Bright Ideas and True Confessions: How and What to Do
and Why
Considerations
Power
Ælflæd of Duckford
A recurring theme in these writings is that people should use their imaginations
and be creative in their service to and participation in the Society.
Here's something I wrote as part of another article some time back, but
I marked it "too dangerous" and shoved it away. Now that I've come across
it, I've decided to risk putting it out.
"All the power is in the Barony of Far-from-us."
I heard that from someone in a barony that housed a kingdom seneschal
and chronicler and treasurer. If those three together
had no power in the kingdom it could only be that they had no imagination
or were waiting for someone else to come and tell them what they might
do. A dynamic seneschal / chronicler / treasurer team could turn a tawdry
shire (or any other group) into a glorious showcase in a few months.
So that's it. That's the paragraph I was easily dissuaded from publishing.
People complain about power (usually complaining about not having any)
but anytime I've gone past the complaints into discussing the nature of
power in the Society the audience seems to get very nervous.
CALM DOWN, FOLKS! There's enough power for everyone. See the section
on royalty, and that on seneschals, if you're really into reading everything
I've written on the subject, but here are some things I believe about
power:
- Many people can be powerful all at once.
- Power is not a bad word. Think of it as strength; confidence; energy.
(If you think of it as control and domination, no I don't want you
to have any.)
- Power is given to you by others; demanding it is just being a bully.
- Power/influence can be earned by just about anyone.
The following article first appeared in the October 1991 Outlandish
Herald. Its title was to have been "How You can get Power in the SCA
(or Maybe You Can't)." I chickened out of using that title.
Lesson one in power: Power is given to you by other people. Influence
you earn by yourself. Influence is always power, but power isn't influence.
A king, an officer, an autocrat—they all have the power to screw things
up; they don't necessarily have the power to make things great. If you
think you want more power, what you probably are wanting is to be more
influential.
Here's the recipe for influence. It's not regional, it's not given
by the king, and you don't need the whole list: integrity, credibility,
intelligence, humor, knowledge of law/history, service to the Society,
concern for others, humility—HEY WAIT A MINUTE—I'm just listing
requirements for peerage. Does that mean that being named a peer makes
one influential? No, it means that influential people generally
become peers.
Another factor is authority. Authority is second-hand power. Our
kingdom seneschal has authority based on the power of the steward
and the Crown. She also has her own power, given specifically by kingdom
law. Add this to her influence, based on personal Ariel-specific attributes
[1], and you have a strong kingdom seneschal. People are not listening
to Mistress Ariel because she's a peer, she was made a peer because
people were listening to her.
If you take a person who has no following, whose voice never carries
an argument, who isn't sure what's going on and make him a seneschal,
what have you got? An ineffectual seneschal. Take a person, a newcomer,
who's friendly, sharp, helpful, thoughtful, and willing to serve and
make him seneschal. What have you got now? A good match of disposition
and position. Find someone with influence and give him authority. That's
power.
Some people seem to think the only power is in being king or queen.
It's frightening—people who believe that would probably make really
bad royalty, because they see it as a presto-chango situation.
| Power |
Not Power |
| Influence |
Office |
| Integrity |
Physical Strength |
| Credibility |
Ownership of Coronet |
| Service |
Lots of friends |
In many cases of discussions of "power" it turned out that the people
who were coveting power wanted to hurt people, not to better the lives
of their neighbors. The "if I were king" fantasies that are expressed
are often "I'd fire so-and-so," or "I'd throw out the law about ..."
I'd be afraid to hear some of the unexpressed fantasies.
If you are respected you will have power whether you hold office
or not. If you have squandered your honor, even being king wouldn't
make you really powerful. The power to do good begins with goodness.
What are you doing this afternoon?
Footnote:
[1] This phrase got much attention back
home—poor Ariel was saying "what are 'Ariel-specific attributes'?" I meant
her own integrity, credibility (see the paragraph just above for the full
list) plus her own charm and height and blondness and singing voice—all
the things that make her unique and which contributed to her having the
position in life she has—she's a member of the Order of the Pelican, was
a really great seneschal of Caerthe (Denver) and has been seneschal of the
Outlands for a quite a while, at this writing. After Ariel isn't seneschal,
you could change the line to "personal attributes" and it will still work.
Change the next line to "People are not listening to [name a name], for
example, because [he or she] is a peer ..." (This note is for people who
might want to reprint this.)
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