There is nothing more alluring than power. We have an innate desire to be stronger, faster, and smarter, to distinguish ourselves by ability and stand out from the crowd. This inbuilt ambition has been the driving force behind the human dominance as a species and, as a result, we worship the powerful. Award shows, elections and sporting events are just a few of the contests we fight to separate winners from losers, strong from weak. And when the dust has settled, we parade our champions through the streets, plaster their faces on billboards and magazine covers, and treat them like heroes.
But, if that power is abused, if the politician’s credibility is destroyed, the athlete caught cheating, or the businessman corrupt, we are outraged. The misuse of power offends us like no other crime, because the same force that creates a leader can also create a tyrant. And though few people will ever govern a nation or command an army, every man will one day have power: to start a business is to have power over employees; to captain a team is to have power over teammates; even to be a father is pretty much to have power over a child.
No.11 Have Role Models
Seek out people who inspire you and follow in their example. Sir Isaac Newton, widely considered the most important and influential scientist to ever live, and the person responsible for the theory of gravity as well as the “laws of motion,” famously downplayed his own accomplishments, stating, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” The importance of role models is all too obvious to scientists, who carry on the work of their predecessors, but it is equally applicable to businessmen, athletes and politicians.
No.10 Stand for Something Greater Than Yourself
To be truly powerful, you have to represent something greater than yourself: an idea or vision whose legacy will live on long after you are gone. Martin Luther King once said, “A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” Tragically, on April 4th, 1968, a bullet from an assassin’s rifle cut his life short, but not before his principled stand against racial inequity galvanised a nation into confronting its long-ignored issues of racism and discrimination. Just days after his death, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and King’s legacy and character, especially his commitment to peaceful demonstration and reasoned debate, continue to inspire human rights activists the world over.
No.9 Do Not Seek Approval
Powerful people practice self-reliance, trusting in their own abilities and intuitions rather than looking to others for confirmation and assurance. No one better embodies this ideal than Winston Churchill, who once said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” In the years leading up to World War II, Churchill was vilified as a warmonger for his outspoken criticisms of Hitler and the appeasement policies of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Churchill recognised the danger posed by a mechanised Germany
No.8 Don't Make Excuses
The powerful do not make excuses: they take responsibility. Benjamin Franklin embodied his maxim: “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” An inventor, author, scientist and politician, Franklin, often referred to as “the first American” for his early and tireless devotion to the union of the early American colonies, is one of history’s most accomplished men. His emphasis on personal accountability is legendary, and is a large focus of his famous autobiography, in which he specifies a list of thirteen “virtues,” or principles, upon which to build a successful life.
No.7 Do Not Fear Failure
Nobody achieves power without first understanding the importance of failure. Behind every successful person hides a succession of spectacular, often very public, failures. Henry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” He would know: his success in founding the Ford Motor Company was not an accident but the result of knowledge gained from failing again and again. Ford’s first attempt at creating an industry was the Detroit Automobile Company, founded in late 1899 and dissolved barely two years later due to quality issues and high costs. In founding the Ford Motor Company, he improved on his problems by switching from ethanol to gasoline and implementing assembly lines to cut expenses while maintaining quality. The result? Ford’s techniques were copied the world over and his company became, and remains, one of the largest family-owned companies in the world.
No.6 Be Humble
There are few things more annoying or off-putting than a braggart. The Chinese philosopher Confucius, living around 500 B.C., taught, “The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” Humility is an important virtue to cultivate: having an ego distracts you from what is important, taking your focus off of your goals and onto your image. As Confucius points out, talk is cheap; it is our actions and accomplishments that speak for us and determine our value.
No.5 Power Is Innovative
The powerful are those that choose to lead rather than follow, preferring always to explore new ground rather than retrace another’s footsteps. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Inc., once wrote, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” After being removed from the board of the company he created, Jobs returned when the company was nearing bankruptcy, and promptly declared that Apple had lost the battle of personal computing and had to focus on new things. What followed - in rapid succession - were the iPod, iPhone and iPad, which took Apple from the brink of irrelevance to being among the most powerful and valuable companies in the world.
No.4 Power Is Not Confrontational
In the second century B.C., a Chinese military commander known as Sun Tzu wrote what would become the definitive treatise on military combat, studied to this day by generals and strategists the world over. In The Art of War, he writes, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” The powerful do not need to fight or argue to get what they want; they understand the costs of conflict and find ways to achieve their goals without confrontation. Negotiation, diplomacy and persuasion are always preferable to petty squabbles or outright violence.
No.3 It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared
It is the nature of power that anyone with strength or access to a firearm can exert it, but power based on fear is fleeting and dangerous. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment.” Through hunger strikes and acts of non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi won international support and admiration, liberating India from British colonial rule and advancing his campaigns for the amelioration of poverty and peace between Hindu and Muslim groups within India
No.2 Be Memorable
The truly powerful exert a lasting influence, even long after their deaths. Bruce Lee once said, “The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.” A martial artist and global film star, Lee became a pop culture icon, inspiring millions with his dedication and discipline, as well as his personal philosophy, a mix of Buddhism and Taoism. Though he died at the tragically young age of 33, from cerebral edema, his legacy survives: Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid fighting style of his own invention, is still taught to this day, and Time Magazine named him one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.
No.1 Power Is A Means, Not An End
The Greek philosopher Plato long ago wrote, “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” If your end goal is only to have power, your life will be spent in a desperate effort to maintain that power. If, on the other hand, you have a higher purpose, a goal that you wish to accomplish or a change you want to effect, then power becomes a tool, a way to influence and shape the world to your vision. What you do with that power will define you.
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