[mwfunk]

Power is only meaningful to the degree that it gives you independence. Power means nothing except as an escape from powerlessness. It's like money: money can't buy you happiness, but poverty can buy you sadness. Power can't make you happy, but being powerless and forced to do spend your life doing things you don't want to do can make you sad.

Mediocrity comes from seeing money and power as ends in themselves, rather than as mere escapes from poverty and powerlessness. Happiness and independence enable personal growth and achievement. Those are the only things that matter, not somebody's ability to make someone else do something that they don't want to do. If all you care about is acquiring the ability to make other people spend their time doing things they don't want to do, then I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry if you don't think you are capable of creating great things on your own if given the opportunity, but you almost certainly are.

[dredmorbius]

Power is to a large extent independence. Not quite identical, but they're strongly related.

(Keep in mind that not all power is coercive power.)