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Power and Corruption

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Lord Acton stated that “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This statement seems to look at every individual into one singular group, that if one has had a negative outcome with obtaining power that they all will. Though there are individuals that have abused their power and corruption was eventually the outcome, not all people will follow in the same footsteps. When reflecting on the statement that Lord Acton made, I do believe that power can lead to corruption, but not necessarily every individual will fall to victim to this. With power comes certain responsibility to lead others on a positive and uplifting path, never giving in to one’s own accord. Especially with “new” power, one can easily lose their morals in the pursuit of more power. This is greed and can lead to thief, lies, and total corruption. I believe that this comes from not only power, but the monetary reward that comes with power. Unfortunately more people than most strive to become the best not for bragging rights or to help others, but for the money flow that will be created from the power they obtain. Ego will also come into play, behaving as though others cannot compare to them, in this they are losing the ability to successfully lead and falling further into the corruption. According to the science and technology psychology, “to call someone “a little Hitler” meant he was a menial functionary who employed what power he had in order to annoy and frustrate others for his own gratification,” (2011). This reminded me of a time that I was employed at restaurant and me and another individual was up for the same promotion. The other individual ended up with the position and was now over me. I personally saw a change in them for the worse and how they abused their power to humiliate and weed out individuals that did not personally like, regardless of their performance on the job. They would ride the individual until they lashed out, quit, or was actually cornered into a legit reason to be let go. She would verbally approve a shift change and then refute that she had so that the individuals involved would be reprimanded. The corruption that occurred from that individual in power was terrible and eventually led to her dismissal. Another example of corruption due from a person in power comes from my family. Though it is in a different environment, I do believe that this is something that constitutes for this. A couple years back, we lost my grandfather on my father’s side of the family. He left a small business to his oldest son as well as the task assigning his belongings throughout the family, minus a few heirlooms that he assigned himself. When my grandfather was alive, he was the head of our family and everyone respected him as such. He led our family with patience, kindness, understanding, generosity, respect, and most of all from his heart. My uncle took his position, and the power seemed to go to his head. Instead of people turning to him, he almost always snooped around to see what was going on in everyone’s lives and talked down to them if they made mistakes or did something that he didn’t agree with. I am not sure if it he was grieving from his loss and trying to fill a void the entire family felt, or felt as though he was entitled to be the head of the family. Either was it pretty much destroyed our family, with him trying to turn the family against whoever he was not getting along with and selling my grandfather’s belongings to pad his pockets. The power went straight to his head and the corruption that followed ruined our family. Even though I have two examples of acquired power that lead to corruption, I do not agree that power causes corruption. I believe that corruption comes from within the people that are in power. “As you gain authority, work harder than ever to support others’ success. Sharing the credit for high-profile achievements enhances your reputation and strengthens your professional relationships,” (Wright, 2013).I believe that this statement should be in every leader’s office and something they can strive to enforce. To remember that the power that you have now, has not always been there, and can also be lost if one loses their humility and humanity. One must being stronger than the corruption that may lay inside of themselves, and always push for the most positive outcome for the entire group.

References
Science and technology: All power tends to corrupt; psychology. (2011, Oct 01). The
Economist, 401,87. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/896033006?accountid=32521
Wright, F. (2013). A lesson in how pwer can corrupt. Executive Leadership. 28(7), 2.
Retrievedfrom:http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxylibrary.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=c426b0bf-1b1e-42fe-af3e-bda751803fbb%40sessionmgr114&=102

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