You Are More Powerful Than You Believe

What’s the secret to increasing your power and influence?

Power and influence are everywhere in our lives. However, they’re both challenging to quantify.

We all have levels of influence and power in our work and at home.

How we use them to make a difference will determine if we are increasing our influence and power.

If we use our lives to help others and accomplish significant outcomes, we will see our influence and power increase. If we use our position and status to gain greater results just for ourselves, we will lose influence and power.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Use it for the good of your family, work, and community, and you will see it grow exponentially.

Lesson to Learn

Influence and power are essential tools to gain meaningful outcomes.

How we use our power and influence determines whether it increases or diminishes.

When we use our influence to help others, it grows.

Individuals and teams are more responsive to those who care for them and serve the greater mission. Leaders who focus on their positional power often see their influence diminish.

The best leaders with the most influence demonstrate they are working to help the team accomplish desired outcomes. This usually involves self-sacrifice and hard work on behalf of the mission.

Grow your influence by helping others. The cumulative impact of a life of service is incredibly significant.

Lasting power is in direct relationship to how we use our influence to help others.

Answer for Me

I am a student of leadership.

From a young age, I was interested in making a difference. Through watching others, experimenting with leadership roles, and understanding the science of successful leaders, I have grown and developed my abilities.

Through my years as a junior and senior leader, I have learned that a person’s position does not make them powerful.

What a person does for others in their leadership role determines how much influence they have and whether it will be lasting and make a meaningful difference.

The best leaders are always serving a higher cause and others in the pursuit of that cause.

Seek influence through the service of others and you will be able to live a powerful life.

Action

Asking critical questions can help you increase your influence and, ultimately, your power.

What are you committed to? Who do you serve?

How are you using your influence to help others in the service of a greater mission?

Many live by a mission statement to help them stay focused.

What’s your mission statement? Does it call you to serve others? How are you at living your mission?

Take the time to understand and evaluate how you are doing and what you can do to improve your performance. Talk to a trusted friend about your mission and how you are performing. When we share our mission and how we are living it out, it strengthens our resolve and gives us needed insights into what we can do better.

Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Seek feedback wherever you can find it.

Daily Habits

Review your mission statement daily.

If you do not yet have a written statement, take a few moments to draft one. It takes only a minute or two to begin, and it can transform how you see yourself and how you interact with others.

Hold yourself accountable to who you say you are. To influence others, you must first control your behavior.

Each day, review how you lived up to your mission statement. Did you serve others today? How did it make you feel? Did you use your influence for the good of others and in line with your mission?

Influence and power will never come from our roles or positions. Instead, they come from our ability to serve the greater good.

Invest in yourself daily, and others will be drawn to you and your ability to help them.

This is the true power of growing your influence.

Do you want more insights?

To learn more about leadership, visit me at www.macny.org.

To get a copy of my book Present-Future Leader, go to www.amazon.com.