Power
Power Does Not Need to Be Abused to Become Dangerous
It becomes dangerous when leaders stop noticing what other people must calculate around them.
Nela Joleska
18.08.2026
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It becomes dangerous when leaders stop noticing what other people must calculate around them.
The people closest to power do not merely receive more attention. They gain earlier information, greater interpretive influence and more opportunities to shape what the leader believes is important.
Senior leaders may see an exception as a practical response to one situation. The rest of the organisation sees evidence of how power really works.
At the top, a casual remark can redirect hundreds of hours of work. Leaders are responsible not only for what they intend, but for what their authority sets in motion.
An organisation becomes political when people discover that supporting the leader is safer and more profitable than telling the leader the truth.
Support matters, but coaching that never challenges identity, power or behaviour becomes a premium conversation with no organisational consequence.
The greatest obstacle to executive development is often not a leader’s weakness. It is a convincing explanation of why their existing behaviour has always been necessary.
Some executives become exceptionally good at explaining their patterns. The organisation continues living with them.
Coaching should reduce the distance between a powerful leader and reality. In weak engagements, it gives the leader better language for keeping reality away.