The Dynamic Balance of Power & Love
Finding a Dynamic Balance of Power & Love
At Spoke & Wheel, we craft our work with teams and organizations by helping them find a balance between power and love. The theologian Paul Tillich was the first to identify power and love as the fundamental drives of all living things. We have adapted this understanding into our definitions:
Power is the drive to act, achieve a life-affirming purpose, and realize an impact on the world. Love is the drive to integrate and unite with each other in service of what the world needs.
Power and love are an interdependent polarity. This means that when these two drives are valued together and brought into a dynamic balance, they are generative. Teams that excel at power and love are high performing and sustainable; they are creative, effective, adaptable and resilient. Conversely, when we value either power or love over the other, and they fall out of balance, they become destructive and degenerative. At the expense of human connection, unity and service, a singular focus on achievement and action can lead to significant harm. At the cost of effective action, the focus on unification and service will collapse and lose purpose.
“Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In our work and lives, we see both forms of imbalance happening all the time. I've been in groups that were all about love, where we spent all of our time listening and checking in with each other. While those groups were nurturing for a time, they are all in the past. Without purpose, there was no reason for them to stay together and they eventually dissolved, often without us even noticing. Not even a drive for a connection could hold them together. At Spoke & Wheel, we often find ourselves being invited to work with teams that have overemphasized power, where team members were burnt out and struggling to rebuild broken relationships. The drive to succeed and passion for the work was high in these teams and companies, but they were unsustainable without creating space for connection and belonging. At their worst, we found teams where trust was gone, competition and fear dominated, and team members no longer felt safe in their workplace.
It is immediately apparent when we see a team that has found a dynamic balance between power and love. Balanced teams have a palpably positive environment with an effective workflow, joyful sharing of ideas and credit, and easy communication about challenging topics. In these teams, team members are passionate about what they are doing, and they’re clear about how it serves the greater purpose. By bringing a spirit of love and connection to the work, their capacity to act is regenerative and sustainable. There is abundant creativity and agility when offering clear structure, direction, and purpose to support team members' passions and sense of service.
Lessons about Power & Love
Developing balance in the interdependent polarity of power and love requires two essential approaches: First, it must be managed as a cyclical process in constant dynamic oscillation. Second, the interplay between power and love is occurring on all scales, and it must be recognized as such and addressed appropriately.
Linear change vs Cyclical Management
In team and organizational development work, it is easy to take a linear approach to problem-solving. This is alluring as it is straightforward to explain: Identify the problem and then chart a path to the solution. The linear approach might look something like this:
This may make sense as a short-term solution, but it is likely to run into challenges. The first problem may come from resistance. Advocates for focusing on power will be eager to point out the value of structure, hard work, and healthy competition. They may also point out that there are risks to taking on a new approach. They might see things like this:
The tendency to focus on problem vs. solution and move in a linear direction is a consequence of "either/or" approaches to binary choices.
The way out of this trap is to manage the two drives of power and love by harnessing the cyclical energy of an interdependent polarity. This "both/and" approach embraces the value of both sides of the polarity. It is important to recognize that the polarity is not static; it is a dynamic system. At any given moment, there may be a need to move in one direction or the other, which requires ongoing conscious calibration. A system that effectively balances power and love is answering a bigger question that has an open-ended answer: "What is the best way to operate and relate that supports us effectively working together towards a common purpose?" Such a system looks more like this:
In the above system, the group is embracing the organic nature of cyclical flow. There is a recognition that going too far in one direction will lead to the negative aspects of that side and that we can find the solution in course-correcting to the positive aspects of the other side. There is a recognition in this system that both approaches have something dignified to offer, and they have a shadow side.
Power and Love at All Scales
The polarity of power and love happens at all scales of reality (from atomic and cellular to international and galactic). This becomes more clear when they are seen as differentiation and integration. What's more, every process where individuals connect, unite or collaborate results in forming a larger entity. This is called a “holon” (whole-part), where everything is a whole made up of parts, and part of a larger whole. For our work at Spoke & Wheel, we understand that individuals working together for a purpose form into a team, and that team is often part of a larger organization or company. We know it is vital to ensure that both the team members and team have a strong balance of power and love. Are individuals empowered to express their full self in their work? Do they feel connected to others on the team? Is the team effectively achieving its purpose? Does it fit well into the larger organization/field/context? Successful teams comprise great workers, and it is the quality of connection and collaboration in the group that supports team members in bringing forth their creativity and greatness. Everyone needs both independence and support, and a great leader understands this. This is why we say, "We believe great relationships drive great companies."
Applications
In our work at Spoke & Wheel, we conduct team relationship assessments at the beginning and end of our projects. Combining quantitative and qualitative data, we help teams understand how they are doing with power and love. We use seven dimensions for both power and love. The dimensions each represent a fundamental organizational need. Every team may meet this need uniquely, and we understand that each dimension has a positive and a shadow side. The assessment looks at the team as a whole and the experience of the individual team members. These are the dimensions that we are looking at.
Dimensions of Power:
Purpose
Direction
Structure
Team Leadership
Energy (Resources)
Passion (Proactivity)
Accomplishment
Dimensions of Love:
Identity & Belonging
Collaboration
Communication
Humanity
Safety
Diversity
Fun & Enjoyment