the power of a person
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You are a very powerful person. Do you believe that? I am listening to your heart, and it is saying, “No, I am not a powerful person.”
You are not the president of your country. You are not the general of an army. You are not the CEO of a company. You are not a famous movie star, athlete, singer, or writer. Because you are none of these things, you think you are not a powerful person.
No one obeys your commands. No one cheers for you or follows you around. No one serves you or waits upon you. You have no followers, fans, or supporters. Few people, if any, would die for you – and even fewer people would live their lives for you.
So you feel you have no power. You feel powerless in the world and in life.
The power to destroy and support.
But those who have power, are given that power by another. There is no higher without a lower. There is no top without a bottom. There is no first without a last. Nothing stands on its own. And so it is with power – there is no “powerful” without the “powerless.” The powerful are supported by the powerless. For if there is a president, there is a citizen. If there is a general, there is a soldier. If there is a CEO, there is an employee. It is the citizens that make up a country, the soldiers that make up an army, and the employees that make up a company. And citizens have the power to revolt, soldiers have the power to mutiny, and employees have the power to strike. This is why many leaders all fear one thing in common – revolution. For if there is a leader, there must be followers, and followers have the power to destroy their leaders. Every person has the power to destroy. You have the power to destroy.
You are a very powerful person. Do you believe this now?
But along with the power to destroy, there is also the power to not destroy – the power to preserve and support. The power to support is a very powerful thing – no leader, government, organization, or movie star could survive without it. If a government has no support, it will eventually fall. If no one buys a company’s products, that company will go bankrupt. If no one watches a movie, the movie’s star will disappear. The power to support is inextricably linked with the power to destroy, for once the power to support is withdrawn, the power to destroy comes to life; once the power of support is given, the power to destroy recedes. And who wields the power to support? You do. We all do. We helped to make all the leaders that we have today. There is no such thing as a powerless person – there are only those who do not know their true powers, and what they have done with them. What they continue to do even now. The power to support and the power to destroy – they are ultimately the same power, and the source of that power is you.
Lead your Self.
The power to lead and the power to follow. The power to lead other people exists only because other people give to that leader their own power to follow. It is the followers who ultimately give their leader the power to lead. No leader can take what the follower does not willingly give. If you are a follower, you have given up your power to your leader. To your leader, you say, “Lead me.” And to yourself, you say, “I choose not to lead myself.” It is said that the power to lead others comes with great responsibility, but I say the power to follow others is a great responsibility also. For if your leader fails you, dishonors you, or takes advantage of you, who supported him and helped give him the power to do so? You did. So if we choose to not lead ourselves, we must be very careful who we choose to follow. For who you follow, is who you give your power to – who you help to make more powerful.
Why are there so many followers, and so few leaders? Perhaps people follow others because they do not know how – or do not wish - to lead themselves. For on the surface, it appears much easier to follow than to lead. For in following another, there seems to be less effort, less stress, and more importantly, less responsibility involved. It is often easier to do as we are told, than to live as we believe.
And it is easier to accept credit for success, than to take responsibility for a failure. This is why people often complain about leaders in their governments and their companies. They say, “It’s the government’s fault,” or “It’s the management’s fault.” When many of us find ourselves within negative circumstances, it is often easier to blame others rather than to take responsibility for changing our circumstances. When you complain, you give your power away. You say, “This problem was caused by another, and so this problem can or should only be resolved by another. I cannot or will not solve this problem.” By blaming another, you do not see the powers you have to transform the situation. And transforming negative situations into positive situations is the art of leadership. No leader can survive long without it.
And I believe that leadership is not an option in your life, but a necessity. For wherever you wish to go in your life, only you can lead yourself there. There is no other person in the world exactly like you, and so no other person can lead you to your own happiness except yourself. And only you can transform the negative situations in your life into positive ones. There is no other who can always be there to do it for you – no parent, friend, or spouse will always be there, all the time, to guide you through all the negative situations of your life. There is only you to lead yourself through. So I believe that within every man and every woman, there is great potential to be a successful leader – perhaps of other people, but most importantly, of themselves.
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