“When the wicked rise to power,
people go into hiding”
Proverbs 28:28
Whether it’s a political party, church, society, family business or office environment there’s certain to be some power-play going on. It’s human nature, but I believe there are certain principles were can hold to and some pitfalls to watch out for.
A bilateral spirit is important, because when you’re working with a group the success will depend on all the participants’ willingness to negotiate and compromise. You have to be both aware of your own needs, desires and issues as well as of the others in the group, others unnecessary conflict may result.
Other principles include honesty, tact and communication skills. Another source of conflict is miscommunication, so even things like attention to detail are important. Ever set up an appointment, only to find people confused the meeting place, or the day, or AM with PM?
This I all know from having been in a band -something that I loved doing but it required a lot of work. In fact, running a band is a great balancing act including working with different personalities, being detailed with plans, organisation, money, time commitment, allocating different tasks -from the musical to the mundane. Any band that doesn’t ultimately work well in all these areas is doomed to fall apart.
However, what about the pitfalls of power-play in the group. When you have mis-communications, differing personality problems, low moral, conflict, etc? Actually, I’m not calling these pitfalls -these are just problems you’re going to find in a group -and that we all have to learn to deal with starting from the self, and extending to all involved.
I’m proud of what my band accomplished all those years ago -we made a 12 song demo and performed quite a few times round town. However, we still had our issues, ranging from laziness, lack of confidence, lack of motivation sometimes, logistical problems and failure to plan. We didn’t conquer the world (nor were we really trying to, but I did hope to record a pro album) but we got along well, had lots of fun and wrote some good songs.
No, the pitfalls I’m talking about are recognizing the “bad egg”. The person who’s in the group not for the group’s benefit, but ultimately for self-gain, or ego, unilateralism or whatever you want to call it. The person who’s good at political maneuvering, manipulation, shifting argument position simply for their own advantage and is bent on eliminating rivals. It’s like a “psychological need” for that person to be on top and where the ends justify the means.
You won’t be able to recognize such a person on the surface because they’re deceitful -maybe even self-deluded, but if you have the feeling you’re in a game, then time to let the alarm bells ring. Perhaps they make an alliance with one person at one time, but when the situation changes they shift to ally with the ‘enemy’ because it’s advantageous. Perhaps they’re nice a flattering publicly, but when you speak privately they’ll slander a rival or cast a slur. Perhaps you get the feeling they’re friends with you because they have something to gain, but should that change, they’ll be slandering you to the next bigwig up the chain.
Other techniques are provocations -often subtle, to cause conflict for their own purposes. Perhaps they’ll provoke rivals so their rivals loose their cool or storm off in anger. And their tactics can be very premeditative.
So, what’s the point I’m making about this? Firstly, sometimes my blog is about the International Churches of Christ, but this article in no way is implying any names. For us who’ve been in the ICOC, we have our own experiences and leaders we feel we can trust and some we feel we don’t trust. My point is, that the “bad egg” can exist in any church, any organisation. The issue I’d have with the old ICOC is that it allowed too much power for some leaders and that’s a great danger for letting a bad egg find an opportunity to exploit.
It doesn’t matter the ideology. You can study enough history about communist countries where political manipulation and maneuvering was all the go. So the point I’m making is, you should be consciously aware of a bad egg in any group you may be a part of. Often we’re subconsciously aware of it and will either have defensive feelings around that person (because they may perceive a threat), or feel flattered and “buddy-buddy” with that person because it’s politically convenient.
Be able to identify it allows you to prepare and pre-empt. It also means that it might be time to leave the group -why go through all the trouble. Is it worth it? If you know someone’s a bad egg, things could get nasty -provocations, slander and all-round bad vibes. And if you’re not conscious about it, you’ll be easily sucked in (and may still be if you are). Schemers are always looking for your weak points, the “buttons to press” so to speak. Being around such a person means you constantly have to keep up your defenses.
If you’re going to stick around (maybe it’s a work situation etc…) you’ll have to consider you’re own strategies and moral convictions. Are you going to fight fire with fire? Slander the way they slander? Develop you’re own “alliances”, use the same tools to provoke, deceive and use guilt trips? But isn’t unfortunate that, being around a bad egg, can cause you to become the same? And often, if you don’t use the same techniques, you’re easy prey -especially if you’re naive to it all.
Trying to maintain a certain integrity and honesty while dealing with a bad egg is probably a great balancing act -but ultimately people will trust you over bad egg, that is, after the fear and power wielded by a bad egg has passed.
I’ll conclude by saying that I think a real “bad egg” is probably a rare thing. Don’t just label someone you don’t get along as one. Just because you have personality differences or clash in some way isn’t what I’m talking about at all -this is the inevitable stuff of life. A bad egg is like coming across a thief of a fraud -there’s a distinct lake of morals or integrity or something. Like a black hole, just wanting to suck life for themselves. I’m sure for most leaders, perhaps ego has a part in it, but they’ll still have ideals, still be trying to do the best they can and still believe they have something to offer.
