Political Maturity & Stewarding Your Power
Power is not the problem. Powerlessness is.
I teach political intelligence in organisations. Which means I spend my days helping leaders understand power. How it works. How it moves. How it shapes decisions, careers, and cultures. And also, how many good people hesitate to use it. Especially women. Not because they lack power. But because they have experienced its abuse. They have felt power used over them. They have seen it distort truth, silence voices, or protect the wrong people. So they distance themselves from anything that smells like organisational politics. They choose integrity. They work hard. They contribute. They hope fairness will prevail on its own.
But power does not disappear when good people step back. It simply flows to those who are willing to use it.
This became very tangible for me yesterday. Not in a boardroom. Not in an executive team. But in my gym.
I was standing in line to get a coffee when the woman in front of me began verbally attacking the young receptionist. The receptionist had done nothing more than ask her to check in with her card. A simple rule. A normal procedure. The woman was late for her class, and she exploded. Her tone was sharp, aggressive, escalating quickly. As if she were fighting for her survival. She raised her voice, accused, threatened to file a complaint, and even pulled the race card. It was disproportionate, raw, and deeply uncomfortable to witness.
The receptionist held her ground as best she could. She stayed professional. She stayed composed. But when the woman finally walked away, I could see the impact. I have seen that look before. It is the look of someone whose nervous system has just been overrun. Someone who did nothing wrong, but was made to feel small anyway.
That is what abuse does. It creates powerlessness.
A friend and I who had witnessed the whole interaction went up to her. We comforted her. We acknowledged what had happened. We let her know she had done nothing wrong. Could I have intervened in the moment? Yes. But that would have pulled me directly into the emotional escalation. The drama triangle was already active. Intervening then would likely have intensified rather than resolved the situation.
Political intelligence is not just about acting. It is about knowing when and how to act so your power stabilises rather than inflames.
But the situation did call for power. Not reactive power. Conscious power.
So I made an appointment with the facility manager.
I told him I was a witness. That if the woman filed a complaint, I would testify to what had actually happened. I described the severity of the verbal attack. I pointed out his positional power. His responsibility was not to automatically protect the client, but to protect his employee. I also used my expert power. I shared that inconsistent enforcement of rules often creates situations like this. When boundaries are applied unevenly, some people come to expect exceptions. And when those exceptions are not granted, they externalise their frustration onto the person enforcing the rule.
This was not about blame. It was about clarity. About using influence in service of fairness.
Later that day, the woman called and apologised to the manager.
Which matters.
But apologies do not immediately erase what the nervous system has absorbed.
What mattered just as much, maybe more, was that the receptionist knew she was not alone. That others had witnessed it. That others were willing to stand beside her. That power was not only something that could be used against her. It could also be used for her.
This is the essence of political intelligence.
Wayne Thomas, whose work has deeply shaped my own, speaks about multiple sources of power. Positional power. Personal power. Expert power. Relationship power. Reputation power. Most people have access to several of these forms of power. But many do not recognise them as such. Or they hesitate to use them. Especially those who care deeply about fairness and integrity. They associate power with manipulation. With ego. With harm. But power itself is neutral. It becomes constructive or destructive depending on the intention and awareness of the person using it.
Political maturity is not about avoiding power. It is about stewarding it. It is about recognising the moments where your voice, your presence, your credibility, or your position can restore balance. Not to dominate. Not to win. But to protect what is right.
In that gym, I did not use positional power. I had none.
But I used personal power. I showed up. I spoke.
I used expert power. I named patterns and consequences.
I used relational power. I stood in solidarity.
None of this required aggression. It required clarity. And that is what I hope more of us step into.
Not power over. Power with.
Not as a strategy. But because our inner compass recognises when something is out of alignment, and asks us to participate in restoring it.
Power, when used consciously, becomes stewardship. And stewardship is not optional.
It is part of leadership.
Everywhere.
About the Author
Lead True Global Leader Andrea Henning’s vision is that when people discover their authenticity and dare to follow their bliss they are happier and more successful in their lives while serving as an inspiration to their communities.
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