How are you using your power?
With world events this week, I find my attention being focused on thoughts and feelings about power. Is it just me, or do you see a world in which Power has become synonymous with control?
I see this as Old Power.
Old Power is rooted in fear. It peddles the myth that neat, clear solutions provide one simple, optimal, right answer. Old Power clings to certainty, knowing best and controlling everything and everyone.
It’s a dinosaur way of thinking, behaving and leading, and every cell in my body signals to me that a bleak future beckons if we choose more of the same. Old Power might have a magnetic and alluring grip on many millions of people right now, but we all know what happened to dinosaurs. Leaders using their power to control people will ultimately self-destruct.
So, what’s an alternative? Whether on the global stage, or in teams and organisations, hope, and joy come from
Using your power less to control people
Using your power more to emancipate people
New Power lets go of the obsession to always be in control, of everything and everyone. It liberates, supports, coaches, enables, empathises, emboldens, guides, shares, challenges and loves people – with our human imperfections and amazingness firmly centre stage.
You might be thinking this sounds lovely, but soft and fluffy! Yet, New Power is no walk in the park, because it involves unlearning patterns of thinking and behaving that you’ve possibly become attached to over many years! It’s courageous, it’s energising and yet, it’s ultimately liberating!
So, how much power do you have, and how are you using it?
Here’s the thing. Whatever your role or purpose in life:
If you think you have power or if you think you don’t - you’re probably right.
One of the things I hear all the time among leaders, team members and colleagues at work is: “Yes, but… I don’t have any choice.” When people say this, I’ve discovered that often, what they’re really expressing is: “Yes, but… I don’t want the discomfort or consequences of making a different choice.”
When people tell me “I have no choice” and believe that they lack power, sometimes I get the sense that they’re scared of what they would do with their power if they believed they had any!
By learning to find, own and use your New Power, you’ll be less scared – of yourself, of others and … of the dinosaurs. Find out more here.
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