Field Notes

What’s your power profile and would anyone want to be your chosen subject? Andrew Leci asks the questions because he doesn’t have any of the answers.

PSYCHOLOGISTS AND PHILOSOPHERS throughout the ages appear to have posited the theory that in terms of power, those who seek it can be divided into two camps. This is a broad generalisation – there are obvious grey areas and overlapping zones in the Venn diagram of the power-hungry and associated sociopaths that complicate matters – but let’s keep this simple.

Certain people desire power because of the influence it brings in terms of taking responsibility for other people’s lives, while others, it seems, look for power because it affords them a heightened level of autonomy and self-determination. The latter group is comprised of those who want the ability to make their own decisions about their own personal welfare, independent of others, while the former group will enjoy a position that enables them to dictate to others and shape lives. Where do you sit?

The pandemic has, to some extent, made us all feel powerless, but at Robb Report we would like to take this opportunity to offer you, beloved readers, a chance to take back the power and determine where you slide into the power spectrum.

Please answer the following multiple-choice questions as honestly as possible, and then total up your scores with the rating system at the end. We will then give you your power profile. Let’s begin.

Please note that this is non-gender specific, and ‘he’, ‘him’, ‘his’, etc, have only been used for the purposes of brevity and because of everyone’s distaste for the / symbol.