For far too long I’ve associated leadership with masculinity. A deep voice, a gaze that stops people from talking before opening their mouth and a laid back character. I might be able to achieve the three attributes, but it is unlikely that I’ll achieve them all at the same time.
Which makes me wonder: can I be me and still lead? There are a few things I can do to feel empowered, and they all rely on understanding power.
- Personal power is something that people can take away from you if you let them.
- Senses-based power is circumstantial and at times, outside of our control, hence not really a power.
- Personal power sits in kindness, in the good, the better selves. That power is ours and ours only.
We spend too much of our time safekeeping materialist fortunes and we allow them to define us. We are superior creatures. Our strength is in seeing ahead of ourselves and outside of ourselves. But for that we have to dig deep within. We can then see power in forgiveness. Forgiveness is a gift we give to ourselves. The gift of the present.
A deep voice, a strong gaze, a laid back character. They’re all a made-up qualities-concoction. They’re things we perceive as power generators. Personal power comes from within and it lends itself to anyone humble enough to create it.
Andreea's Blog 