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Abuse of Power
I was watching the Today Show last week and saw a feature on President George W. Bush’s twin girls Barbara and Jenna.
Although this blog often deals with the subject of abuse of power, we have had several national examples that have come to light recently that highlight the various ways power is abused. As I’ve said many times over the past several months, “Power is not leadership.” It never ceases to surprise me how many people who are in positions of power automatically assume they are Leaders- with a capital L- when in fact they are anything but.
Anyway, back to the Bush girls. A quick story by Barbara outlines another example of how being in power has nothing to do with leadership. Start watching at the 5 minute mark below to hear her story of dealing with a cowardly leader while at Yale:
Anyone in a position of authority can abuse that authority. This teaching assistant certainly did by punishing Barbara through a lower grade based on the TA’s disagreement with her father’s policies. I like to emphasize that it is important to realize that you can be a Leader regardless of the size and scope of your organization. There are true Leaders of 3-man landscape crews, and there are cowardly leaders of entire cities.
Abuse…Harassment…
We have all been seeing and reading repeated allegations regarding Harvey Weinstein. As a male, I’m never going to know what women go through regarding being harassed. To be clear: rape is rape and physical abuse is abuse, and I can’t imagine anyone defending either of those. However, one of the challenges, I believe, is that every woman has a slightly different definition of what constitutes harassment. To one, a comment is a compliment while to another that same comment is harassment. So much depends on the situation, the setting (whether at a boardroom in the office, inside the boss’s office one-on-one, or at a bar at 10 p.m.), and the power dynamics between the individuals.
Abuse of power is abuse of power in any situation. One of the commonalities regarding the Weinstein accusations is that he was in a position of authority, AND, forced himself in some manner upon those who relied upon him for their jobs, or were applying for a job. The Teaching Assistant-who was female- that Barbara Bush ran into while at Yale abused her power. So yes, without question, males AND females have the same capacity to take advantage of their positions of authority.
Look in the mirror
Here is a true story of why this topic is so difficult for everyone- males, females, supervisors, employees, HR staffs. Everyone.
It Can Happen To You
I have had only one sexual harassment claim filed against me in a work setting. Or any setting, for that matter.
I was a department head at an agency about 15 years ago. I was not able to ask, nor find out, who filed it until after the proceedings. Over the four weeks or so that it took to go through the process, I discovered that the person filing the action (we will call her “A”), did not file it on behalf of herself, but on behalf of person “B”. During the proceedings, after being brought in for interviews by Human Resources, person “B” she said she had never felt harassed or threatened and was unclear why there was a claim in the first place. Person “A” said she felt personally that I had harassed Person “B”, and therefore filed the grievance (I found all of this out after the fact during the de-briefings; I didn’t know who “A” was until it was all completed and findings announced).
The hearings were done and I was found not at fault. However, from that time forward, I was a little less friendly, and a little more formal. I think that’s good…and bad.
I don’t really have a lesson to share. Be careful. Be professional. Being in authority, and power, can, either in reality or in perception, bleed into harassment.
Be considerate. It’s common sense stuff.
http://cowardlyleadership.com/speaking-and-training/
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