Recognizing Power

A couple of years ago I dusted off my hard copy of Lord of the Rings and read the whole thing again.  I think this was my third time reading the three books again.  It is such a richer experience than the movies, and I really liked the movies.  I love the more complex grammar and vocabulary; it is not written in the way we speak today needing the reader to think differently.  There are so many passages in the books that go way deeper.  The last time I read the whole thing had to be almost twenty years ago.  There are some books that need re-reading and this is one of them.

A passage from LOTR that has stuck in my mind is at the end of the chapter “The Mirror of Galadriel”.  Galadriel has taken Frodo and Sam to look into her magical mirror to see “things that were, things that are, and things that may yet be”.  She has resisted the temptation to take the corrupting and powerful One Ring.  The chapter wraps with what was not included in the movie; Galadriel giving counsel to Frodo:

“They stood for a long while in silence.  At length the Lady spoke again ‘Let us return!’ she said ‘In the morning you must depart, for now we have chosen, and the tides of fate are flowing.’

‘I would ask one thing before we go,’ said Frodo.  ‘a thing which I often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell.  I am permitted to wear the One Ring:  why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them?’

‘You have not tried,’ she said. ‘Only thrice have you set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed.  Do not try!  It would destroy you.  Did not Gandalf tell you that the rings give power according to the measure of each possessor?  Before you could use that power you would need to become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others.  Yet even so, as Ring-bearer and as one that has borne it on their finger and seen that which is hidden, your sight has grown keener.  You have perceived my thought more clearly than many that are accounted wise.  You saw the Eye of him that holds the Seven and the Nine.  And did you not see and recognize the ring upon my finger?  Did you see my ring?’ she asked turning to Sam.

‘No, Lady,’ he answered….”

While Frodo is nowhere near Galadriel’s equal in power, he has had a small taste and through that has been able to recognize the power Galadriel wields.  Sam has not and wields little to no power and was unable to see the ring of power on Galadriel’s finger.

Has anyone else had the experience this in life when meeting people, and you get a sense of them, sometimes quickly that they share a “power” you have?  If you have attained a level of mastery of something it grants you at least one (knowledge) of the five sources of power:

Position (job title, authority of the position; least effective power to wield)

Task (ability to help others, or possibly block others from doing something such as a gatekeeper)

Knowledge (special expertise or skills)

Personal (from personal attributes and character, wisdom)

Relationship (who you know)

Attaining mastery of a skill has probably involved building a relationship with a master who taught you, relationships with other learners, has brought you more personal wisdom and strengthened your character.  It may have even led to you being in a position of power, at least temporarily.

There is a great deal of value in developing oneself to the point of attaining mastery of a skill.  It is useful in and of itself, but through the development of this mastery it is necessary to build base level competency in adjacent domains.  For instance, in the engineering world if one becomes an expert at HVAC there is a base level of competency needed in electrical and building automation, possibly project management.  These areas of base competency can be launching pads to the development of other domains to be mastered.  Leadership is one of these domains that can be entered into from a multitude of adjacent domains and which connects seemingly unrelated domains to each other.

In any case I’ve had this experience of “seeing” someone else’s power.  Often these powerful people do not overtly display their power and even seek to conceal it in the case of some truly powerful individuals.

There is a whole lot more in the passage above the get the noggin joggin and the same goes for the rest of the book.  If you loved the movies but never read the books, I highly recommend them.  There is a theme throughout about power and it’s use, including that people are far more powerful than they give themselves credit for; especially the people with imposter syndrome / phenomena. 

Thus begins a multi part exploration in this newsletter of imposter syndrome.