AN OVERVIEW

As we ready ourselves to enter the twenty-first century, we are confronted by the choice each one must make. We can continue to allow people to be victims of oppressionj by bureaucracy and uncontrolled technology. We can continue touse up irreplaceable resources and to pollute our environment. Or we can rebuild and renew the face of the earth. In this chapter we will discuss the of power and leadership to restore harmony to our world.

We emphazise that the leaer’s worldview is serious in its consequences. We take a systems (or wholistic) approach - taking into consideration:

• The current development status of the leader, his consciousness, his value priorities and skills.
• The current developmental status of the followers, their consciousness, value priorities and skills.
• The environment of both the leader and the followers with its structures and climate reinforcing certain values.

In this chapter we will cover the negative and positive uses of power. We offer the powfergram as an aid to taking back power. Examples are given on how touse power tofurther a world inwhich peace and justicwe regin. Some other forms of power are encumerated and how they help people from the old to the new view of the nature of power. Gene Sharp’s sources of power are given and people’s freedom to respond by obeying or disobeying is stressed. The process of delegation is explained as a way of empowering others.

The second part of the chapter deals with how power influences the success or failure of leadership. Leadership is defined and then we cover the importance of consciousness (maturity) in the four phases of a leader’s growth to a holistic view with world enriching values.