5 Steps to Power Up Your Leadership

“When you’re in your power, you make an impact not by reacting to the behavior of people who are limited, but rather by raising yourself and others to be limitless.”

Sharon Melnick, PhD

Read my new book, Accelerate You! because you want something more in your life, career, or business and you want it now!

You don’t want to take the slow lane; you want to accelerate forward. You are ambitious and you want success more consistently, and you want to define success on your own terms. You can’t wait for the world to change, and, in fact, you want to be part of the solution. Yet every day you wake up and face a world that seems so unfair, potentially leaving you feeling even more powerless.?

Every day you face difficult challenges, and you find it harder to experience joy, happiness, and the success you deserve. You ask yourself, “Why is it so hard to confidently face the day? What is missing?” The missing ingredient is your personal power to create the change you know is required to experience more happiness and success. I am talking about the power to experience these five parts of yourself:

• Clarity that comes from connecting to your strengths and being inspired.
• Confidence that comes from letting go of negative influences, emotions, or beliefs that hold you back from acting, communicating, or setting bold goals.
• Courage to back yourself and your decisions to ask for what you require or deserve.
• Creativity to imagine, innovate, experiment, collaborate, and problem solve.
• Choice to cultivate and celebrate change and personal transformation, reflect on your evolution, and to tell yourself and others the stories of your value and impact in the world.

I want you to discover the importance of your personal power.

In Accelerate You! I have shared with you the voices of women I have worked with who experienced these moments of reckoning and were able to make powerful pivots to regain their personal power and accelerate toward their goals. Included in the book are research and resources that I think will be useful for you on your journey to create the changes you want to make in your life, career, and business.

What is personal power?

Martin Luther King defined personal power as the ability to achieve one’s purpose and to effect change. Personal power is the ability to inspire and influence change. Being in your power or powering up your leadership means that you manage your mental, emotional, and physical states. You are making choices, moment to moment, to be a force of good in your life. What unlocks personal and business outcomes is the knowledge of how to move into and stay in your personal power.?

You can reframe your relationship to your personal power and learn to unlock and contain your personal power to accelerate your results and achieve more consistent success.?

Julie Diamond, in her book, Power: A User’s Guide, defines power as energy and a human drive to shape the world, influence others, and make impact. Your personal power is the ability to positively impact your life and the lives of others around you.

Sharon Melnick, PhD, in her book, In Your Power, refers to personal power as an energy that leaders emit that brings themselves and others into win-win solutions. She states, “Being in your power is the ability to alchemize the challenging aspects of what goes on outside of you to get ‘into a good place’ inside of you so that you can then take actions to achieve your aims and make the situation as you envision it.” Kathy Caprino, in her book, The Most Powerful You, refers to personal power as the ability to “make the changes that can transform our lives … to experience more strength, confidence, authority, and impact so that we can overcome the obstacles in the way of success and fulfillment.”

Why is personal power important?

The keys to success are managing your energy or personal power that fuels your clarity, confidence, courage, and creativity, and the ability to cultivate, lead, and manage change. If you want to achieve your goals, you must learn how to move into your personal power and close any power gaps that leak your self-esteem and confidence and undermine your vision for yourself. To accelerate yourself and to power up your leadership, you will need to know and name your power, as well as be able to contain your personal power, and not let it leak away. You will need to transform your relationship with power by learning how to connect with it, maintain it, and use it to change yourself and the world.??

Here are some of the voices of women who have lost their connection to their power.

“I have lost my confidence, and I am overwhelmed and filled with anxiety.”

“I feel like my emotions are controlling me. I am hijacked, I can’t focus, and I can’t respond in the moment.”

“I feel unchallenged, unhappy, disillusioned, disappointed, filled with fear, and I don’t know what is next for me, so I do nothing and find myself staying too long in work roles and relationships that are unsatisfying or non-supportive.”? ?

“I am a good performer and get results. I don’t ask for help or ask for raises or promotions. I believe if I work hard, they will notice me, and I will be promoted. I don’t like to ‘toot my own horn,’ but I am tired of waiting for them to recognize and reward me, and I am tired of being seen as the ‘work horse.’”

“I feel invisible, even though I am constantly working late. I make it look easy, yet I have lost my balance, and I am burned out. I am not progressing in my career, and I don’t know what to do next.”

“I have plenty of ideas that will bring in revenue, bring down our costs, and provide better customer service. However, when I pitch my ideas, nothing happens.”

You can hear in these women’s voices their feelings of powerlessness, frustration, loss of energy, and dwindling hope. In these examples, the women were not standing in their power, or they were pulled out of their power by their situation, beliefs, emotions, mindsets, or behaviors.?

When you are pulled out of your power, a situation or context, another person, or something within yourself determines how you react, behave, or feel about yourself. You are pulled out of your power when you feel less like the cause in the situation and more like the casualty.

To determine if you are being pulled out of your power, ask yourself these questions: Are you reacting?

