A Few More Thoughts on Power

Last week I posted some more musings on the topic of power. Then, this week, I came across this interview with InterVarsity’s Nikki Toyama-Szeto. The whole piece is a worthwhile read, but I was particularly struck by something that Nikki said about power. Here she’s talking about a woman mentor who sponsored during in her formative years:

“My mentor in the Daniel Project, Andrea, an amazing person, invited me to work with her in advancement.  It was wonderful to work with her and observe how she used power.  She had power but she stewarded her power. She knew what power she had. She knew what I had and what I didn’t have. So if I was starting on a project, she would always use her power to extend the reach of my power. And so I felt like there was a way that she was aware of power, and used it in a way that, to me, felt empowering. I felt blessed by the power she had….rather than controlled, limited, or stonewalled because of it. I think it is folks with power who don’t think they have power who are some of the most dangerous folks. Dangerous because they don’t realize when they swing, how far their impact is, the effect of the things that they do. I don’t want to be that person that has power but pretends that they don’t.”

I think there are plenty of insights into power in this quote. For one, power must be stewarded, and that stewardship can either result in someone being controlled or blessed.

Or I love the quote that “her power [extended] the reach of my power.” Could it be that, used rightly and stewarded well, there’s a trickle down effect where power blesses and shapes other power?

Or the tie between self-knowledge and power. Know yourself and you’ll steward power well, with the converse also being true.

What about you? What sticks with you from this quote about power?