Power Play At Office

I watch with great amusement at how people play the power card in their work places.

A few months back I had the opportunity to observe this phenomenon unfolding even if I was very much unconnected with the whole thing.

Sometime in the 1st week of November last year, X who had resigned due to disagreement with Y, her boss, got reappointed and was made an executive who would report to Z who is her ex-boss' boss! The reappointment itself was on purely sympathetic grounds.

During the initial weeks she was so meek and timid, not quite sure about the power which she could throw around being officially close to the number one. Many were expecting some kind of 'weight throwing' yet nothing happened, so everyone started 'throwing their weights' instead making her look like a poor choice for the much-coveted post.

Come X'Mas and New Year Eve, on behalf of her boss, she was involved in receiving and sending greetings, gifts to so many high level officials. Soon the sheer power of it all began going to her head. Her manner, her body language, her speech, underwent a major change from being timid to one who knew, who she was!

Now I see her wielding power and attracting those very people who ignored her in the beginning. Not in the positive way but in a negative way.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Until the bomb called boss decides to explode in public view over some trivial matter or non-performance of the executive. This is like fodder for hungry cattle and is enough for others all around to gossip in whispers. In most cases, i'ts just a matter of time for such explosions to occur!

It is hard to be just yourself and carry on with work rather than walk into or allow the traps of power and posts go to one's head. The lower the post, the more the head-weight (read as being on an ego trip).

It is not the person we look up at, it is usually the chair which seats that power we look up to. Remove the person from the seat of power and very soon (s)he is forgotten. In the drama called life there's another new person being feted by all until he or she is replaced by yet another.

Power has been doing strange things to people from time immemorial.
It is up to us how we handle power thrust on us.

Cheers!
Mahalakshmi.