Leading with Personal Power

I have a cat named Little Kitty that isn’t very nice. She has been known to bite people that she is not used to and we keep a close eye on her or put her in the kennel when strangers are over. Not only is she naughty with people, but she can terrorize animals as well. Even Buddy, a big chocolate lab, keeps his distance from her. My son’s French bulldog was over and she trapped him in Buddy’s kennel. One day, I came into the room and heard a little squeak. I looked over and there he sat, way in the back of the kennel with Little Kitty sitting there just daring him to try to come out. I felt so sorry for him. So how does all this relate to what I do? It reminds me of the way some people try to lead people. They lead by force using their authority rather than their personal power. They don’t realize that the more force they use, the less people respect them. They don’t realize that they actually decrease production because people hide when they hear them coming. People may pretend to like them, but in actuality, they despise them. They don’t want to set them off so they walk on egg shells trying not to annoy them. It can be a very stressful environment and really is not fair to co-workers and subordinates. On the other hand, people that lead with their personal power get much better results. People enjoy being around them and working for them. We all would rather deal with these people than the other. One of my favorite sayings is that some people make others happy when they leave a room and some people make others happy when they enter a room. What type of person are you?