Power Doesn’t Corrupt Character—It Reveals It
Powerful man sitting on the throne with a corrupted reflection
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[1] This is probably one of the most well-known quotes about leadership and human nature. It comes from a late 1800s letter by Lord Acton to Bishop Creighton as he was writing about the complicated history of the Catholic Church.
On its face, his quote seems obviously true.
But what if it’s incomplete (at least in the way that we tend to understand it)?
I’m not entirely convinced that power, in and of itself, will necessarily corrupt.
I’m more convinced that unbridled power simply provides the opportunity for our worst impulses to dance upon a stage with all their might.
You don’t have to look too far to see that this is true. Just answer the following question: Why do we stop ourselves from committing illegal acts even if those acts would benefit us? Some would point to an inherent sense of virtue held by most people.
Again, I’m not so convinced.
I think there is actually a clearer and more practical answer to that question. The reason more of us don’t do more harm is because the illegal act would bring swift consequences (firing, arrest, loss, violence, etc.). How much we can attribute to our personal moral strength is up for debate. But the truth is that our civil society has enforcement mechanisms designed to restrain our worst impulses when our morality fails. To put it another way, the only thing stopping some people from demonstrating their bad behavior is not moral apprehension but the lack of opportunity and ability to act without consequence.
The Relationship Between Power & Corruption
The relationship between power and corruption can actually be shown as a formula:
As personal power increases, systems of accountability decrease.
As systems of accountability decrease, opportunity and temptation increase.
And when opportunity and temptation increase, your level of formation is revealed.
To be sure, the temptation to abuse power permanently lies at the wielder’s door, like a waiting burglar, but the more powerful person has far fewer locks that keep them on the outside.
If a coworker or first line supervisor makes unfavorable sexual comments toward another coworker within their workplace, that coworker can simply go up the chain to the boss. If that company’s culture is worth anything, the offending employee will be swiftly dealt with. This is enough to restrain the behavior of many. But what if the person making those comments is not a coworker or first line supervisor? What if they are the regional manager? The commander? The head of HR? How many layers of accountability are there to restrain the impulses of the CEO? Very few, if any.
Is everyone with a high level of power and low accountability, therefore, destined for moral failure?
Not necessarily.
But those who survive until the end have a secret. It’s a secret that most people miss.
It’s not simply willpower.
It’s not simply discipline.
It’s not because they are perfect.
It’s because, over a long period of time and deliberate decision-making, they were formed into the type of person capable of navigating that pressure before ever accepting the elevated role.
Formation as the Decisive Factor
Understanding formation is critical. This is how every great and noble character of history was able to bend entire systems to their goodwill. MLK Jr. or Gandhi didn’t wake up one day and decide to summon the indomitable will to stand firm against great evil. It took deliberate decision-making over time to craft in them the unbreakable character to accomplish the feats that made them famous. In the business world, this is why I believe that the most important factor in hiring and team-building is not talent or skill—it’s character.
You can readily teach any reasonably intelligent person how to do most jobs.
You can’t readily teach character.
Why? Because strong character is not achieved through a textbook. Ethics aren’t formed because you signed the company policy. Character and ethics are born of daily decision making and further forged in those who walk through the fires of temptation and challenge without yielding their soul to illusory delights.
We all know the example of the guy (let’s call him “Phil”) who gets the promotion that he desperately wanted. Things may be normal for a week or two. Then, suddenly, Phil changes. Phil had been pretty low-key before and occasionally opinionated, but now he has gotten far worse. He has become a micromanaging troll, explodes over simple mistakes, tears other people down in large staff meetings, uses people as objects for his own glorious end, steals credit, passes blame, and constantly berates members of his team as being idiots.
In that case, was it the power that changed Phil? Was he corrupted by his new position? Not necessarily. The truth is those tendencies were always there—Phil simply never had a platform to express them and the freedom to do so without restraint.
The fallacy is that most of us tend to think “if I had that position, I would be better than him.” This is similar to how we feel about our parents when we say, “I’ll never be like them!” While the intentions are good and genuine, without being formed into the right type of person, it’s only a matter of time before we become the evil we’ve sworn not to be.
