of those angry feelings of powerlessness.
I find that every time I speak with a group – especially a younger group of Gen Y’s – the predominant emotion is anger. Of course fear follows closely behind on the scale of power emotions. But that anger and frustration is always palpable when we begin our discussion.
Once we examine those emotions and the circumstances from which they originate everything becomes clear and we charge along discovering this thing called power.
I always feel like a little bit of a trouble maker when I ask them the question, “Is power a good thing or a bad thing?”
Those who live a life of fear and concern always think of the power in authority and are convinced that our society would go to hell in a hand basket if there was not a great power ruling over us. People would go around killing people they say.
I always doubt the truth of that statement. People are not such a motivated beast. I honestly don’t think we care that much about each other.
We will kill when we seem to have reason. It doesn’t have to be a good reason - just a personal one. But all the authority in the world can’t seem to stop that. Other than a few very badly damaged twisted people, for the most part we don’t go around doing such things.
But those who see power as a necessary part of society I try to encourage them to consider Hobbes and his Leviathan.
Others say it is a bad thing. These are usually those who feel like their life is out of control – or more accurately – that someone else has control over it. Those who dislike power have no shortage of examples of abuse and corruption.
When we discuss it in detail we seem to always come back to the significance of intention.
Is power good or bad?
“Well…it depends….”
On what?
“On what they are using it for…”
Tough question – but it sure shows us where we stand.
I guess the best part of these speaking training sessions is seeing the eyes of the participants when they connect the dots between power, need, ability and emotion.
When they see how it works, and when they acknowledge that it is s battle for choice and the battle ground is inside their head, it is easy for them to agree that power is an illusion.
At that moment we usually go from an active discussion to quiet contemplation.
At that moment I understand the importance of sharing this insight.
I can't thank them enough for allowing me that chance.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
The Joy of Power
Love is beautiful thing.
There is little in human experience that compares to the heart-filling ecstacy of romantic love.
We all remember quite clearly the moment we fell. The instant we knew that we were in it. The second we were overcome with the pure joy. The absolute fulfillment of self to the point that we lost ourself.
That is why it works so well as a power mechanism.
Falling in love causes us to forget everything we had once planned for our lives and begin to redesign the future. The path that we have charted for ourselves now needs to be sketched in a new way to include a second set of footprints. Not only does it change in size and shape, but we are now willing to consider new directions.
And even when we are certain that this love is not something that is permanent and we should not change our path for this love, we find that we still fall off the path we had set for ourselves.
Love affects our choices.
No one has to use love for the power of love to be real.
We will chat about how there are some who will use love as a mechanism to affect choices and attempt to obtain what they seek. That is real and needs to be understood.
But just as real and maybe more important is understanding the innocent power of love.
There is nothing we want more. We have all heard others say that love is secondary to other dreams and desires. Career, art, music, wealth, or success in some matter of life are driving forces and I have had my share of friends who claim that these are more important to them than love.
That is delusion.
I have had dreams and goals that I have put ahead of love.
But in hindsight I see that the love I subordinated was something that had hurt me because of its use for power. The love was no longer real and I did not trust it. Power destroys trust. And so the purity of the love was lost and so it was no longer the same. So I did not place love behind other goals. I placed something that was love behind those goals.
When love comes before you again. When new love arrives. When love is revived. When love is
discovered, all else falls behind it again.
We all want and need to be loved. It is so important that we will drop everything else to have it. We will give up other dreams to enjoy it - even for a moment. When it is before us nothing else matters. We live moment to to moment in an unspoken search for it. Without ever admitting it we spend our lives seeking that joy and acceptance.
We need it so much we willingly give up choice to have it, for however long it will last.
No one has to use it on us for it to be power. It is power because there is nothing that we want more. There is nothing we need more. There is nothing with more power inside it waiting to be used. It is our ultimate desire and need.
It requires no intention to be power over us.
Our passionate need creates passionate power.
As we approach Valentine's Day and our anticipated admission to another of the love we have for them and the power they have over us, let's not forget that power can be fun too.
There is little in human experience that compares to the heart-filling ecstacy of romantic love.
We all remember quite clearly the moment we fell. The instant we knew that we were in it. The second we were overcome with the pure joy. The absolute fulfillment of self to the point that we lost ourself.
That is why it works so well as a power mechanism.
Falling in love causes us to forget everything we had once planned for our lives and begin to redesign the future. The path that we have charted for ourselves now needs to be sketched in a new way to include a second set of footprints. Not only does it change in size and shape, but we are now willing to consider new directions.
