Power Five and Power For
At the time of this writing, 4 1/3 Power Five conferences rule <cough> the college sports landscape.
At the time of your reading, that number is subject to have changed. And drastically, at that.
These recent seismic shifts in NCAA DI athletics have me thinking about — because they are all about — power.
Power, in a word, is control. In multiple words, power concerns the amount(s) and type(s) of resources one controls. An interesting thing happens when you control the “right” types and/or volumes of resources: You begin to control people — even if you didn’t intend for this.
(This resource-control framework closely relates to the Power Five conferences, of course, with Power not pertaining to always-superior athletic performance — case in point, the 2023 men’s basketball Final Four — but rather to possessing [far] more resources, compared to other NCAA DI conferences.)
And a second interesting thing happens when you control the “right” types and/or volumes of resources: Your possessions begin to possess you — even if you didn’t intend for this. For those who contend that this claim is only theoretical, okay, I can go with that…if you can convince me (and everyone else who pays attention to college sports) that the academic institutions that control the television contracts — and not the contract money itself — are the facilitators, architects of this advantageous <cough again, and louder> conference realignment.
Very few of us can have any measurable influence on the situation described above. However, when persons (or conferences) with power get so far down the road, so consumed with — and by — their power that there is no coming back, all of us can learn…from their mistakes.
Yes, leaders, too much power is a mistake. As aforementioned, too much power — too much control over certain resources — begins to control not only others but also you. And while leaders sometimes have to take control of situations, leaders, by definition, most certainly do not ever take control over others.
Now, this is not to say that power must be avoided. In fact, all who are leaders have some form of power (social, intellectual, and relational capital included), although not all who have power are leaders. The key to healthy power usage is a leader’s purpose, motive, why.
Those with an intrinsic power motive desire power over others and attempt to hoard power. Those with an instrumental power motive desire power only when necessary, attempt to fit power type(s) to situations, and endeavor to share power. Those with instrumental power motive understand that power is like hot rock on a cold day — hang on to it too long, too tightly, and it will burn you; pass it around and everybody will stay warm.
What is your power motivation, leader? Better yet, what would your colleagues say is your power motive? Do you hold power for others, or do you (with)hold power from others?
Power is alluring because — let’s be honest — feeling like we are in control feels good.
But you know what feels even better? Helping others feel good…
By empowering them.
