Leadership: Power vs Influence

There are two forms or dimensions of leadership. One is power, the other, influence. Often we confuse the two. After all, those who have power often have influence, and those who have influence have a certain kind of power. In fact, however, the two are quite different, even opposites.

We can see this by a simple thought-experiment.

Imagine you have total power, and then you decide to share it with nine others. You now have one-tenth of the power with which you began. Imagine, by contrast, that you have a certain measure of influence, and now you share it with nine others. How much do you have left? Not less. In fact, more. Initially there was only one of you; now there are ten. Your influence has spread.

Power operates by division, influence by multiplication. With power, the more we share, the less we have. With influence, the more we share, the more we have.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, “The influence we have lives after us; the power is oft interred with our bones.”

People still contend for power. If only we would realize how narrow its limits are. It is one thing to force people to behave in a certain way; quite another to teach them to see the world differently so that, of their own accord, they act in a new way.

The use of power diminishes others; the exercise of influence enlarges them.

-Excerpts from http://www.chiefrabbi.org/2013/06/03/covenant-conversation-korach-power-vs-influence/