And even when we are certain that this love is not something that is permanent and we should not change our path for this love, we find that we still fall off the path we had set for ourselves.
Love affects our choices.
No one has to use love for the power of love to be real.
We will chat about how there are some who will use love as a mechanism to affect choices and attempt to obtain what they seek. That is real and needs to be understood.
But just as real and maybe more important is understanding the innocent power of love.
There is nothing we want more. We have all heard others say that love is secondary to other dreams and desires. Career, art, music, wealth, or success in some matter of life are driving forces and I have had my share of friends who claim that these are more important to them than love.
That is delusion.
I have had dreams and goals that I have put ahead of love.
But in hindsight I see that the love I subordinated was something that had hurt me because of its use for power. The love was no longer real and I did not trust it. Power destroys trust. And so the purity of the love was lost and so it was no longer the same. So I did not place love behind other goals. I placed something that was love behind those goals.
When love comes before you again. When new love arrives. When love is revived. When love is
discovered, all else falls behind it again.
We all want and need to be loved. It is so important that we will drop everything else to have it. We will give up other dreams to enjoy it - even for a moment. When it is before us nothing else matters. We live moment to to moment in an unspoken search for it. Without ever admitting it we spend our lives seeking that joy and acceptance.
We need it so much we willingly give up choice to have it, for however long it will last.
No one has to use it on us for it to be power. It is power because there is nothing that we want more. There is nothing we need more. There is nothing with more power inside it waiting to be used. It is our ultimate desire and need.
It requires no intention to be power over us.
Our passionate need creates passionate power.
As we approach Valentine's Day and our anticipated admission to another of the love we have for them and the power they have over us, let's not forget that power can be fun too.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Trent and the Vote Talk
Sorry it has been a while.
I have a huge teaching load this semester and those of you who know me know that it's all about the show. So my preparation time has gone way up.
Then I went away for some fun in the sun. Lucky me.
I have come to believe that winter requires three things - long underwear - a hat - and a couple of weeks away in the sun. Maybe that is just my age...
My writing has been sparse and not up to calibre so I haven't been sharing much of it. But it is what I love. So now I am back.
Before I left however we had a good speak at Trent.
Thinking about power and the then pending federal election.
Gunther arranged it through the Trent Sociology Students Union.
We had a good chat about the power in the youth vote. That power goes beyond the end result of an election.
About 80 Million Gen Y in North America. About 2 Million voters in Canada.
If each one committed to cast a ballot and donate $5 each to the party of their choice, the parties and their candidates would be all over them to find out what they wanted in exchange.
Power is about choice. It resides in needs. Politicians know all of their power comes from votes and the money they spend to acquire them. They are always willing to consider new ideas if it leads to votes and donations.
And the Bipolar Nature of the Power Dynamics tell us that the need of the politicians is the source of our power.
Seeing this leads to an opportunity to have power.
Simple but effective.
The students at Trent enjoyed the idea and we had a long and heart felt discussion afterward. These are people who really care about their world and the power they have in it.
I want to thank Gunther and his colleagues for making me welcome. It was a meaningful time.
I have a huge teaching load this semester and those of you who know me know that it's all about the show. So my preparation time has gone way up.
Then I went away for some fun in the sun. Lucky me.
I have come to believe that winter requires three things - long underwear - a hat - and a couple of weeks away in the sun. Maybe that is just my age...
My writing has been sparse and not up to calibre so I haven't been sharing much of it. But it is what I love. So now I am back.
Before I left however we had a good speak at Trent.
Thinking about power and the then pending federal election.
Gunther arranged it through the Trent Sociology Students Union.
We had a good chat about the power in the youth vote. That power goes beyond the end result of an election.
About 80 Million Gen Y in North America. About 2 Million voters in Canada.
If each one committed to cast a ballot and donate $5 each to the party of their choice, the parties and their candidates would be all over them to find out what they wanted in exchange.
Power is about choice. It resides in needs. Politicians know all of their power comes from votes and the money they spend to acquire them. They are always willing to consider new ideas if it leads to votes and donations.
And the Bipolar Nature of the Power Dynamics tell us that the need of the politicians is the source of our power.
Seeing this leads to an opportunity to have power.
Simple but effective.
The students at Trent enjoyed the idea and we had a long and heart felt discussion afterward. These are people who really care about their world and the power they have in it.
I want to thank Gunther and his colleagues for making me welcome. It was a meaningful time.
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