Our Approach to Power

This page is a summary of our in-house training on power. It aims to build a shared understanding of power within ATT and help us use power effectively and compassionately when working together.

The Short Version

If you're short on time, here's a brief rundown on how we approach power:

• We understand power as "the ability to influence outcomes." We see it as an unavoidable aspect of working in groups, and we believe that to make things happen, we must build and use power as individuals and as a group. We use power to serve the aims of Animal Think Tank, not our egos.

• We empower and support everyone to reach their maximum potential. We support individuals to step into leadership, and we don't tear people down for embracing it. We believe that by building our individual power in an intentional way, we build our collective power too.

• We emphasise respect and consent. We don't coerce or use passive aggressive tactics to influence outcomes.

• We recognise that power is ever-changing, from situation to situation, from group to group. In turn, we acknowledge that we can never have completely equal power. How powerful we are in a group depends on our sense of inner empowerment. It also depends on our relationship with the group, which is partly defined by circumstances out of our control (e.g. our social class) and partly by things we can control (e.g. following through on commitments). We seek to be transparent about how people can earn power in the group, while growing our awareness of how our privileges might afford us power we haven't earned.

• We recognise that we all carry psychological baggage around power. We believe we need to talk about power, process our past experiences with power, and be aware of our own and others' power. This way we are less likely to abuse our influence, give our power away, or react hostilely when others step into their own power. We can then support each other to grow as powerful as we can be.

Part 1: Our Power Framework

Power can be a tricky topic in collaborative groups, so we thought it useful to publish a framework we can share when talking about it. We developed this framework by drawing mainly from the work of Mary Parker Follett, Starhawk, Steven Wineman, Arnold Mindell and Alice Miller.

On this page we talk about informal power, rather than the formal authority we get from our roles.

We don't see power as an inherently good or bad thing. It's an unavoidable part of human interaction. A common description of power is

"the ability to influence opinions, outcomes, people and/or things."

We seek to use power for constructive aims that support Animal Think Tank's purpose, rather than more destructive ego-driven aims. We strive to be aware of different types of power, and use it consciously and in a way that's encouraged by the whole group.

Four major ways of expressing power:

Power Over

Power Over (control through force/fear)

What does it look like? This is what most people think about when they think of power. It's where one person or sub-group can enforce decisions upon others without their consent. They might do this by controlling resources (money), using force, or by threatening to exclude people from the group.

What are the underlying beliefs when "Power Over" is used? Usually people using power this way typically believe power is scarce - they believe that in order to have it for themselves, they have to withhold it from others.

Power Under

Power Under (control through weakness)

What does it look like? Power Under is less commonly understood. We can all express it, and it can be just as destructive as Power Over. It's where people who feel powerless unconsciously use passive aggressive control (e.g. silence, lack of participation, bursts of rage) to influence group outcomes. The "most damaged" or "biggest victim" determines what the group does. Power Under is often evident when groups experience infighting, disunity, or clashes between people with different identities.

What are the underlying beliefs when "Power Under" is used? Someone using Power Under will often believe that power is scarce, and that they don't have any of it. Often, someone will feel powerless due to trauma - something which is epidemic in our society. People are often unconsciously trying to exert the only means of power they feel able to use. Power Under can be tricky to deal with as it can be hard to draw a line between someone’s valid needs, a trauma response and an attempt to control the situation. Nevertheless, Power Under can be as controlling and coercive as Power Over.

Power With

Power With

What does it look like? Power is used for the good of the whole. It's built through partnership, where individuals respect, support and empower each other, and make decisions using collective agreements. It typically leads to a greater ability to act together. Individuals' strengths are multiplied to create a whole that is "greater than the sum of its parts".

What are the underlying beliefs when "Power With" is used? Typically, individuals using Power With understand that it's often better for the group if you act from a place of collective interest and humility, rather than self-interest and ego. They understand that giving one person power doesn't necessarily take it away from another, and in fact can result in greater collective power. They also see power as something dynamic that shifts in different contexts.

Power To

Power To

What does it look like? Power is distributed in a way that allows people to make a difference as individuals even while being part of a group.

