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HUNGRY FOR POWER
Marian Baltazar
Class of 1980 University of the Philippines College of Manila
AB Political Science
There are people who lack the drive and talent, who wants attention, seeks recognition and this is the reason
why people are hungry for power. When someone is so dissatisfied and disturbed in life, they turn to crave for
power. When others do not have that self-esteem, confidence and are so inferior to others, they go hungry for
power. People who are hungry for power are relentless to others, inflexible, implacable or inexorable. Best
word to describe these kinds of people is being selfish. Power-hungry people use to take advantage of other
people just to get their own way. It even reaches to the point of taking the rights of the people away. When this
happens they tend to be abusive to others and even to their own peers. Oftentimes, people become so
conceited and egoistic that they want to have all the power and control to reign over others. All these things
simply prove what kind of a person that individual is, a mean person.
Power can be a means just like money. How can one say that a person is hungry for power? When you become
so mean that you trample on others, who are weak and desolated, then you are hungry for power. Thus being
mean, only shows that they want to accumulate more power or they wanted to maintain that existing power
that they already have. Oh yes, you can readily say that there are a lot of bullies out there who want to prey on
helpless and powerless people. A lot of people strive for more power and wants to be in a higher position
because they believe that people are more likely to obey and respect you if you are on this level, meaning you
are most likely to succeed in your endeavors.
As a matter of fact, dealing with people who are hungry for power can be very emotionally taxing. They can
even wind up sometimes jeopardizing your job security. You shouldn’t really have to cross their lines when
dealing with hungry-power co-workers or you might end up looking like you are the one starting an inter-office
war. If this is so, you would most probably appear to be the bad guy so you might as well be careful in dealing
with this kind of people. Needless to say, one must be on the lookout and therefore address the negative
behavior of your co-worker in a positive and very constructive manner. People who are hungry for power are
predominantly seen in those leaders who use their power to get things done for leadership is all about power
and influence. They most of the time come into the conclusion that they can delude themselves of working for
the greater good. But if you penetrate within, you’ll find that they engage in a behavior that is morally wrong.
They mistake themselves of having that notion of having the best interests of his followers at heart. They
actually think that in engaging in this wrong behavior, they can just simply get away with it.
The negative side of having power is that the more people possess it, the more they focus on their egocentric
desires making them unable to see others’ perspectives. On the contrary, power can make leaders assertive
and lead them to be confident and very certain of their decisions. I guess the latter would be far more being
the best attitude of a good and a true powerful leader who is not just hungry for power.
Questions for discussion:
1. How do you deal with people who are hungry for power?
2. Can you easily assess a person if he/she is not a power-hungry person? How?
3. Who do you think are those people who are most hungry for power? Explain your answer.
4. How can you assert yourself to be a truthful leader and at the same do not appear to be hungry for power?
5. How can you determine that a person is hungry for power? Justify your answer.