From our newsletter Outside the Lines – The Business Edition

Blackout

The power went out last night at 10pm, and 24 hours later it’s yet to go back on.

That wouldn’t be so bad if I was still in Australia and frolicking in an Antipodean summer.

But I’m back in Toronto and going through a deep freeze.  It’s -25 degrees Celsius outside (that’s about -15F) and it’s not getting any warmer any time soon.
I’ve escaped to the other side of town and found one of my favourite coffee shops up and running and warm. So I’m sipping espresso and warming my toes and musing about power.

Discussing power

In organizations, flowing along beneath most conversations are questions about power, responsibility and accountability.

Peter Block’s work first opened my eyes to this, and since then I’ve been encouraging people to surface the issues of power, bring them into the light and discuss the implications.

Imagine this conversation with your team, with your boss, with your customer, with your CEO, with your kids, with your colleagues…

• How do you feel about the amount of power you have in this situation?

• Here’s how I feel about the amount of power I have.

• What shall we do about that?

A powerful and difficult conversation.  (And one that gets easier the more you do it.)

While you work your way up to framing those conversations (start with the person with whom it will be most easy,) here are some additional ways to think about your power.

Four tips to keep your power

1. Get clear about your Great Work.

Unless you know what work really matters to you, what impact you want to have in this world, it’s hard to decide what to say Yes to and what to say No to – ultimate expressions of your power.

Know what you want.  Ask for what you want.  (Knowing the answer may be “no”.)

Resource: Find Your Great Work

2. Remember that feedback is not the truth.

Mostly, it’s just someone else’s opinion of you, and more often than not, that’s a mix of judgment, projection and hypothesis.

When someone gives you feedback, take what’s useful and ignore the rest.

Resource: Non Violent Communication

3. Go easy on yourself.

One of the places our power leaks out most conspicuously is through our own self-judgment.  Our capacity to beat ourselves up – the notorious “inner critic” – constantly diminishes who we are.

Resource: Taming Your Gremlin

4. Stop taking it all so damned seriously.

Hands up if what you’re doing is life and death.  I thought so.  OK, hands up if what you’re doing will really matter in 100 years time?  Yep, the same.

It’s one of the paradoxes of Great Work – it’s both important and in the big scheme of things, not that important.  Remembering that can free things up nicely.

Resource: The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun

Don’t take my word for it

Smart folks thinking out loud about power.

“Man is made or unmade by himself. By the right choice he ascends. As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, he holds the key to every situation.”
James Allen, American writer

“Dear, never forget one little point. It’s my business. You just work here.”
Elizabeth Arden (to her husband), Canadian businesswoman

Read more quotations about power here.