Empowerment—The Journey Beyond Accomplishment And Title

In business and in life, power gets a lot of attention and focus. Everything you want for your business, relationships, and life seems to be attainable through power—and indeed, it is. Yet too often, power is misunderstood.

Power is not loud. Power does not come from a title, a role, an award, or a bonus. Power isn’t created through force.

Real power is much quieter—and it comes from within. In fact, power worth having is cultivated by developing the strengths you already possess and learning how to amplify them to your advantage.

About 10 years ago, I devised what I like to call the "One-Word Test" to better understand my own traits and how I was being perceived by those around me.

I asked friends and colleagues individually what one word they felt best described me. After polling 20 or so people, none of whom knew the others’ answers, and I was astonished to hear that 9 of the 20 responses were identical. They said I was "intense."