The purpose of this article
I wanted to write this article to present with irony and tongue-in-cheek humor, how you really are very powerful. The first few sections may appear to be ridiculous, but I invite you to search for some truth in what I say. You may be surprised to find truth in irony.
The section on the transformational approach is slightly more serious and written to give you a foundation for the expression of your power without fear or force, but with something way more interesting.
What does being powerful mean?
It could mean that you scare people.
It could mean that people respect you.
It could mean you can say anything rude or confronting and people would not object or resist you.
Or it could mean something more transformational; This is the surprising insight in this article and I am stating it here intentionally to draw you into reading more.
Do You Scare People?
Yes, you can. If you don’t believe me, try this the next time you get into an elevator with other people (make sure that you are not in a violent community.) Move to the front of the elevator and announce “Thank you for being here. I brought all of you together here to share something with you.” Then proceed to share whatever you feel may be inspiring to them.
Note the responses.
Do People Respect You?
List out the people who have broken promises with you and have not “cleaned” those broken promises up with you.
Call them on the phone. Clear your throat after they answer the phone and say the following: “Can I help you clean up some broken promises that you have had with me?” Say this in the sweetest possible voice and note their responses. Notice that even as they are confused or even angry, that they are showing a shift if not a complete transition to respecting you.
Can you get away with or leave unscathed, after being confrontational with people?
Pick some of your friends who are perpetually distracted.
Get them together for a walk or a hike.
Let them know that they can use their phones.
As they do, start talking nonchalantly about your life. Talk about inane matters e.g. your bills, your TV shows, etc. As their faces get blurred by their own distractions, announce the following in the same monotone voice. “You are some of my worst friends at times. Let me tell you why. You are perpetually distracted, act disinterested and appear to be almost narcissistic. There! Voila! That is the only reason I brought you all here. Would you like to go have some distracted coffee now?” Watch their reactions and please take notes and share them with me - I will ignore you quite well.
The transformational approach to power
In case you are still wondering how you can be the most powerful person on earth, consider that your power can be easily multiplied exponentially based on how many people you are willing to include in your game or vision. The opportunity to leverage other people is always there and may be easier than you think to do.
This is what could be called a transformational approach to power and leadership.
To understand how you can exert your power this way, consider three ways that make the transformational approach what it is.
The first difference - the transformational approach to power is based less on the individual having power and more on power being shared with all.
This puts less stress and pressure on the leader and the team. It also encourages inclusion. The leader has to mitigate the inclusion of ideas from the team - what matches the vision, what matches the vision but may be a lower priority and what does not match the vision at all.
The second difference - the transformational approach to power is based on the leadership creating an environment where
- People are cohesive as a team
- A common vision is shared and made real AND
- The enthusiasm for the vision being fulfilled is infectious.
Learn how one of my client companies does this: Click here. https://www.compasscares.com/about/culture/
The third difference - the transformational approach to power is based on grooming other leaders to take the mantle eventually and run the whole thing or take the game to a higher or different level.
This again takes the pressure off you in the long term. In the short term, you will need to put some focus on finding and grooming a team of leaders - but again, this takes the pressure off you.
The fact that you have the capacity to do all of this if you wish to, makes you the most powerful human being on earth. Your capacity is fueled by your willingness and curiosity. Curiosity breeds joy as you embrace your ability to do this.
The gap to close is in your skills to make this happen:
- Training in how to inspire, enroll a team and make it inclusive.
- Training in how to create the right environment as explained above.
- Training in how to identify and train more leaders.
Are you ready, curious, or willing to be the most powerful human being on earth?
Since 1991, I’ve been reflecting on, designing, and implementing methodologies and systems for bringing a transcendent, creative and innovative approach to critical aspects of entrepreneurship.
Why THE MOST ?
Why not just being powerful?
Maybe that would be more powerful.
You may be overthinking this and being over philosophical. The wording MOST is not designed to be comparative. That was not the intention.
It was designed to bring out the irony. Everyone aspires to be the MOST. But there is an alternative way to power which is what I talked about in the transformative section.
Thank you.
Just reading this was confronting me… loved it. Could I say those things? Nice
Thank you. Yes, this is confronting or could be confronting .. and I also get that it intrigues. Keep being intrigued!