Power and Responsibility Essay Example

📌Category: Behavior, Psychology
📌Words: 1031
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 13 April 2021

Power and Responsibility are two sides of the same coin. Power and responsibility are important elements that decide the ethical aspect, accountability and acceptability of one’s actions.

Being a leader is not about power, but the responsibility that comes with said power. Most leaders believe that being in charge is about ordering the people under them to do what they believe needs to be done or dictating policy, but it is more about getting a hundred percent out of their subordinates. The most important part of being a leader is about having the trust of the people under said leader, by giving them direction and keeping the greater good in mind when considering what a leaders’ mission and purpose is.

This seems easy but it actually can be very difficult because leaders’ need to get everyone on the team to both work together and communicate with each other. A leader must show the team that they know what the end goal is even if they don’t know how to get there. They pull the team together by explaining what the end goal is specifically rather than in general terms. A leader however, must always have the greater good in mind when considering what said goal is. It can’t be just for the shareholder, higher ups, big bosses, or themself, it must be for the good of every person who is part of the organization. 

A leader must hold themself accountable for all people working in the organization. When in a leadership position it’s imperative that leaders set a very good example for the team as a responsible person. The people under them will do what they see their leaders do and will both respond to how leaders act and take inspiration from it. Leaders can do this by listening to the people under them and giving their suggestions all the consideration and unbiasedness they deserve. By listening to those under them, they can improve how things are getting done.

The team will not only have a greater trust, respect and confidence in their leader. Leaders must not see this criticism as an attack on how they do things or have the feeling that the suggestion is an attack on their power. In doing so, this will cause people in power to start to act in a selfish way which sets both a bad example for the team to follow and erode the trust, respect, and influence that they have been trying to build with the team. A leader must know what the consequences are of not accepting the responsibility they have. The people under them have to know that they can justify what their bosses are doing to them in a calm and reasonable manner and that they have considered all other avenues of possibilities before their boss has settled on this course. By following this bosses can show both that they are accountable to both those under and above them, and that they have the potential to lead in a responsible manner.

Keeping Commitments

To lead responsibly a leader must be able to keep the commitments they make to everyone. This takes communication and a working relationship with the team to accomplish. This requires that leaders have a way that their people can communicate with them and the belief that their bosses will support them as they work towards the goal that has been given to them. Leaders will have to be careful with their words and what they commit to, never promising or committing to something they can’t keep.  A leader must try to develop a strategy to break down their tasks into more manageable sizes.

Leaders must make sure to interact with their team to help make sure they are keeping their obligations and not forgetting anything. When interacting with their team, be sure to listen to them. Make sure they know what is going on, make sure they know that their leader is giving a hundred and ten percent to all their commitments and they are appreciated for going above what is required of them. A leader must ensure that the working relationship with their team is always good. And must show that they are as committed to them as they are with their leader. Leaders’ must never see the power they have as a freedom. That can not only lead to a bad relationship with their team, but then the leader could begin acting in a possible corrupt way.

True leaders must see their power as a great responsibility never as a freedom to do what they wish. If they do that then can lead to them acting in an unethical way. This will result in the people under them to begin acting in an unethical way, and erode all that everyone has worked for, both within the team and the work all have put into the end goal. Leaders can avoid this by first thinking to themself how the power they have should be used or think if the decision they have reached benefits them more than it does the team as a whole. Start seeing things from the perspective of the team as a whole and do not see it as the people working for the goal set out by the boss.

See it as the whole team working towards the end goal. Meet with the team, spend time with them, get to know them, and show them that their boss/leader is listening to them, and ensure that the commitments made are being kept to. Both to the individual and to the team as a whole. Leaders must take their concerns into consideration, don’t be selfish, be selfless. Being selfless and making profit/reaching the end goal are not exclusive to each other by getting the whole team together and helping each other out leaders can all reach the end goal more efficiently then if they saw it as an I perspective and could end up with massive improvements in how things are done. The end result will be a very loyal workforce who know their boss will help them and they will go out of their way to help in any way in their power their leaders end goal a reality.

A true leader will accept the responsibility that comes with all the power they have. They must show they see the leadership and power not as freedom but responsibility,

And hold themselves to an accountable standard. Leaders’ ethical integrity can influence how they use their power so they must have high integrity about how power is seen and how it should be used. So they must always remember that with great power must also come greater responsibility.

 

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