tHE POWER OF ONE
The Power of One: Why and how may power corrupt a leader?
In ancient Rome, in the peak of development of the empire when faced against great perils, one man would be granted with all the power. They will be named Julius Caesar, the head of the republic. But there was a time in which Gaius Julius Caesar rejected to give up his power and became a dreadful tyrant. The history of mankind is full of examples of man being corrupted by the taste of power. The story of the Caesar is but one of the vast myriad of examples that history can give of the corruption power can create on people. The problem with power is that it being the ability to have control (control over people, control over goods, control over minds, control over ideas and so forth) it may corrupt someone. This control allows people to manipulate reality around them. There are investigations that indicate that there are individuals who utilize their mastery on discourse, their given power, to achieve their own ends. In order to determine why and how does power corrupts leaders I am going to write about the main possible reasons that lead them to be corrupt, analyzing both sides and giving arguments to support both. In the particular case of power and corruption, the answer is complex, but fairly clear.
To begin with, we have to understand that leadership, at its core, is all about power and influence. Power is something most people strive to get; nobody can deny the power of language. Leaders use their power to get things done. A simple distinction is between two forms of power. Socialized power, that is power used to benefit others. The other form of power is called personalized power, and it corresponds to using power for personal gain. It is very important to note that these two forms of power are not mutually exclusive. A leader can use his power to benefit others, but can also use it to benefit himself. The obvious problem is when personalized power dominates, often at the followers' expense.
In ancient Rome, in the peak of development of the empire when faced against great perils, one man would be granted with all the power. They will be named Julius Caesar, the head of the republic. But there was a time in which Gaius Julius Caesar rejected to give up his power and became a dreadful tyrant. The history of mankind is full of examples of man being corrupted by the taste of power. The story of the Caesar is but one of the vast myriad of examples that history can give of the corruption power can create on people. The problem with power is that it being the ability to have control (control over people, control over goods, control over minds, control over ideas and so forth) it may corrupt someone. This control allows people to manipulate reality around them. There are investigations that indicate that there are individuals who utilize their mastery on discourse, their given power, to achieve their own ends. In order to determine why and how does power corrupts leaders I am going to write about the main possible reasons that lead them to be corrupt, analyzing both sides and giving arguments to support both. In the particular case of power and corruption, the answer is complex, but fairly clear.
To begin with, we have to understand that leadership, at its core, is all about power and influence. Power is something most people strive to get; nobody can deny the power of language. Leaders use their power to get things done. A simple distinction is between two forms of power. Socialized power, that is power used to benefit others. The other form of power is called personalized power, and it corresponds to using power for personal gain. It is very important to note that these two forms of power are not mutually exclusive. A leader can use his power to benefit others, but can also use it to benefit himself. The obvious problem is when personalized power dominates, often at the followers' expense.