About power and values in leadership

Power is never good unless its holder is good. This the a quote from Martin Luther King.

Power is one of the key elements both in management and leadership - whether you are a team member or a team leader, you are facing power everyday at work. You are also facing power everyday in your private life even if you think you are free of control and coersion.

French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) is a true polymath, and he has extensively studied societal power structures, among other topics. One of Foucault's core ideas is that power surrounds us everywhere: in every human relationship, even intimate ones, there is an inherent power dynamic. In recruitment, the power dynamic is always present, even if the interview is a genuine dialogue and not an outdated method of “interrogation”.

Values, attitudes, and motivation form the basis for everything we do daily and how meaningful we find our work. If our values conflict with the values of the workplace, the consequence can be burnout, at the very least frustration, or worst an existential crisis—questioning one's existence.

Values are deeply rooted in the human mind and changing them is not easy. In fact, we rarely even think about our values, especially if life is progressing without major setbacks. Changes in one's or loved ones' life situations often prompt a reflection on values: thinking about what is important and how one wants to live to maintain self-respect.

Supervisors’ exercise of power always reflects their values. It is also said that power corrupts, especially when people are unable or unwilling to analyze their power and the behavior and decisions it enables.

People are often surprised when I ask about their values in a job interview

I do this when recruiting for a managerial or a leadership position, where the person is responsible not only for organising others' tasks but also for their well-being (of course these two are intertwined). While every team member can contribute to the workplace atmosphere, the manager and leader have the most power to address difficult issues.

Occasionally, a candidate may ask a counter-question: "Why do you ask—what does this have to do with the job?" My response is that the more influence the position holder has over others, the more important it is in the recruitment process to form an understanding of the applicant's values, and what better way than to ask directly. Guessing would be dishonourable.

Values may be seen as something to consider when choosing a life partner but not when applying for a job. On the other hand, more and more people are reflecting on their values and making job choices based on them. Industries like arms, alcohol, and tobacco are typically those where many may feel a conflict of values, but increasingly, people say they don't want to work for a company with poor or tainted HR policies—even if the company is currently in rapid growth.

Because one's values don't show in an interview, it's good to clarify them for oneself in case they are asked in a job interview, especially if applying for a managerial position.

When contemplating values, one can reflect on one’s upbringing: do you still endorse the same things believed in your childhood home, and if not, what changed your mind? Proverbs and universal aphorisms are good reflectors of values if it's difficult to otherwise articulate them in words.

What thoughts do the following provoke in you, for example:

- "Every man is the architect of his fortune." According to tradition, the ancient Roman consul Appius Claudius Caecus.

- "Don't wait for miracles. Make them happen." Finnish poet Tommi Tabermann.

- "Everything is possible. Achieving the impossible just takes a little longer." Unknown.

- "Freedom, brotherhood, equality." French Revolution 1789.

- "Evil must be rewarded with justice, good with good." Confucius.

- "Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value." Albert Einstein. 

- “We are making the impossible difficult”. The guiding principle in solution-focused coaching.