When Power Runs Amok

Power creates progress. But committees, bureaucracies, red tape—these are seen as anathema to progress. They slow things down, mire us in process, dilute bold ideas. So when a strong leader emerges—decisive, visionary, unbound by the need for consensus—we call it refreshing. Efficient. Necessary.

A leader who doesn’t have to answer to others is just what we need.

Or is it?

Consider This

Robert Moses shaped modern New York more than any mayor or governor. From the 1930s through the 1960s, he built parks, highways, bridges, and public housing on an epic scale—often without ever holding elected office. He amassed a web of overlapping authorities, commissions, and budgets that allowed him to push through projects with astonishing speed and minimal oversight.

But his power came at a cost. Entire communities were razed to make way for expressways. Black and brown neighborhoods were displaced en masse. Public transit was deprioritized in favor of car-centric design. Critics who challenged him found themselves outmaneuvered or ignored. His legacy is as much about exclusion and destruction as it is about development.

Moses didn’t just bypass bureaucracy—he bulldozed it, along with anything (or anyone) in his path.

Putting it into Play

In leadership, it’s tempting to equate power with progress. When we’re frustrated by slowness or resistance, the idea of consolidating control can feel like the obvious fix. But when power becomes unchecked, it loses its grounding in accountability, and its impact—however visionary—can become reckless.

Real leadership isn’t just about speed or scale. It’s also about consequences. The structures that slow us down also keep us honest. Power without constraint isn’t just efficient—it’s dangerous.

So while cutting through the red tape, take a moment to ask: Who gets to speak? Who gets left behind?  And how will we know if we’ve gone too far?

Because power doesn’t just build things. It breaks them, too.