In her invocation at the Rotary Club of Ladner meeting of January 20, 2026, club member International Education Adviser Avis Glaze spoke about The Types of Power…and How We Choose to Use Them, such as Soft Power, Hard Power and Smart Power.
“As I observe current social and political trends, one of the issues that I think about frequently is how we use the power that has been entrusted to us. Experts define power as the ability to influence or direct the actions, belief or conduct or others to produce change, often categorizing it under the rubrics of: Soft Power, Hard and Smart power.”
Soft Power is defined as attracting others through appeal rather than coercion, fostering positive perceptions, leading to cooperation and influence without direct force. It comes from diplomacy that obtains outcomes and helps our efforts to cultivate long term, sustainable relationships and shared values.
Hard Power is the “ability to use coercion, the carrots and sticks of economic and military might to make others follow your will.” It can achieve immediate, and short-term results, but it often leads to chaos and backlash.
Smart Power combines aspects of hard power, soft power and public diplomacy.
During the women’s movement in the seventies, we made the distinction among the terms – using “power “over,” power “with” and power “through” to describe how we would be exercise, organize and share the power we assumed we had.
Power over controls and dominates;
Power with is collaborative, shared and generated through collective action and equitable relationships, built on mutual respect and solidarity. It focuses on finding common ground and shared purpose. It motivates, influences, persuades and inspires rather than forcing or intimidating others.
Power through – represents collaboration and shared action.
What are the implications for us as Rotarians?
For Rotarians, understanding the differences and knowing when and how to use smart power to benefit our organization and the people we serve is essential. Rotary builds peace through soft power (service, ethics, goodwill) and we also understand the demoralizing realities of hard power in our world. We are consummate peace builders who recognize fully that using force isn’t the answer. We understand what effective peace building looks like and that hard power CAN sometimes secure short time goals but it often breeds long-term resentment.
Let’s us therefore continue our quest to find the softer and more humane solutions to benefit our communities and contribute to the future health and wellbeing of our children.