“Only Those Who Do Not Seek Power Are Qualified To Hold It”
Only those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it. Plato’s quote reminds us that someone who is power hungry should not be the person who is given the power. Why? Because the type of person who is motivated by power is not the type of person who will use it wisely.
When you have power, you have the ability to shape the lives of thousands, maybe millions of people. For the wrong person, that leads to a power trip. The rush of being able to make such a huge impact can be addicting. Power accentuates your bad qualities. Why? Because it makes you feel like you are above other people.
There is a reason for the quote ‘power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ When a decision you make can change the lives of so many, you tend to think that there is something about you that makes you stand above others. For even the best people, it is challenging to keep one’s modesty when in power.
Having power also puts your lip service to being a moral person to the test. You can talk about humility and treating everyone as your equal. But your actions, not your words, are what reveal your character. It’s easy to talk about being humble and respecting your fellow person. But when you have such a gap in power with others, how you act towards them will reveal the type of person you are.
This is why, if you seek power, you should not hold it. The type of person who wants power is the type of person who will be seduced by it. The type of person who will let it make them arrogant, maybe tyrannical. It doesn’t mean that anyone in power has to reject ever using it. But it does mean that they have to be measured and always check themselves to make sure that they stay grounded.
Only those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it. While we cannot expect all leaders to be people who do not want power, we can continue to hold our leaders to account if and when they do let power go to their head.
