Part 1: The 8th Manifesto — Power
Tags: Power, Social Skills, Leverage, Leadership, Social Dynamics

The 8th Manifesto: Power

There is no such thing as non-intentional power.

The ability to influence what humans believe, what they feel, and to make them act on your will is the ultimate purpose of men since the dawn of time. If you make another soul believe what you want it to believe, do, or prevented them from doing what they want to believe, feel, or do.

You then have exercised power over them.

There is no power if not for the compliance that you extract from another man. As a human, the rules of power also apply to you: The higher your position on the pyramid of hierarchies the more opportunities offer themselves to you.

On the other hand, you will never escape power games, so it’s useless to pretend not to play any. Because it is a game you where you are either a player or a pawn… more often than not: you are both. Nature has inscribed inequality of power among people. Whether it’s Men or Animals the laws of power are basically unchanged.

In a pride of Lions, a colony of rats, a parliament of owls, a convocation of eagles, or a cackle of Hyenas there have always been leading individuals and following individuals. There are predefined signs of power that are recognizable both in the human realm and in the animal kingdom, it is what commoners interpret as power but is in reality nothing but status signaling that leads to power acquisition.

The reason is that the power exhibition creates an empowering answer. People react to status, the same way that react to wealth display: Envious admiration. You need a decent level of power to get anything of meaning done. People at the bottom of the domination hierarchies don’t own themselves, they are but tools in the hands of the higher-ups. Competition is intrinsic to human gatherings. We compete for jobs, for promotions, for resources, and power. While your work ethics are a sine qua non condition to success, your ability to make those in a position to help your advancement is often an overlooked feature of any meaningful endeavor.

The first thing to know is that for you to be hired and promoted, you need to get noticed. You need to stand out and differentiate yourself from the crowd. While you do that, beware not to cast your shadow on your superior, it is a deadly mistake that will ruin all your hard work. However, do not be shy to shine early on in your career.

Once you are successful, the whole non-strategic aspects of your life will eventually be automated. It is early that you need to stand out, that will help you get the job and the position you may seek. It’s the initial position that differentiates successful career paths from the rest. Asking for what you need and being less concerned about what others are thinking about you can help in launching your path to power. But acquiring and wielding power requires the resources to reward your friends and punish your enemies, the information and access that can foster your rise in the organization.

In this day and age, extracting compliance can no longer be achieved through the threat of physical violence, or rather very costly. The most important form of power is achieved by holding all information.

Information is what separates the winners from the rest.

When you hold information, you can out plan every rival. The opposite is also valid: The less you know the more controllable you become. Information isn’t however the only form of leverage. In fact, anything can be leverage; from emotions to material possession to information. Leverage will bring you power.

The form of leverage you have defines the sort of power you benefit from. Power will thus either be based on fear or respect.

If based on fear, power must be enforced. Fear is an unreliable master, its power will always be relative to its proximity. The further you get away from what you fear, the less it controls you. The further you are from those who fear you, the less power you will have over them.

On the other, Power acquired through respect must be dealt with differently. As those who respect you, will de facto put their trust in you, it will thus become your duty to ensure their well-being and growth in all aspects.

Power attracts Power.

Surround yourself with strong allies, make your allies even stronger.