An Exploration of Personal Power

Life + Leadership

What does it mean to be personally powerful?

The generic definition goes something like this: the ability to do something or act in a particular way. Yet we have so many different definitions, ways, and thoughts around power. There’s the internal demonstration of power, which focuses on thoughts, feeling, and emotions. The external demonstration of power revolves around voice, body language, and the ability to influence or persuade.

Here’s the tricky part: there isn’t a formula for which has to come first. In fact, it isn’t unusual to work on both at the same time. Some find it easiest to do the internal work first (which as a coach, I fully believe in). Others like to “fake it until they make it” and can more easily demonstrate their power externally even if they don’t yet fully believe in themselves (or have to deal with their imposter syndrome).

Themes explored in this week’s episode:

• What does it mean to be personally powerful?
• Is power granted or assumed?
• How does personal power impact leadership prowess?
  • As leaders directly impacts our ability to influence or persuade
• The power of asking - Formulating a Masterful Ask
• Internal demonstration of power and how to develop it
• External demonstration of power and how to develop it
• Resilience
• Gender talk: reactions to powerful women
• Unconscious bias