What are the underlying beliefs when "Power To" is used? When we use Power To, we typically recognise the potential of individual agency. We believe individuals can make a difference, create new things and achieve goals.

Two key sources of informal power:

Power from Within

Power from Within

This power source lies within us as individuals. It's our inner psychological and spiritual power, and we can nurture it both in the group and outside of it.

Power from Within is related to how well we know ourselves, and our sense of self-worth. It often manifests as courage, openness or confidence. It's typically built up through life experience, particularly when we've overcome challenges.

Some people experience strong Power from Within when they're in deep connection with others, with nature, or with spiritual forces. Some feel it deeply when engaging in creative acts.

Social Power

Social Power

Social Power is influence you hold over others based on how they relate to you. It determines how much you're listened to, how much weight your opinion carries, and how much respect you receive. Social Power can be unearned, earned, and a mixture of both.

Unearned Social Power (otherwise known as privilege) is influence you get not from things you've done, but simply because of who you happen to be. For example, this could be from opportunities handed to you due to your gender, race, or inherited wealth. Privilege isn't necessarily "bad". Sometimes it simply gives us access to human rights - things like healthcare and housing. But it can also include unfair advantages and can result in you being oblivious to others' experiences. It's often hard to spot privileges you hold yourself, but often easier to spot other people's privileges that you lack.

Earned Social Power is influence you build by embodying or doing things that the group values. For example, you might have earned power by sharing knowledge, or by building a track record of making decisions that benefit the group. You may have it by doing the hard work of founding an initiative, or by taking responsibility and doing lots of grunt work. Earned Social Power can work to your advantage and result in people listening more to you, but in some settings can also result in people being resentful of you having "too much power".

Some social power is partly unearned and partly earned. For instance, you might be very successful partly because you happened to come from a wealthy family who could send you to a good school and pay for extracurricular activities. But you may also have worked and studied hard, and put in the effort needed for success.

Rank = Social Power + Power from Within

Rank is our feeling of how powerful we are in a given situation relative to others. It results from our combined Social Power and Power from Within. Rank varies in different groups and contexts. For example, even amongst the same group of people, you might feel less powerful in a work meeting, but more powerful in a more social setting like the pub.

Differences in rank affect people's interactions and levels of trust. When people abuse their rank, it often results in conflict. Rank also affects the way people have conflict with each other. For example, someone with lower rank might be more avoidant of conflict than someone with higher rank.

Part 2: Our Approach To Power

• We understand power as a helpful and necessary resource, not something negative Power is an unavoidable part of life in groups, and it's key to making things happen.

• We see power as something we can infinitely build, not a scarce resource to be hoarded When we build Power With and Power To, it adds to collective power. When we build our own Power from Within and step into power, we inspire others to do the same.

• We view power as ever-changing, not fixed The power we wield depends on a wide variety of factors. For instance, the relationships and agreements we have with others, the way others perceive us and the way we perceive ourselves all change the type and amount of influence we have. Not only that, but any of these factors can vary from moment to moment, from group to group.

Power is like a flame - it can spread infinitely, and it's ever-changing.

• We strive to talk about power, be aware of it, and use it wisely

  We need to become conscious of our rank, and the factors that give people more or less rank. If we're not aware of rank and how it plays into how we relate to each other, we risk misusing our power and hurting others. We also risk mistakenly characterising people as wielding Power Over, when in fact they may have simply earned a great deal of Social Power in the group.

• We accept that we'll never have equal power, but we can build equal access to power We all have different experiences, which means our Power from Within will take different forms. Our Social Power will vary too, as we all have different levels of privilege, as well as different personality types, relationships, track records, and so on. To develop a mature relationship with power, we need to accept that we never can, and never will, have equal influence. What's key is that we have equal opportunities to access power, and that everyone's voice is heard. We need to be transparent about how people can earn informal power. And we need to be clear about how formal authority flows throughout the organisation, so that formal decisions don't get trampled on by unofficial power.

We use various meeting practices to allow everyone to have their voices heard and earn influence.

