What Does it Mean to Distribute Power?
Power is the ability to change my life and others' lives through access to money, information, community, audience, decision makers, and decision rights. This access is a set of levers that can move, create, or diminish that ability to change your or others lives. I always introduce this definition of power to clients because it takes power from being this ethereal feeling to something you and your team can see and discuss. At a time when power globally means coercion and domination, our teams are especially sensitive to power dynamics. We need clear norms so people don't confuse the use of power with its abuse—norms we've discussed and agreed on. Here are some questions I think are helpful to ask ourselves about how power is distributed in our institutions.
Diagram of Levers of Power which include: information, money, decision makers, platform/megaphone, community, decision-making rights
Information: Who knows what information and when? Is leadership too overwhelmed to be transparent? Does transparency need its own staffing and planning? Who understands the tradeoffs being made? Does every staff member have enough information to take an organization-wide view in decision making?
Community: Do any of your requests require team members to spend social capital? Are team members discouraged from connecting with each other? How are you planning for people to gather together?
Audience: What kind of audience are you building? Are team members with an audience (internal or external) positioned to support the institution? Are you positioned to support them? What actions should happen quietly? What actions should leverage your full audience?
Decision Makers: Who can easily get on an executive or manager's calendar? Who is encouraged or discouraged from taking up leadership's time? Who shapes executives' context through informal interactions?
Decision Making Rights: Who owns decisions that impact multiple departments? Do those people have clear responsibilities to those they affect? Does everyone understand these responsibilities? Is there accountability if responsibilities aren't met? Could your team accurately identify decision makers for various matters?
Finally, I recognize how frightening this moment is for many. As we face what is a new Great Depression, our shared fear is tangible. In the coming weeks, more people will struggle to manage their stress responses amid this upheaval. It is in making our teams more discerning about power - how it is being distributed, the difference between use and abuse, what intentionality with power looks like, and what tradeoffs need to be made in this moment - that they also gain the skills to be leaderful and powerful. I hope these questions can be helpful to you as you navigate your work and institutions through these waters.
Warmly,
Karla
