Power: The Test of Character

There are many people in the system who occupy positions of responsibility without fully realising the core responsibilities attached to their office. But inefficiency and betrayal of the system are not the same thing.

A person may be less efficient than his predecessor, less decisive, or technically dependent on his colleagues and subordinates. These shortcomings may make him an inefficient administrator, but they do not necessarily diminish the dignity of the office he holds. Incompetence is not dishonesty.

The real test begins when a person uses the power and resources placed at his disposal for his personal benefit. When an office entrusted to serve the system becomes an instrument for advancing oneself or one's family, it is no longer merely a failure of efficiency—it is a betrayal of institutional trust.

The deeper question, therefore, is not simply how efficiently a person exercises power, but how he conducts himself when power gives him the opportunity to misuse it.

Power provides opportunities that ordinary circumstances may never provide. It can therefore reveal aspects of character that remain hidden when such opportunities do not exist.

A person may appear honest when he has nothing to gain by being dishonest. But when authority places temptation within his reach, his conduct becomes a far more reliable measure of his character.

That is why the saying rings so true:

“If you want to know the character of a person, give him power.”

Power does not necessarily corrupt a person; it often reveals what was already within him.

Competence determines how well a person performs an office; character determines what he does with the power that office gives him.