Power

Today I chose the word power from my bowl of inspiration. It’s a word that can feel heavy, even loaded. In boardrooms and political arenas, power is often associated with hierarchy, authority and control. Yet the kind of power that most interests me — and the kind I build all my work around — is something altogether different.

The word “power” comes from the old French pouvoir, meaning “to be able.” I love that. At its root, power is not about dominance; it is about capability. It is about being able. Being able to choose. Being able to act. Being able to respond rather than react. Being able to stand steady in the midst of uncertainty.

When I speak about power with senior leaders, I’m not talking about the authority that comes with a title on a business card. I’m talking about personal power. The trusted authority you earn because of who you are and how you show up. The quiet confidence that doesn’t need to shout. The grounded presence that steadies a room. The integrity that builds followership without force.

This kind of power does not come from outside you. It is not granted by a board, nor revoked by a restructuring. It comes from within. And when you are grounded in it, something shifts. The relentless pace, the complexity, the politics and the uncertainty do not disappear — but your relationship to them changes. You are less buffeted by events. Less thrown off course by criticism or praise. More able to see possibility in disruption. More able to turn misfortune into opportunity, not only for yourself, but for those you lead.

Over the years, in my work with senior executives — and in my own journey — I’ve discovered that what limits this personal power comes down to one deceptively simple thing: our thinking. Our conditioning. Our inherited beliefs about who we should be and how we should behave. The judgements we carry about ourselves and others. Many of them so familiar we barely notice them.

As long as these patterns remain unconscious, they quietly run the show. They keep us playing smaller than we are. They keep us locked in repetitive reactions. They shape career decisions in subtle ways. They whisper that we must conform, must please, must avoid risk. And because they feel like “truth,” we rarely question them.

Reclaiming personal power begins with becoming aware of those thoughts. Pausing long enough to ask: Is this really true? Is this coming from within — aligned with my values and my vision? Or is it coming from somewhere “out there” — an old expectation, a cultural norm, someone else’s judgement that I absorbed without noticing?

It doesn’t matter how much personal development you’ve done. I’ve done a great deal over the years, and I still discover new layers. There is always another assumption to question, another inherited script to release. And every time we peel back one of those layers, something remarkable happens. We feel lighter. Clearer. More ourselves.

From that place, leadership becomes less effortful. You make decisions with greater conviction. You hold your ground without aggression. You listen more deeply because you are not defending an identity. You become more strategic because your energy is no longer consumed by internal noise.

That, to me, is true power. The ability to be fully yourself, on purpose, in service of something that matters. And from there, your impact expands naturally — not because you forced it, but because you finally allowed your full capability to come forward.