Forget Power, I Want Authority
The other week, I did a soul healing session with Sonya from Soul Formed. I’ve done a bunch of meditative work, but this was my first time doing something soul-focused. During the session, I experienced a massive shift around the word ‘authority.’
Sonya asked me if I authorized myself to change.
That struck me.
I previously thought of authority as external. Outside. Authority figures are people who make us do things, right? Wrong.
Some people say that all words are spells, and I love that idea. I realized that ‘authority’ contains the word ‘author.’ Then the thought hit me – I am an author! Then I recalled that my coaching page refers to Kegan’s theory of development, and I help people reach the stages of “self-authoring.” These thoughts swirled around and made me realize I need to redefine the word.
Authority relates to boundaries. Boundaries govern our behavior, not the behavior of others. I don’t think of authority in the sense that a person is one. Authority is something you have, not something you are. As humans, we all have authority over ourselves. Think of authority as a responsibility to act. Authority is not something that can be taken from us, ever. But, we can forget we have it! When I forget about my authority, I immediately release my agency and victimize myself. I avoid taking responsibility for myself, relinquishing that authority to anyone willing to usurp it.
Authority is something we can give, not take. We can green light other people to act on our behalf. And we can alter the duration of that acting. If we change our mind, we can determine whether or not the authority we gave remains valid. If it doesn’t we can remove it. It’s like saying, “I allow you to do this for me.” And then, “I don’t allow you to do this for me anymore.”
Fundamentally, authority doesn’t concern other people, except when we give it to them.
Once I’d redefined ‘authority’ for myself, I danced with authority’s cousin, power.
Power is different. Moisés Naím wrote a book called The End Of Power which helped me grok the term. For the record, I never finished the book and found it quite dry. But, if I learn one major lesson from a book, to me, that’s a big win.
Per the book, I think of power as the capacity to influence other people to do things. The key difference between power and authority is that authority is about our relationship with ourselves, whereas power is about our relationship with others.
I love this definition of power because it remains neutral. There are many ways to exercise power. In college, I studied Management, Leadership, and Social Change. My professor taught us about French and Raven’s Bases of Power:
They identified those five bases of power as coercive, reward, legitimate, referent, and expert. This was followed by Raven’s subsequent addition in 1965 of a sixth separate and distinct base of power: informational power. – Wikipedia
This model of power has become somewhat common but it misses the boat for a number of reasons.
It’s less fundamental than Naím’s, and it confuses two main things:
- Where power comes from.
- How power is exercised.
This is what I, French and Raven, and their readers had been missing.
There are many ways people can exert power over us. This feels fairly obvious. But, things most often go awry when I give someone authority. Ideally, the process should look something like this:
- I give someone authority.
- They act based on that authority.
- For some reason or another, I’m ready to release them from that authority.
- They give it up.
- We all live happily ever after.
Step 4 is the real kicker. What happens if they aren’t willing to give up that authority? Generally, that’s when those who have been given authority try to wield power as a tool. This is what I had messed up for so long. They no longer have the authority over me; I’ve reclaimed it. But, they still have power. Remember, power isn’t something we do or don’t have, it’s about capacity. Power concerns how much someone can influence me to do things.
Another thing that helped me understand this is Max Weber’s likening the state to a monopoly on violence. Aha! I get it now. The state doesn’t have authority, but they do have power. And power that is exercised via violence is coercive.
So many things began to make sense. Our laws are enforced with violence. We don’t use positive reinforcement as a means of guiding citizen behavior. Of course, I could speculate as to why, but I’ll sum it up by saying we have a lot of humans operating at a low level of consciousness. They don’t know any better!
But, figuring this out left me with open threads.
What Do I Do With This New Model?
Redefining power and authority felt empowering. But, then I realized that empowerment doesn’t make sense anymore, because I’ve redefined what power means. I don’t have a nifty word for the sensation, but the act represented a reclamation of authority.
It made me wonder: now that I know the difference between these words, how should I act? I need to control what I can, and ignore the rest. Put differently, realize my authority, and ignore the delusion that I have authority over others. But, I still need to keep power in mind.
Let’s say a police officer points a gun at me and yells, “Get on the ground.” I reply, “But Officer, I don’t authorize you to do this. Even though the state gave you the authority to do so, I never gave them authority over me in the first place. So, sorry pal, but you should drop your gun.”
Would I be right? Yes. Would that be prudent? No. I should probably get on the ground. But the nuance is key. That officer doesn’t have authority. He has power. And the difference is big because, in the past, I would’ve used the words interchangeably.
Recognizing the difference between power and authority reminds me of the idea that “There is no such thing as right and wrong, only consequences.” Power is only as just as the person wielding it. That idea feels a bit nihilistic and gross, but it has some utility. When someone else uses power (attempts to influence me), my job is to use my authority (my responsibility to myself) to formulate a plan of action.
I can choose what to do. Do I fight? Do I negotiate? Do I comply? Do I freeze? Do I run? Perhaps a combination of those? For example, I may comply, then try to negotiate, then fail at negotiating, then flee, then get caught, and then fight. The trap locks me in when I forget that compliance is but a single option on the menu. Often, I foolishly comply with requests not in my best interests because I don’t realize that I can do something else.
I’ll be noodling on this concept for a while and putting it into practice. As I write, memories flood my brain. I remembered all the times I had given people authority over me, without realizing it. I gave them power. Then, when my body tried to tell me that wasn’t a good idea, which manifested as panic or unease, I often forgot to tell myself, “Dude, that person doesn’t have authority over you! At a minimum, remember that. If you expressly gave them authority, you can take it back. Then, and only then, will you see the power dynamics.”
Today, I take back my authority!
Πηγή: stegdrew.com
