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Comment by Spivak | Hacker News Reader

I think there's also an element of overestimating how much power "people in power" actually have. Unless you're at the point in the org chart where you can actually move money and people you're stuck trying to keep your little zen garden clean inside a massive constantly shifting system you have no control over.

Power in an organization should probably be measured by "resources they have unilateral control over" instead of "authority." Because if all you have is authority you're a glorified manager.

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There's an incredible amount of soft power in simple leadership, which is extraordinarily rare in both politics and business. Simply setting out an agenda in clear terms and getting people on board.

If you can do that, you don't need to micromanage all the levers yourself, because people will eagerly working with you towards your shared goal.

OMG yes. Leadership and vision are essential for success. There is an absolute shit-ton of asshat, visionless leadership in the world, and in my experience they act so entitled and worldly while they crush the business that feeds them. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

I highlighted this in TFA,

> Any team needs expert leadership to thrive, and expert leaders need support from the people they report to so they can do what’s necessary.

>Not that I’m bitter or anything.

Hahahahah. Me neither man, me neither.

But isn't vision just holding firmly to a plan and sticking with it? The same thing people here are complaining about C-Levels doing? Rigidly plunging ahead (driving towards the vision) and not sidetracking from the vision instead taking everyone's input?

Not the same, no. Plans are tactical; vision is strategic, or maybe even above strategy. And in my experience, people really struggle to understand that some plans just aren’t compatible with the vision, and should be abandoned.

A good definition of power is from Hannah Arendt, it's "the ability to coordinate voluntary collective action". If you can do this you have power because you can't coerce everyone at once all the time.

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