• We support each other to overcome our conditioning around power Most of us have fear and judgments around power and leadership. These are often linked to our past experiences of power. Those experiences can include being dominated at home or at school. They might include oppressive messages, for example when working class people are told they aren't articulate enough, or when women are told they're too emotional. These experiences can drive many of us to see ourselves as powerless, and so we might hold back from taking leadership responsibilities. We might also react negatively to others assuming leadership and power, because we fear that our hurtful experiences will repeat themselves.

  We need to process and heal from our experiences, unlearn our sense of powerlessness and recognise that everyone is a potential leader. We must help each other develop our ability to do this. By developing self-awareness, we can come to recognise whether our responses to power are based on the real situation in front of us, or coming from a place of past pain.

• We step into individual leadership, and support those who do so If we remain fearful of power and leadership, we're likely to hold back our gifts from the group. We may also unconsciously sabotage others we see as exerting Power Over, when in fact they may be confidently and skilfully making a useful contribution to the group. Our own lack of confidence in ourselves may make us unconsciously resent them and attempt to pull them down. We need to be aware of "leadership attack" and our own tendency to engage in it, because it will limit all of our power to step up. We need to support those who step into leadership, while also holding them accountable.

• We follow when we need to Sometimes we need to make way for others to lead. A hallmark of strong leadership is not just about stepping up, but knowing when it's appropriate to step back and support others.

• We nurture Power With, Power To and our Power from Within To do this, we need to recognise that trust, influence and responsibility are earned. We need to have transparent ways to earn Social Power clear processes and agreements around power and authority. We can complement all this by proactively developing our own inner power.

• We pay attention to Power Under as much as Power Over Domination and powerlessness are two sides of the same coin. In the same way that we have frameworks and tools to talk about domination, we need the same to talk about subjective powerlessness and trauma. In collaborative groups we are often naturally compassionate. Much of the time this is wonderful, but it can lead us to subtly award Social Power to those who are seen as victims or who belong to a marginalised group. But this favouring is not true Earned Social Power, and in fact it locks people into victim identities. We need to instead help each other be aware of Power Under and be clear about what behaviour we deem acceptable or unacceptable. We need to support each other to develop our resilience, take responsibility for our emotions, and communicate our needs compassionately.

Read more about Power Under at traumaandnonviolence.com/files/Power_Under.pdf

• We balance power and responsibility Power without responsibility destroys groups. Responsibility without power creates resentment and pain. We need to be clear and transparent about how people earn formal power, and what responsibility comes with it. We need to allow people to gain influence by taking on and fulfilling responsibilities, and owning their mistakes.

• We strive to help everyone maximise their power - beyond the midline! It's common in grassroots groups for people to only empower others up to a certain level. But as soon as someone crosses a certain line, they get deemed "too powerful" and people aspire to tear them down out of fear that they will abuse their power. This "empowerment only to the midline" prevents groups from reaching their true potential. We want to empower every individual to reach their potential. Our collective power builds when everyone is making the best use of their passions, ideas, experiences and skills in service of the group.

Part 3: How We Earn Social Power

While we can’t include every possibility, these are some key ways we earn social power at Animal Think Tank:

• Taking on responsibilities/commitments and fulfilling them

• Helping the group function smoothly, e.g. by paying attention to social relations, helping address conflicts, etc.

• Making mistakes and acknowledging them so they become part of group learning

• Showing good judgement

• Showing compassion and forgiveness

• Showing integrity and upholding organisational values

• Bringing experience, skills and training to the service of the group

• Mentoring and being mentored

• Supporting others

• Solving problems

• Having a good track record (e.g. of sound decisions, work ethic, reliability etc.)

• Modelling healthy self-care and sustainable ways of working

Resources

To go deeper into our approach to power, check out the following resources:

• Chapter 4: The Axis of Action in The Empowerment Manual (2011) by Starhawk

• Power-Under: Trauma and Nonviolent Social Change by Steven Wineman

• Extract on Mary Parker Follett's "Power With vs. Power Over" from The Power of Collective Wisdom (2009) by Alan Briskin and Sheryl Erickson

• Chapter 3: Rank in Sitting in the Fire (1995) by Arnold Mindell

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