Are you being triggered?

Are you being hijacked?

If the answer is “yes,” you are being pulled out of your personal power.

In contrast, you are in your power zone when you are conscious of your state of mind, feel in control of your perceptions and responses, and are anchored in your power to create a win-win relationship between your mindsets, actions, and behaviors.

Fortunately, you can leave behind any mindsets, patterns, habits, and triggers that no longer serve you and step into the highest version of yourself to recover the personal power you were born with. You can realize the truth about yourself – you are resilient, capable, and possess limitless potential.?

What does it look like to be in your power?

When you are in your power, you are connected to your vision and purpose, confidence, effectiveness, resilience, mental wellbeing, and impact. Being in your zone of power helps you see, cope, and change the injustices that continue to exist in our workplaces and in our communities, and act as an agent of change.

What do you look like and feel like when you are in your power? You are:

• Calm, clear-headed, and focused. You are awake to your mental wellbeing and resilience.
• Confident and an active problem solver. You know that you can handle anything that comes your way, and you are not letting your fear hold you back.
• Courageous, results-focused, and make a difference for yourself and others.? You back yourself and your decision-making abilities, often advocating for yourself and the needs of others.
• Creative – innovating and imagining the possibilities of a better future. You create what is needed and solve problems as they arise. You change what is broken, inefficient, or unjust in creative ways.
• Cultivate and celebrate the transformation, evolution, and impact. You advance yourself and others by reflecting, reframing, re-visioning, and leveraging your results. You know how to lead change. You know how you are unique and different, and you know the difference that you make in the world.? You know that you are a power for good.

Many of us were not raised to celebrate ourselves, to be responsible for our own evolution or impact, but we can learn the self-mastery that comes with emotional intelligence, and we can awaken to our personal power and use our personal power for good. Kemi Nekvapil, in her book, Power: A Woman’s Guide to Living and Leading Without Apology, describes her process of redefining personal power and the need for women to give themselves permission to use their power. Embracing your power is a process and a journey. Give yourself permission to power up!

Female leaders are reclaiming their relationship with their personal power. Forward-focused organizations aiming to advance and accelerate women in the workplace are developing leaders to be more conscious, authentic leaders who activate their personal power for good. The word “power” is often associated with manipulation, selfishness, and abuse. However, when you unpack the term, you will see the Latin root of the word “power” means “to be able.”?

Our negative perceptions about power come from traditional forms of leadership that are being challenged and replaced with the art of modern leadership in which the role of the leader is one of change agent, entrepreneur, and innovator, requiring the leadership qualities of clarity, confidence, courage, creativity, and the ability to lead, manage, measure, and celebrate change in times of uncertainty. To possess and leverage these essential ingredients within yourself will require you to have self-awareness, and to consciously raise your energy and your personal power to create change and to lift everyone around you. Think of personal power – and clarity, confidence, courage, creativity, and leading change – as the yeast in the recipe of leadership.

Leaders who are connected to and leveraging their personal power for good influence their peers and foster a positive worldview. They are assertive, respectful, successful, humble, driven, and stable. People with personal power affect change within themselves and with others around them by regulating themselves – displaying self-trust and inspiring trust. Contrast this way of being with those leaders in positional power that affect change by regulating others. Someone who is clear and confident in themselves will connect and influence those around them without the need for positional power.

Your personal power can come from your interpersonal skills (called referent power) and can be seen when you are approachable, put others at ease, listen to others, and inspire others to act, commit, and have confidence in their ideas. This power is linked to your ability to motivate yourself and motivate others toward goals.?

Personal power cannot be given to you and is not the same as external sources of power (called legitimate or positional power). Leaders with positional power may be playing an important role but they do not necessarily inspire others, or foster cooperation, creativity, or emotional engagement in others, unless they leverage the personal power that comes from developing and using interpersonal skills. The best leaders build and use their personal power for more effective and sustainable results.

Personal power can also include what you know (called expert power). When you build up expert knowledge in specific areas or demonstrate a capacity to solve problems, leverage technical skills consistently, make good decisions quickly (often with imperfect data), and can gather and marshal resources effectively, you are demonstrating your personal power.

There are aspects of personal power that you cannot see but you can experience them in yourself and leverage them for good. Your personal power comes from within and is your intentional, energetic presence. You can learn to own and manage this power, presence, and influence.

The elements of personal power at your command

The building blocks of personal power require you to be conscious and able to command your agency, authority, abilities, and attitudes. Remember, personal power is the ability to influence yourself and others. This form of power comes from within rather than external, formal authority that comes from a role or position within an organizational structure. Personal power is having a strong connection to your inner resources and personal truths, which can be tapped to enable you to survive and thrive. As I describe each of these elements of personal power, consider where you might want to build your capability to power up your leadership.

