"In himself man is essentially a beast...

only he butters it over like a slice of bread with a little decorum."

That passage comes from the novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque.

The section of the novel deals with the mindset of man. The unit was questioning how a man can turn into something different when they are given power. In this case their unit leader who was a postman during peacetime has turned into a power hungry tyrant.

Anyone who has worked in any capacity can relate to this. The 'power' that one is given or even inherited can change or corrupt people. These are all points that everyone understands BUT what if you were given more 'power' or ability to make decisions? How would you react?

People at their core are generally good but the ones who already have a predisposition of being focused on themselves will be corrupted by power. They will be less empathetic to others, take unnecessary risks (because they won't care who they are harming) and feel a greater sense of entitlement. We don't have to site the obvious people through history so let's focus on real 'day to day' people like you and I.

At some point you will be in that position on some level and a very productive way to look at this newfound 'power' is the ability to make decisions.

When opportunity presents itself (in any form) try to look inward at what you believe in and make decisions when it's presented to you. There are too many times that reservation and fear of failure will slow someone down. How do you know the result of something if you never attempt it?

This is why when an opportunity to have influence or...'power' is best utilized. The worst that can happen is....it doesn't work.....whoooaaa scary!!! Will feel scary but a worse feeling would be to reflect back when you had an opportunity and say "I wonder what would've happened?" by not attempting it.

Do yourself a favour and look for those opportunities to grasp onto 'power' WITHOUT changing who you are by looking at what you can do to enhance yourself and others. Then.... take full advantage of it.