The wisdom from biblical Scripture also shows us that this is true. Look at every major character. Before their “big event” they went through periods of relative obscurity where their character is forged to sustain them for the big assignment. Before Abraham became the father of many nations, he had to learn how to trust God in the unknown. Before Joseph is promoted to high authority in Ancient Egypt and uses his authority to save others from a famine, he had to endure betrayal, slavery, and imprisonment. Before Saul became Paul and then the most prolific writer in the New Testament, he spent time in Arabia and several years in relative obscurity before stepping into public ministry.
The formation of our character is an unskippable sequence.
And it happens long before we get into position.
How Corruptible Am I?
When the Apostle James warns against corruptible people tainting the leadership pool (elders in the church, in his case) he gives this as a standard: “he must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.”[2] James recognized that granting another human with power and authority should come after careful evaluation. He presents his wisdom as a warning. Why? Because those who are spiritually unformed for the task of pastoral leadership, in the case of his argument, will be doomed to failure (condemnation of the devil). Instead of serving others with his position, his weak character will collapse under the weight, and the office will become a tool of all sorts of evil. This invites a personal and reflective set of questions, namely, how do I know I can be trusted? Are there questions or signs I can pay attention to beforehand?
Included below is one such test. The questions on this scale aren’t perfect, nor are they the end-all, be-all. They are simply crafted with the goal to get you thinking and point you (broadly) in one direction or another: as someone who is less corruptible or someone who is more corruptible.
How Corruptible Am I Inventory
Directions: See the scale below and answer based on “mostly true,” “sometimes true,” or “rarely/never true.”
Category 1: Power and Control
1. When I have authority, do I ignore the needs or voices of others for the sake of efficiency?
2. Do I have to control the outcome, or can I release control?
3. Am I likely to override others in conversation?
4. Do I treat people differently based on what they can do for me?
5. When I’m in charge, do I become less patient with others?
Category 2: Position and Perception
In situations where I have more power than someone else, do I…
1. Interrupt people when I know I can?
2. Redirect my team’s credit to myself? Shift my blame to others?
3. Keep an internal list of those who slighted me so that I can pay them back at my next opportunity?
4. Go on the offense when others attack me?
5. Treat people with less power than me as though they have less dignity (think servers, waiters, subordinates, race/gender, etc.)?
Category 3: Accountability and Restraint
1. Do I do the right thing because I’ll get caught/in trouble if I don’t?
2. Do I consistently do the right thing even when nobody is watching?
3. If I knew I wasn’t going to get in trouble for doing something I knew was wrong, would I do it?
4. Do I resist accountability or surround myself with people who are only going to heap praise on me?
5. Do I believe those natural checks (inspectors general, internal affairs, company complaint processes, JAG, transparency SOPs) unnecessarily slow down my ability to get things done?
Category 4: Self-Justification
1. How easily do I justify questionable decisions to myself?
2. Do I bend rules more when I feel like I “deserve” it?
3. Do I excuse my behavior while holding others to a higher standard?
4. How often do these phrases come out of my mouth regarding my actions: “this is different because…,” “I apologize for how you feel…,” “mistakes were made, but I didn’t intend to cause harm…”
5. Do I push the boundaries to see what I can get away with (and blame it on others or the system for not putting up strong enough boundaries to stop me)?
Again, the 25 questions above aren’t perfect nor exhaustive. I also do not have the empirical, research data to make stark conclusions about “17/25 ‘mostly true’ answers.” Don’t overthink this scale. The purpose of this isn’t precision. The purpose of this is signal—signaling to you the possible state of your own level of corruptibility. As such, the best way to interpret this scale is “how many ‘mostly true’ answers do I have?” While there is no “magic” number, the more questions you answer in the affirmative the more you need to be on guard.
Unbreakable Character: Forged and Formed
Whether it be a politician, government official, officer of the law, teacher, pastor, or business leader, those who occupy high positions of leadership and authority walk a precarious path. We’ve all seen the very public results of those who held such positions, only for their stories to end in disgrace. If we are going to survive that path, or ensure the right person walks it, it’s going to take more than talent.
It will require habits. Decisions.
Formation.
Character built over time.
So that when the burden of power is placed on our shoulders, we don’t crumble under the weight—we reveal the glowing character that was formed long before it arrived.
[1]https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/lord-acton-writes-to-bishop-creighton-that-the-same-moral-standards-should-be-applied-to-all-men-political-and-religious-leaders-included-especially-since-power-tends-to-corrupt-and-absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely-1887
[2] James 3:6-7 ESV
