Friday, September 3, 2010

THE CHROMOSOMES OF POWER

This is a thought and a mental adjuster or rather you might decide to read through the article and give it your own title such The Psychology of Power or the Development of Power etc.
The ideal came to me after so many years of living a borrowed life (or what Nigerians called a “Photocopy”), trying to be someone, something else.
So, what about “the Chromosome of Power”
To start with I will like to define the following terms
CHROMOSOMES are rod shaped structure, usually found in a cell nucleus that carries the genes that determine sex and the characteristics an organism inherits from its parents. A human body cell usually contains 46 chromosomes arranged in 23 pairs.

This karyotype of a human male shows the 23 pairs of chromosomes that are typically present in human cells.

POWER is the ability, strength and capacity to do something, control and influence over other people and their actions, authority to act or do something according to law or rule.
The merger or the union between the two terms gives us the title of this article known as “THE CHROMOSOMES OF POWER”
The third basic theory of moral development puts the emphasis on intellectual growth, arguing that virtue and vice are ultimately a matter of conscious choice. The best-known cognitive theories are those of psychologists Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Both described children's early moral beliefs as oriented toward power and authority. Over time they come to understand that social rules are made by people and thus can be renegotiated and that reciprocity in relationships is more fair than the decision of a person irrespective of what others do or think (unilateral obedience). Kohlberg identified a six-stage sequence in the maturation of moral judgment. Several thousand studies have used it as a measure of how advanced a person's moral reasoning is.
Here are some basic experimental truths, fundamental principles on the Chromosomes of Power.

THE RAP PRINCIPLE OF THE CHROMOSOMES OF POWER

RESPONSIBILITY
Power must always be balanced by responsibility. Otherwise it is tyranny. - Peter Drucker
One of man's greatest failings is that he looks almost always for an excuse in the misfortune that befalls him through his own fault, before looking for a remedy—which means he often finds the remedy too late. Every human is basically responsible for himself, and this responsibility can never be assumed by anyone.
Being responsible for yourself gives you the ability, strength and capacity to do something, to control and influence over other people and their actions. It gives you authority to act according to law or rule. A responsible person is a LEADER because a leader is someone that can act, control and possesses the capacity to influence others. A responsible person is someone who acts under some fundamental principles or a lay down rules. A responsible person can define the reality of his existence.

So ask yourself, if you are responsible for your actions?

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you.
Example: Barack Obama (Health Reform), Napoleon Bonaparte, YOU (Because you are here today)
AWARENESS
The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. - Henry Miller
To be aware we need to act quickly when required, to sense the spirit of your followers or the need of your subjects (followers) or to instantaneously sum up a situation with a glance. You have probably seen others around you, in your classes, in seminars, meetings who seem to be “in the know,” raising issues that you never have thought of. Then you ask yourself, how do they possess such chromosome? Well, the answer is that such a person is aware, observant about certain details of the situations, environment or duty given.
If the building of a bridge does not enrich the awareness of those who work on it, then that bridge ought not to be built and the citizens can go on swimming across the river or going by boat. - Frantz Fanon
So you need to be visible, aware and observant as you go by your daily activities, in your decision making.
Example: George W. Bush,

PROACTIVE
PRO- to be in favor
ACTIVE-to do something, to be involved or to be ready.
The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it. This literally turns a failure into a success. A proactive being is someone that can take initiative by acting rather than reacting to events. A proactive being is someone who is a matured, well-adjusted, independent person.
Any one who possess a proactive chromosome has a fundamental ‘motive-power’ i.e. the person has reasons, a strong drive for the re-adjustment process. Motive- Power does not mean that you will keep you audience, followers out of focus or keep them out of the surrounding situation and conditions; it means that you will re-adjust them, give reasons, and take them along with you as you create any changes in the process.

A Proactive Person analysis each situations, problems and proffer plan for solutions. He does not just think about the problem but I search out where the problem source and clarifies the possible (Pragmatic) solutions to the followers.
Remember, that a proactive person is knowledgeable, improving on each tasks, skills and ability, constantly upgrade his potentials, ready to listen, talk less and act.

ASSERTIVENESS-is when someone is confident in stating the position or claim. Making a strong and firm pronouncement on an issue or situation. One popular form of social skills training is assertiveness training, another technique pioneered by Joseph Wolpe. This technique teaches people, often those who are shy; to make appropriate responses when someone does something to them that seems inappropriate or offensive or violates their rights.

EXPERIENCE- it is a common cliché that there is no teacher like experience. As much as we read and study theories, hypothesis, the only way to achieve success consistently is to learn from mistakes and practice firsthand what we have read, heard or seen.
Theory is a good guide for what to avoid, but ultimately we must observe others who have done it successfully, practice a great deal and learn from mistakes then we can create our own space and skills sets to follow in achieving success.
We can increase the chances that we will learn from experience by working from a sound set of principles. Lou Ockey used to say, “There’s a difference between someone with twenty years of experience and someone with one year of experience twenty times”. Experience comes to play when we need to make judgment call without having the benefit of full visibility. Remember the words of Clausewitz, “Whatever is hidden from full view…must be guessed at by talent or simply left to chance”
With lack of experience in any field we might find ourselves what we need to do is to receive training-ideally instruction that includes drill and practice in real life situations, although principles and training can help us become successful, it is the practice of those principles combined with the various experience we‘ve been exposed to that makes us continuously successful.

In conclusion, there is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given, Of other generations much is expected. This generation has a rendezvous with destiny. Some of us reading this article inherit the chromosomes of power from our parents while others are to grow, build theirs. So I do advise that if we want to live an impact here on earth, we must develop the chromosomes of power, we must do your duty, and history will do you justice.
Thank you