Every one of the leaders I meet in my coaching journey wants to feel powerful.
They want to own the room and change the world.
They have worked their way up to the current position.
They have been in the business for long. They know their trade and can bounce back from adversity.
And yet they feel they are not as powerful as they wish to be.
The thieves that rob your personal power live in your mind. These thieves become stronger with:
Self Doubt
Lack of purpose
Lack of clarity
Lack of conviction
Lack of focus
Lack of courage
Lack of action
Lack of rigour
Feeding them will only make us weaker. Let's be aware of them and notice when they arise. Awareness makes us objective and can bring us back to our source of power.
Self doubt
Self doubt starts with a belief
“I am not good enough!”.
This belief works like increasing contrast on a photograph using post processing software. Our mind accentuates all things we don’t do well and diminshes our strengths. This creates a mental map where as a leader, we go forward three steps and come back one because we are always doubting whether we are right. Self-doubt robs the light from core of our identity and creates mental chatter to reduce our power.
2. Lack of purpose
Purpose is the 'why' behind who you are and what you do. Not understanding your purpose robs you of your internal compass. Without the compass, there is no way to gauge what activity is impactful to your growth & momentum. Without an understanding of impact, decision making becomes slower. Slower decisions give way to loss of opportunities.
3. Lack of clarity
Many leaders I talk to, secretly want to be visionaries - to create a vision, anticipate and build something futuristic. To see things that others can’t requires us to look through seemingly simple things and mine a diamond. That requires de-cluttering - removing stuff that is not significant enough and be able to spot that one futuristic thing that can shift the tide. If you are someone who gets lost amidst the thick of thin things, you won’t see things clearly. This removes the shine from your presence & personal power.
4. Lack of conviction
Most leaders say the right words but their power goes missing because they themselves don’t believe in what they are saying.
Believing in your own vision creates a conviction & passion that can’t be surpassed. You will appear super confident if you really believe in your idea/product/vision. Confidence creates power. Believe in yourself. Believe in your vision!
5. Lack of focus
Our energy goes where our attention goes. Being able to direct our attention to the right things is the hallmark of a leader. If your focus is scattered all the time, seldom do things get done. This puts unnecessary stress on you and others around you and you lose your power.
6. Lack of courage
You win a game because you are in it in the first place. You can’t do arm chair consulting without taking any risk and expect to feel powerful. You are either in the ring or out. You can’t be both. Have the courage to get into the fight! Courage creates a magnetism like no other. Being able to take one step in the fog without knowing where exactly your foot lands sends a power spike.
7. Lack of action
We taste success/failure when rubber hits the road.. A leader who does not execute his ideas is always looked down upon. Execution is one of the avenues by which the world knows what you are capable of. Readiness to be in the arena will bring you a great source of power.
8. Lack of rigour
Many leaders I know start really well. In a few months, their enthusiasm wanes. They feel it’s an impossible task. They give up easily. One of the reasons for this is because of lack of discipline and the rigour to make it happen. If one cannot control oneself, there is no power that we can wield on others.
Next time you feel powerless, think about what is robbing your power. Fix it and you can see you are back up again!