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Executive Management Consulting - Article

Coping with Powerlessness

Sometimes the most difficult part of the daily work-a-day world is coping with feelings of powerlessness.  Many professionals, especially those working on the “front line” are keenly aware of problems that need to be addressed or changes that need to happen.  However, they have no power to make changes to organizational policies and practices no matter how useful or sensible the changes would be.  The reality of this phenomenon can create daily frustration and even intense anger.  This can deplete personal energy and lead to burn out and exhaustion.

Therefore an important tool of personal energy management is learning how to cope with powerlessness.  Here are several suggestions for maintaining healthy personal energy levels when one is feeling powerless. 

·    Become aware that both the feeling of powerlessness and the reality of being powerless can stimulate a great deal of anger.  If you find yourself feeling angry all day and going home angry it might be helpful to ask yourself if you are dealing with powerlessness.

·    Recognize that constant anger can stimulate rebellion and resistance.  If you find yourself feeling oppositional or unwilling to do even the things that you can do in your job, then you may want to ask yourself if this could be caused by a sense of powerlessness.

·    Identify the reason/s for your sense of powerlessness.   Spend time considering exactly what, or perhaps who, is prompting your feelings of powerlessness.  Sometimes it may appear to be a specific person, but upon consideration, that person is simply a representative of an autocratic system that prohibits dissent or disagreement from within its ranks.

·    Discern the difference between feeling powerless and being powerless.  Often the best antidote to powerlessness is action.  Perhaps there is something that you can do in the situation but you are reluctant to take action for a variety of reasons.

·    Discuss the situation with a trusted friend or colleague.  Another perspective can help you discover a course of action that might not have occurred to you.  You may believe that you are powerless, but in fact you may not be.

·    Take action if you can.  Even small actions can go a long way toward mitigating feelings of powerlessness. Expressing your frustration in a calm cool fashion, or making a minor change in the area over which you do have some control can lower frustration levels.

·    Acknowledge and accept the fact that you may be powerless.  Since action is the only antidote to powerlessness, accepting one’s powerlessness, as difficult as that may be, is the only action available under the circumstances.   Acceptance is not becoming a victim.  Acceptance is not resignation. Acceptance is recognizing and honoring the limits of your own power.

Respond instead of react. You can choose to actively respond to your circumstances with the calming emotions of acceptance instead of reacting with energy draining anger and frustration.

·    Give yourself permission to let go of your frustration and anger.  .   If you are, in fact, unable to do what you believe would help, then take a deep breath and say to yourself “There is nothing I can do about this and I can let it go.”  It is the only way to preserve your personal energy. 

·    Learn how to let go by training yourself how to move from emotions (E) to thinking (T) and then to action (A).  Different areas of the brain govern our ability to feel and think and act.   Sophisticated neuropath ways actually act as bridges in the brain to allow us to move from intense feelings to rational thinking to choosing a course of action.  “I feel frustrated (E) but my intellect tells me (T) that there is nothing I can do in this situation, therefore I will choose to focus on what I can do (A.).  The problem is that when intense feelings are stimulated, it can seem as though we have no choice but to let those feelings take over and direct the actions (A) we take.  This is not really true.

·    Change your self-talk.  You can train your thinking brain to move from emotion to thinking by changing how you talk to yourself.  If you find yourself feeling angry because of your powerlessness, tell yourself to “Get into the “T”.  This phrase can help remind you that you do, in fact, have the power to choose how much or how long you will let yourself be angry about any significant issue.  You can make the decision to stop feeling angry and start thinking about the limits of your power.  This can happen even if you have a legitimate right to be angry in the first place. The E-T-A model of coaching yourself to move from emotions to thinking to action can be a useful tool when training yourself to accept things you cannot change.

Keep your focus on the choices you do have. Once you give up energy draining emotions and accept the reality of your powerlessness, then let yourself focus on what you can do in your work environment.   Recognize that you do have the choice to actually leave a work situation in which you have no real power.  If you choose not to leave, then honor your choice as a proactive decision that you are making in order to meet other higher priorities.  You are choosing to exercise your power of personal choice.  The power of personal choice over your own decisions and reactions is the most important power you have.  Focusing on the power of personal choice restores a great deal of emotional energy for the enjoyable things in life.  For example, as a teacher, there are many things you cannot change about a student’s home life or the system in which you work.   However you do have the power to impact a student’s life and work in a positive way on a daily basis.  This alone is a great deal of power. 

·    Remember, that small things can have great power.  Once the negative energy of anger and resentment is no longer weighing you down, you can focus on small things that can give a great sense of satisfaction. These small things can have great power such as giving yourself or someone else a pat on the back, and a reassuring smile.  Even small gestures of encouragement and reassurance can be an effective way to deal with the experience of powerlessness in the work place.