One concern about this approach is that much “soft power” does not flow through organizations. So expecting someone’s employer to regulate their independent “soft power” doesn’t seem right, even if the employer were willing to try. One potentially useful test is how much power and influence the person would wield tomorrow if they were fired today.
The origins of “soft power” are often nebulous, but it’s plausible to say that large portions of it come from the community itself, or at least from enough individual sources that the community is a decent proxy. So it’s plausible that, at least where “soft power” is concerned, the community is the closest analogue to the employer.
Policing the differentials in the “soft power” of other people’s relationships is precisely the sort of busybodying that I find so toxic and intrusive. Are rich, well-connected, influential people only allowed to date other rich, well-connected, influential people? That’s the logical conclusion of this line of reasoning and it strikes me as ugly. Besides, soft power is complicated and sometimes the person who looks more powerful from the outside is less powerful in the relationship. But more importantly, if you are not in the relationship, it is not your business.
Of course if a person is pushy or unwilling to take a no, then it’s not a matter of consenting adults and it’s a different story.
Enforcing some sort of social sanction against other people’s private relationships on the basis of power differentials seems just incredibly outside the realm of common decency or healthy boundaries.
One concern about this approach is that much “soft power” does not flow through organizations. So expecting someone’s employer to regulate their independent “soft power” doesn’t seem right, even if the employer were willing to try. One potentially useful test is how much power and influence the person would wield tomorrow if they were fired today.
The origins of “soft power” are often nebulous, but it’s plausible to say that large portions of it come from the community itself, or at least from enough individual sources that the community is a decent proxy. So it’s plausible that, at least where “soft power” is concerned, the community is the closest analogue to the employer.
Policing the differentials in the “soft power” of other people’s relationships is precisely the sort of busybodying that I find so toxic and intrusive. Are rich, well-connected, influential people only allowed to date other rich, well-connected, influential people? That’s the logical conclusion of this line of reasoning and it strikes me as ugly. Besides, soft power is complicated and sometimes the person who looks more powerful from the outside is less powerful in the relationship. But more importantly, if you are not in the relationship, it is not your business.
Of course if a person is pushy or unwilling to take a no, then it’s not a matter of consenting adults and it’s a different story.
Enforcing some sort of social sanction against other people’s private relationships on the basis of power differentials seems just incredibly outside the realm of common decency or healthy boundaries.
That’s a good point! For example, to the extent that people listen to me, very little of it comes via my employer, even though I’m doing direct work.