Who Said With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility?

By Darren Finkelstein
By Darren Finkelstein

The Accountability Guy®

Home » Power » Who Said With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility?
Fist hitting a wall

Does Great Power Come with Great Responsibility?

Are you familiar with the great Peter Parker Principle? The principle became overly popularized when Uncle Ben said a proverb,” With great power comes the great responsibility” in the Spider-Man Comic.

Peter may have shrugged it off as paternal rhetoric, but the realization came when his uncle passed away.

So, if you try to understand the hidden meaning behind the sentence, you will discover that the world is full of challenges. It challenges us physically, mentally, emotionally, and humanity.

Accountability quick images
HOW ACCOUNTABLE ARE YOU?

Discover your Accountability Score and increase the probability of smashing your GOALS and Getting Sh!t Done!

Understanding the Proverb

The phrase does have its origin in from 20th century to Ancient Greeks. Philosopher Socrates wrote, “rule of worthy of might,” and Lord Acton once said, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Generally, it says as you become successful in life, your influence and power will increase, but your responsibilities will become multilayered and complex. Even if people try to avoid the responsibilities, it will still be there as a burden on their shoulders.

The multilayered and complex responsibilities are not the same for everyone. Everyone is unique and has a different set of responsibilities and ways to handle them. So, it’s not an easy task to point out the responsibilities of each and every person.

The multilayered responsibilities have both positive and negative outcomes. Some might know what negative outcomes their actions might bring and what actions they need to be accountable for.

On the other hand, others know their social responsibility towards the public. Being successful in life means you have greater power over others. But how would you use that power can change the whole game for you.

How Can Businesses Misuse Great Power?

The greater power blinds people and makes their desire for more power and money. This generally happens in businesses and organizations. Let’s discuss how influential people use their power to influence others.

Taking Advantage of Others and Exploitation

You know that powerful people can make anyone under them do anything against their will. This is a fact that we have witnessed for a long time now.

In the world of business, managers and directors have great power. Most of them try to use their power on the employees and exploit them. That’s why most new companies now have an independent policy stating the employee’s values.

It is very easy to lose the sense of reality once you get hold of greater power. You forget that it burdens you with more responsibility than ever. Being a simple employee, your duties remain till completing your tasks. As soon as you are promoted to a higher level, your responsibilities also increase.

All you need to have is never lose the grasp of reality. You must take your experiences as a lesson and be accountable for what you do.

Greed and Avarice

It’s a well-known fact that avarice is the root of all evils. And you must know how the business owners and managers never stop desiring more money out of pure selfishness.

Greediness is a negative emotion. If this emotion influences most of your decision, it can negatively affect your behavior, which directly affects others.

With great power comes great money too. However, hunger for more power or money is not a choice. The more you earn, the more you can use it for the betterment of your company, employees, and society in general.

The most crucial thing is that you must be aware of how others are suffering due to your greedy behavior. You are already earning more than others, so learn to be self-satisfied and self-sufficient with what you have.

How to Effectively Use your Power for Good?

Even if you have immense wealth, people will remember you for your actions. No matter how much money you earn, it is good for nothing if you are unable to take the responsibilities that come along with that.

The companies with public relations departments have one motto to do and talk about something good. It offers a chance for employees and the general public to help others. Besides, it is more likely to develop and improves the image of the company.

So, if the company is not taking enough responsibility for their customers, they tend to go somewhere they are valued. Therefore, a company should:

  • Ask for honest feedback.
  • Develop a loyal and collaborative relationship with the customer.
  • Value their customer and listen to their request and complaints, if any.
  • Know your customer

Final Thoughts

So, what’s the key takeaway here? You will realize what responsibilities you might have once you are faced with reality. If you keep ignoring facts and misuse your power, it is going to affect you and others around you.

You should keep away from the negative effects of great power and work on your responsibilities. Be accountable for what you do as actions speak louder than whatever you will earn.