I have the title but I don't have the power!

As a NextGen do you feel like you have the title, but the power you enjoy does not live up to the title? Perhaps you have the title “Director”, but you feel stifled and can’t exercise the power a “Director” would have in a blue-chip organisation for instance. You may desire more room to make decisions, so you are seen as a legitimate leader, instead of being seen solely as the founder’s daughter or son. You want to earn your place and part of earning that place you feel is demonstrating your capabilities to yourself and others; but often times you may feel caged. You may feel like a police with no gun.

Power and authority are two different concepts: whereas power refers to control or influence on has over others, authority refers to the legitimacy - whether one has the right to direct the activity of others, and this right is usually delegated. 

Police tend to carry firearms (an example of power and authority going hand in hand). However there are many jurisdictions where police don't e.g. United Kingdom. In spite of this, they are respected by the public: We respect the authority delegated to them by Her Majesty the Queen, not just because we are fearful of them harming us with a weapon. It is not the weapon that makes the officer – we respect their authority. They make use of other tools to achieve their mission i.e to serve and protect the public.

Similarly, to make an impact as a NextGen leader, one does not necessarily need to be seen to be making decisions – that’s not your only source of power. What is important is to be influential: You can push your agenda without being seen, the invisible force that is a transformational change agent. 

"Influence is when you are not the one talking and yet your words fill the room; when you are absent and yet your presence is felt everywhere." Temitope Ibrahim