Lead People into Their Power
Weak people say, “There’s nothing I can do.”
Awaken people to their power.
Boldness takes you further than weakness.
How to Lead People into Their Power
#1. Allow people to influence you.
Adapt to other people’s ideas. Seek feedback. How is it working when I …?
Ask about the future. “What do you suggest I do to get the team talking with each other?”
#2. Invite people to feel like insiders.
Outsiders lose motivation. Insiders feel connected, respected, and able to influence.
#3. Give freedom with responsibility.
Give people authority to act and responsibility for results.
- Let people choose the way they work.
- Agree on checkpoints.
- Avoid rescuing.
#4. Bring up poor performance with optimism.
When you ignore performance gaps people learn that falling short doesn’t matter.
What you accept becomes expected.
- Ask how they might challenge themselves.
- Give feedback based on observable behaviors.
- Explore success. What’s working?
Language that Gives Power
- What are you learning? vs. You did this wrong.
- What would you like to do next? vs. Do this next.
- What are some options? vs. Here’s what you should do.
- Which alternative seems best to you? vs. This alternative seems best to me.
- I believe you have more in you. vs. You’re not doing enough.
Questions that Lead into Power
- What do you think?
- What worked in the past?
- What’s next?
- How have your strengths served you in similar situations?
- How can I help without taking over?
Power is the ability to make things happen.
How are you leading people into their ability to influence what happens?
Vintage Leadership Freak: How to Make People Feel Powerful
Influence and power are related, but they are different.
Giving people power means giving them the authority to make specific decisions and take action.
Allowing people to influence you means genuinely seeking their ideas and suggestions, seriously considering what they have to say, and remaining open to changing your mind before making the final decision.
Real influence means: “I may change my mind because of what you tell me.”
Both power and influence are important. Before giving someone power, the leader should determine whether the person is able and willing to handle the authority and responsibility.
With influence, the leader must ask a different question: “How open am I to changing my thinking based on what I learn from this person?”
Power determines who has the authority to decide.
Influence determines who can affect the decision.
Hi Dan and all,
Great post and interesting follow up comment from Paul ! The ‘insider / outsider’ gap might be more felt in overseas branches of international companies. But wow: one can feel it. I recall a meeting where a head office staff member told a local staff member ” we hope you work for us for a very long time ! ” This was meant to be warm and friendly, but instead betrayed a core belief that there was very much a “we / us” and a “you” and that the seniority of the overseas staff was immaterial: they were “you” …. and obviously not an “us” .
Anyway : I work to make “us” out of the widest team possible
‘Power is the ability to make things happen.’ and the ability to prevent things happen!