By Joe Byerly
Some of the best things in life start small and grow over time—relationships, financial investments, fitness levels. But the same pattern can apply to something far more dangerous: power.
Power isn’t inherently bad; we need it to make things happen. But when left unchecked, it feeds on itself, interacting with our human nature in ways that can bring out the worst in us.
At its best, power helps us accomplish great things for our organizations and communities. At its worst, it warps our perspective. People become either obstacles or enablers, their humanity secondary to our ambitions. The original goal fades, replaced by a more insidious one—feeding our own egos.
And once that feeding frenzy starts, few can pull themselves back. It often takes a brutal reckoning, an unexpected failure, a betrayal, or a hard dose of reality, to return us to the mere human we were before we first tasted from power’s cup.
Throughout history, humans have wrestled with how to use power without falling prey to the temptation of abuse or corruption.
Our nation’s founders recognized the dangers of power when they framed the U.S. government. That’s why they established a system of checks and balances. In The Federalist Papers, James Madison warned:
“It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature, and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it. A mere demarcation on parchment of constitutional limits… is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.”
In other words, power doesn’t care what a 237-year-old document says. Left unchecked, it will tirelessly push its boundaries toward tyranny unless actively restrained.
Power, by its very nature, behaves like a virus. It multiplies and grows, consuming its host before moving on to another. The ancient biographer Plutarch observed this phenomenon time and again in both Roman and Hellenistic cultures. Writing about Julius Caesar, he noted,
“however small a thing might appear to be in its early stages, there is nothing that will not soon increase in size if it is left to endure and treated with such contempt that no impediments are put in its way.”
History, both ancient and modern, is littered with examples of power’s ruinous effects. And you and I are no exception. The moment we believe we are immune to its influence is the moment we become most vulnerable to it. That’s why, whenever power is in play, we must have safeguards, both personal and institutional, to keep it from corrupting and ultimately consuming us.
In my own life, I’ve learned the importance of surrounding myself with people who will tell me no and have the moral courage to say, “That’s a bad idea” or “Your joke didn’t land.” That’s not easy. Our egos resist it. But when it comes to handling power, no matter how small, we need those people.
Without them, and often without realizing it, power takes hold. By the time we see the damage, it’s too late. The very thing so many chase ends up being the very thing that destroys them.
This is the second post in a series Joe is writing about power. Read the first, Does Power Corrupt?
Joe Byerly is the founder and director of From the Green Notebook and host of the podcast. He officially retired from the U.S. Army on August 31, 2024. If this post resonated with you or sparked any questions, feel free to reach out to him at Joe@fromthegreennotebook.com.
