The last two global superpowers

Outside the local neighbourhood, it’s every country for itself. Southern powers tend to be insular: even their elites rarely travel abroad. They are overwhelmed by basic domestic problems: providing their citizens with food, electricity and toilets. South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa worries less about Russian massacres than about rivals inside his ruling party, the ANC. Until very recently, big European powers in the West still had global ambitions. Britain sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, and France to West Africa. Together, in 2011, they deposed Libya’s leader Colonel Gaddafi. Russia adventured everywhere from Syria to Mali. But they all over-reached. Since 2021, the UK and France have abandoned their failed foreign missions. The British army is the smallest it’s been since Napoleonic times. There is Global China and Global US (for now), but not Global anything else. If the two superpowers clash over Taiwan, every neighbourhood power intends to watch from the audience.

(Adapted from “There Are Only Two Global Superpowers Left,” by Simon Kuper, published on May 25, 2023, by The Financial Times)

Power to do things

Don’t assume that your work will speak for itself when it comes to promotions or being given more responsibility. The first step is to understand the difference between power and influence — and not settle for the latter. “Influence is what you have to do when you don’t have positional power, when you aren’t the person with the decision rights or the budget,” said Johnson, a senior lecturer on leadership, strategy, and change. For women who feel uncomfortable striving for power, or in need of an altruistic justification, Johnson recommended reframing the definition of power. “It’s not power over other people; it’s the power to do things,” Johnson said. “However, you need to frame what justifies the acquisition of power, that’s the conversation you need to have.” You need other people to advocate and to say, ‘This is the person who should be put into this role’. That means you need to develop a network.

(Adapted from “Women And Leadership: How To Have A Healthy Relationship With Power,” by Meredith Somers, published on April 24, 2023, by MIT Management Sloan School)

White-collar layoffs

For generations of Americans, a corporate job was a path to stable prosperity. No more. The jobs lost in a monthslong cascade of white-collar layoffs triggered by overhiring and rising interest rates might never return, corporate executives and economists say. Companies are rethinking the value of many white-collar roles, in what some experts anticipate will be a permanent shift in labour demand that will disrupt the work life of millions of Americans whose jobs will be lost, diminished or revamped partly through the use of artificial intelligence. “We may be at the peak of the need for knowledge workers,” said Atif Rafiq, a former chief digital officer at McDonald’s and Volvo. “We just need fewer people to do the same thing.” Long after robots began taking manufacturing jobs, artificial intelligence is now coming for the higher-ups — accountants, human-resources specialists and lawyers — and converging with unyielding pressure on companies to operate more efficiently.

(Adapted from “The Disappearing White-Collar Job,” by Chip Cutter and Harriet Torry, published on May 15, 2023, by the Wall Street Journal)

Opting for micro-validations

For people in marginalised groups, micro-aggressions can adversely affect both performance and well-being. A wide body of research in positive psychology and management points to micro-validations as a counterstrategy. These are equally subtle but powerful actions or language that demonstrate affirmation and encouragement. 1) Acknowledge presence. Give a nod, a warm smile, or a greeting when someone enters a room. 2) Validate identity. Call people by their chosen names. 3) Voice your appreciation for all contributions. 4) Hold people to high standards. People in non-dominant groups are often held to lower standards in subtle ways. 5) Affirm leadership potential and status.

(Adapted from “An Antidote To Microaggressions? Microvalidations,” by Laura Morgan Roberts, Megan Grayson, and Brook Dennard Rosser by Harvard Business Review)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 29th, 2023