Power and Emotion – It’s a Personal Thing
We all struggle from time to time with our power and our emotions. Unfortunately, no one is exempt from this. There are always ways we can improve our approach and help ourselves make better use of our power, and better demonstrating our leadership.
As leaders, we must work on building our own sense of personal power which in turn, brings a sustained sense of feeling good, independent of the context in which we find ourselves.
How does one build a sense of personal power? There are three main ways.
- PURPOSE. Build a sense of personal purpose about your life and your work. Think deeply about WHY you want to work and WHAT it is you want to leave as your legacy. Create mental pictures of what you really want in your life and how you want to behave. Reflect on that purpose regularly and feel good about it.
- AWARENESS OF YOUR TRIGGERS. Build awareness of your own thoughts and feelings and especially what TRIGGERS you to feel less empowered. Get to know these triggers and reduce the influence they have over your moment by moment decisions.
- DON’T GIVE UP, BE PATIENT. Remember, these changes usually happen rather slowly, so stay persistent and get up again when you fall.
The Diamond Power Index is a tool that can help leaders better understand how they are using their power, so they can avoid these traps and choose more effective behaviours. If you haven’t already accessed this powerful resource, click here to read more about Julie Diamond’s amazing work. And contact us!
