Recently I read this blog post by a friend about her unpleasant experiences at workplace and her annoying boss.
I have very strong feelings against such people who misinterpret their ‘authority’ or ‘power’ and exercise it in wrong manner. Using your power in a work related matters is understandable – but cannot be justified when your boss tries to use it as per his whims and fancies.
In this context I remembered a quote from our MBA module called ‘Mindful Manager’. Though we all made cracks at those Mindful manager sessions (needless to say I was at the forefront!!!), I must admit that I liked the basic concept a lot… (Candid confession! Does this qualify to be a ‘Breaking News’??? Any India TV reporters out there?)
So here is the quote on Power:
“Power is the illusion people get when they are obeyed…[they] discover what their power is really made of when they start to lose it. They realise, but too late, that it was ‘made’ of the wills of others”
[Latour 1986 p 268]
I completely agree with this – and to add to it…it is the ‘lack of will of others’ that allows the people holding power the luxury of misusing it.


That keeps happening a lot!!
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thanks for linking my post. The quote is so apt…I wonder if my boss will realise that.
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