What does power mean as a core value?
Power as a core value means wanting the capacity to make things happen directly, through position, resources or decision rights, so you can shape outcomes you care about.
Good intentions without the means to act can feel like watching from the sidelines. If power is one of your values, you want to be where decisions get made: holding the budget, running the organisation, sitting at the table where outcomes are decided. For many people it’s mostly about impact. You’ve seen what happens when the wrong people have power, or nobody does, and you’d like the leverage to fix things yourself.
What does power look like in practice?
- You go after roles with real decision rights, whatever the title says.
- You work out who really makes decisions in an organisation and build relationships with them.
- You take charge of a situation that’s drifting and get it moving.
- You use your position to open doors for causes or people you believe in.
- You notice quickly when your ability to act is being reduced, and you push back.
When is power overplayed?
Power can turn from a means into an end. Decisions start protecting your position as much as the outcome, people become pieces in a game, and others stop telling you the truth because disagreeing feels risky. You may also find it hard to share power or step aside when someone else would do better. The healthier version is clear about what the power is for, invites challenge, and measures itself by what gets done. A useful question to ask now and then: who would tell me if I was getting this wrong?
Often confused with
Power vs Influence
Influence is shaping what others think and choose through persuasion. Power is the capacity to make things happen directly, through position, resources or decision rights.
Power vs Control
Control is about keeping things orderly and predictable. Power is about having the capacity to act and change things, even if the result is messy.
Power vs Authority
Authority is formal, recognised power that comes with a role. Power can exist without a title, and a title doesn’t always bring it.
Questions to sit with
- What would you do with more power that you can’t do now?
- Who around you has stopped disagreeing with you, and when did that start?
- What power do you hold that you’re reluctant to give away, and what would happen if you did?
More values in Strength
Courage, resilience and staying power.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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