"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." — Abraham Lincoln

Power is a two-way street. Power can be used for or against a person or an organization.

As a leader, how do you use the power you have in your organization? Do you strive to help others reach their potential?

Being a leader can give you the feeling of being powerful. But leadership should be more than simply showing how powerful you are — as I discovered years ago with my first taste of power.

As a new supervisor in the federal government, I suddenly had 14 people to lead. I realized I had power, and it was my responsibility to use it in a constructive rather than a destructive manner.

I saw each of them as people first and employees second, and I wanted to empower my people to reach their full potential. However, our director was the complete opposite and used his power against others. We had a continuous battle to pursue empowerment, rather than being powerful over my employees.

Regardless of this battle, I felt secure in the knowledge that in order to get the job done, my team had to feel they had a say in how things were accomplished. I did not bark orders or try to micromanage their day-to-day assignments. I wanted to see how they could resolve problems and what initiatives they could come up with.

My role as a leader was to assign responsibilities and to see how far each employee under my watch could go. I knew I would not have the job as a supervisor forever, which actually happened under a reorganization. I was determined that my people be given every opportunity for them to excel and to develop into what they wanted to achieve.

Power for some can be a real struggle, and can result in people resorting to all kinds of underhandedness. I saw this firsthand in another new supervisor. We both worked for the same boss, and this supervisor was bound and determined to steal my key people and make me look bad.

I eventually wrote a white paper to my boss to convince him how this would deter from the mission of not just of my branch, but also the organization. In the end, I won because I knew this power struggle would hurt all parties, not just me as an individual.

The costs of power can be high, and we have seen this in all walks of life. I was lucky in that most of my employees wanted to do more than what was necessary (that is probably why the other supervisor wanted to steal my people). I had belief in the people who worked for me and was grateful to have such great teammates.

Finally, the position of power made me a better person and leader. Not because I wielded the power I had, but because I was willing to give away this power in order to empower others along the way.