41. Integrity is impossible without power
Power and integrity are not incompatible. In fact power can provide integrity. Moreover integrity is impossible without power.The more power you have, the more freedom you have to act with integrity, towards others and towards yourself. Power can realize ideals and enable SPs to hold their ground so SPs should gain power for the sake of integrity.
Power and integrity are often seen as opposing, incompatible forces. People think of power as being at odds with integrity; they believe that people can only acquire power through dishonest means, that striving for power undermines integrity, and that holding onto power means selling out. Even if there is some truth to this, it is only one side of the coin. In chapter 75 we will see that integrity can also lead to power. In this chapter we will see that power can lead to integrity. In fact, integrity is impossible without power. In order to act with integrity you need power.
Power can be defined as freedom to act according to your own insights and to do as you wish. This means the more power you have, the more freedom you have to act with integrity, and the less power you have, the less freedom you have to act with integrity. With less power we are more dependent on others to achieve our ideals, and others can more easily force us to give up our principles. So if we want to act with integrity, it is a matter of having the power to realize ideals and adhere to principles and standards, to be the boss of the situation and not the other way around, to influence others rather than being in their power, and to be autonomous rather than under the control of power.
Power can reside in the individual person. People can be powerful because they are self- confident and self-controlled (more about this in chapter 43), or through the specific authorities that come with their positions: power to command, organize, and implement. Power may lie in the support of others and the interests SPs represent. One vice president was faithful to
his principles, despite pressure to support the president’s view, because, as he put it, “I felt… very much supported by my colleagues in the cabinet and the rest of the party. I was only able to stick to my guns because I knew I was broadly supported.”217
So integrity is impossible without power, because power enables SPs to realize their ideals, faithfully do their jobs, and remain themselves. Power is also necessary in order to take a stand on an issue, or at least to do so credibly. Taking a stand without having the power to maintain it misses the goal and merely shows lack of backbone if you subsequently have to change standpoint, so it is important to ensure that you have the power to hold your ground. Whenever you commit to a cause you should ensure that you have the power to remain faithful to it, because integrity is impossible without power.