Agency

You have a strong sense of agency when you know yourself to be the creator of your life, career, or business. As you take increasing responsibility in these three realms of your life and you become a more conscious leader, you become aware of and “own” your thoughts, feelings, reactions, and actions – and know that you consciously choose your responses to situations. You see yourself as proactive, not reactive. You know your values, beliefs, perceptions, and preferences.? You are in control of your thoughts and behaviors, and their consequences. You can focus, filter what is essential, and find emotional and physical balance to advocate for yourself and others. Personal agency is important to managing your wellbeing, happiness, and success.

Authority

You stand in your personal authority when you consciously choose to believe in yourself and give yourself permission to lead your life, career, and business. Each moment, you are either writing or rewriting the narratives of your life. You own your stories about who you are. You decide if you are worthy, able, and enough. You know your personal truths, your purpose, where you will take your stands and why. You have a deep connection to your vision and your values and make good choices for yourself and the common good. You take actions and communicate confidently without fear. You have found your voice, and you use it for good. You trust yourself and your opinions. When you stand in your authority as a leader, others around you are influenced by your clarity, confidence, courage, and creativity.

Ability

You know your abilities to effect change or to create an intended result. You appreciate that you have more to learn but you feel able to take on the world. You believe in yourself and your abilities. You know the difference you create. You are confident that you can control your behavior and are responsible for your intended outcomes. You see yourself as an instrument of good and that you can effect change in yourself and others. You can see the big picture, the possible solutions, and create or cocreate the best possible solution for all involved. You believe in your resourcefulness and your persistence. You have a strong connection to your personal power to connect, create, collaborate, and cooperate with others to create positive change. You experience your power in your self-awareness, your power with others as you influence and lead dialogues, collaborations, and cocreations, and your power to solve problems and innovate new ways of work. You don’t use your power over others.

Assertiveness

You communicate with others directly, honestly, respectfully, without fear, and without intention to hurt their feelings. You know that direct communication can increase clarity and reduce conflicts, anxiety, and stress. You communicate your needs, wants, feelings, beliefs, and opinions. You are comfortable and confident in defending your point of view or presenting the information that is required for decision making. You respect both your needs and the needs of others.

Attitude

You know your attitudes or motivations. Attitudes are preferences or patterns of thinking, feeling, believing, or emoting that are related to memories or current practices, people, events, or situations that are often a result of your past experiences, which influence your behaviors. Your attitudes are mental states that you know you can change. Attitudes are also called mindsets. You are aware of your mindsets and have the flexibility to adjust or choose mindsets that will make you successful in different situations. The next few chapters will explore mindsets in more detail, and how you can use mindsets to increase your personal power and your leadership capability in a variety of situations.

Ambition

Ambition is not a personal trait or a fixed quality. Ambition is a strong desire and determination to achieve a goal for yourself or others. Ambition is important because your aspirations or ambitions motivate you and focus you. Ambitions ebb and flow.? They can feel stronger at different times in your life. You can learn how to be ambitious or to grow your ambition, which is important because without ambition you wouldn’t be able to work toward your goals. Ambition is that sense you may have of wanting to excel at something or that feeling you have when you are doing something you love. Katie Abouzahr and her colleagues, in their article Dispelling the Myths of the Gender “Ambition Gap”, found that women start their careers with similar amounts of ambition as men and, although ambition levels vary, the biggest contributor to low levels of ambition are the organizational cultures in our workplaces. When organizations create positive, flexible, and nurturing cultures supporting gender diversity and inclusion, women have strong levels of ambition. The good news is that your ambition level is within your control if you choose to power up your leadership.

Do you want to accelerate toward your goals, faster and with more consistently?

If you wish you could find the success you desire and create the change that accelerates you to reach your goals, Accelerate You! will give you the insights and tools to power up your leadership, life, career, and business, including:

• ?5 power gaps limiting your success.?
• 5 mindsets you can use to increase your sense of personal power and close your power gaps.
• 5 steps or power pivots that will accelerate you toward the future you desire.
• Much more!

Accelerate You! is packed with researched-based strategies, tips, and hacks that will help you create your own playbook to power up your leadership and achieve your goals in life, career, and business.

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Jeri Childers, PhD, is the founder of Accelerating You! which provides coaching, leadership, and business development services for leaders, entrepreneurs, and business builders.? Dr Childers is the author of the book, Accelerate You! The power pivots, mindsets, and steps to power up your leadership.? Jeri works with business accelerators and organizations that want a coach or business catalyst to commercialize their ideas, enabling them to startup, scaleup, and lead high impact change.? Dr Childers offers leadership development services, particularly for women and the organizations that seek to advance them.? For top-level career and leadership growth resources, training, and coaching, visit JeriChilders.com.? ?Are you ready to make big changes in 2024? Check out Jeri’s book Accelerate You! ?#AccelerateYou! #Success #Leadershipdevelopment #bettercareer #FemaleLeaders #FemaleFounders #ClaimYourPower

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