Lets complete a little stream-of-consciousness exercise.DirectionsFirst, please take a piece of paper and a pen or pencil, or you can type on your computer.Now, take a few deep breaths, and try to clear your mind.For a total of 60 seconds, keep writing without stopping, even if you need to repeat the same words. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today Without suppressing or editing yourself, what comes to mind when you hear the word Power?Write your thoughts.* * * Okay, now lets analyze what you wrote using the following assessment.Place a number on a scale of Easy to Difficult with 1 being Very Easy, 10 being Very Difficult, and 0 being Neutral to indicate how this exercise was for you.Now, try to place a number following each concept, with 1 indicating Very Negative, 10 indicating Very Positive, and 0 indicating Neutral.Add the numbers representing Negative from 1 to 5.Add the numbers indicating Positive from 6 to 10.Add the times you indicated Neutral with 0.Look at your Easy to Difficult assessment. What might this indicate or reflect?Look at your Negative to Positive score. What might this indicate or reflect?Did you write anything that surprised you? If so, what was it? Related Trump suffers from Grand Entitlement Disorder. Here are its key symptoms What is power anyway?In a 1968 speech to striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., definedpoweras the ability to achieve purpose and effect change.A dictionarydefinitionviews power (a noun) as:1.the ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something. In this definition, capacity is seen as a synonym of power.2.A great or marked ability to do or act;strength;might;force. In this definition, energy is a synonym.3.A third definition is the possession of control or command over people, with the synonyms beingauthority andinfluence.4.A final definition for our purposes here defines power as the political ascendancy or control in the government of a country, state, etc. by overthrowing the legal government, with the synonymssovereignty,rule,sway,ascendancy. Types of power leaders exertI use the categories of power outlined in the works of educational psychologists Gary Borich and Martin Tombariin my university courses designed for pre-service teachers and administrators. These categories, however, can also be applied outside the field of education.ExpertPower: Expertpoweris the legitimation of an individuals leadership because others perceive that individual as an expert. Successful leaders have expertpower. Their followers see them as both competent to explain and do certain things and knowledgeable about particular topics. Such influence isearned, rather than conferred by virtue of having a particular title. ReferentPower: People often accept as leaders those whom they like and respect. Referentpoweris leadership earned because of a perception of an individuals trustworthiness, fairness, and concern for members of the group. LegitimatePower: Some roles by their very nature carry with them influence and authority. Police officers, presidents, and judges exert socialpowerand leadership by their very titles. This type ofpowerhas been referred to as legitimatepower; unlike expert and referentpower, it cannot be earned. Leaders possess a certain degree of legitimatepower. Our society expects students to give teachers their attention, for example, to respect them, and to do what they say.RewardPower: Rewardpower is leadership based on rewards or benefits that an individual can give to members of a group. Individuals in positions of authority can reward the people they lead. These rewards can take the form of privileges, approval, or more tangible compensation, such as money. To the extent that people desire the rewards conferred by their leaders, these leaders can exert a degree of leadership and authority. However, people who dont care much about rewards like students who are not concerned with good grades or teachers approval are difficult to lead solely by exerting rewardpower. CoercivePower: By law, teachers and other school personnel are allowed to actin loco parentis, or with the same authority as the parent. Teachers and other leaders, within limits, can punish people who defy their authority or leadership. Within the educational environment, teachers or administrators can use disciplinary techniques such as suspension, expulsion, denial of privileges, or removal from the classroom. Teachers who rely on such techniques to maintain socialpowerin the classroom are said to be using coercivepower. The use of coercivepower may end misbehavior for a time, but it often comes at the cost of failing to develop trusting relationships or meet students needs for belonging. The same applies to leaders outside the institution of education.The Uses ofPowerWith and Over We can also place how leadersusetheirpoweron a spectrum from Power With on one side through Power Over on the other.PowerWith refers to a leader utilizingpowercollaboratively to empower those they lead. It involves a mutual appreciation and respect for autonomy in creating solutions to accomplish shared goals. For leaders, getting it right takes priority over being right.By contrast, PowerOver refers to an undemocratic or authoritarian approach where the leader or leaders exert dominance by dictating actions to be taken, often using coercion or fear. In this situation, poweris gained at anothers expense. Leaders give the orders, and they expect to be obeyed without challenge. For these leaders, being right takes priority over getting it right. Where does Trump fall?Now that we have established some common definitions, types, and uses of power, I ask folks to use these as lenses through which we can further understand the actions of Donald Trump.WhileTrumphas taken many actions in terms of policy initiatives, lets use our lenses to analyze some of his actions in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief. I will merely list some of those actions so folks can analyze. Trumpsexecutive orderto change the Department of Defense to the Department of War. He said in an Oval Office Announcement: The name Department of War conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve compared to Department of Defense, which emphasizes only defensive capabilities.oSecretary of War Pete Hegseth: Were going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. Were going to raise up warriors, not just defenders.Under theTrumpadministrations authority, Secretary Hegseth has ordered the deletion of books and other materials that fall under his definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the U.S. Naval Academys Nimitz Library, including materials on the Holocaust, the Black experience, women, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups in the United States. Also under theTrumpadministrations authority, Secretary Hegseth has either demoted or fired successful and highly qualified senior officers of color and women.Hegseth has also eliminated affinity groups at military academies, such as the Black Society for Engineers and the Native American Heritage Forum.Hegseth removed the name of a U.S. Navy ship honoring LGBTQ+ rights leader Harvey Milk.Trumptook no action against Secretary Hegseth when it became known that Hegseth and others leaked highly classified military information on a government group chat (Signalgate) where they erroneously shared sensitive plans regarding impending airstrikes on Yemen. Trumpordered U.S. stealth aircraft to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites in a move dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer without the expressed authorization from Congress, which has led to several legal questions.Trumpordered the bombing of a small powerboat in international waters on his alleged charge that the 11 people on board were attempting to smuggle drugs into the United States. He did this without notifying or getting approval from Congress and without releasing proof of his allegations.Trumphas commanded the federalization of the National Guard, which is contrary to the Posse Comitatus Law, and has instructed them to invade Democratic-run states and cities against the governors and mayors expressed orders. Trumphas ordered unidentified and (primarily) masked men to arrest immigrants. He has substantially increased funding and expanded resources, scope, and the number of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers throughout the country. They have acted in ways that have contradictedTrumps promise of arresting undocumented immigrants who had committed criminal offenses. ICE officers have, instead arrested, detained, and disappeared people who have not committed crimes and has deported them to foreign authoritarian countries not of their birth without due process of law.Recently,the Trump Department of Justice threatened to ban the ownership of firearms for transgender people because a recent mass shooting was perpetrated by a person who might have identified as transgender.Trumps warning comes without facts to justify singling out a specific group, which violates the U.S. Constitution.Okay, so now you are the judge. Whether you do or dont use my assessment lenses, what is your general and specific rating of Trumpin his leadership role of Commander in Chief?Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.