This world runs on delusions of power. But real power is very different from this delusional power. Many think that power is the ability to get other people to do what you want, and to control resources. This is a very limited view. Mere authority can get people to do such things. And perhaps for a while you can control essential resources – water, for example – and people will jump to do what is necessary to obtain this critical resource – until they reconnect with their own real power.

Real power is different and aligns with the power that runs the universe. Consider that there are different kinds of power.

The first is power over your self. If you are ruled by your passions and predilections, you have no power, even though you may have mammoth dump trucks full of authority over others. The reason you have no power is that you are still are under the control of your cultural and familial patterning. If on the other hand you are able to choose how you respond in every situation and your default worldview has switched from “about me” to “about us”, you’ve gained a certain mastery over your self. Power over the child that is your little self frees you in your interaction with others. It also frees your creativity and your real intelligence so that your decisions and responses are wise and appropriate.

The second power is power in relationship to those who have charge of you – your bosses, managers, executives, or even your spouse, famously referred to in the TV Series Rumpole of the Bailey as “she who must be obeyed”. Your power here is measured by the quality of your interaction: not subservient, not fawning, not resistant, not judgmental, but honest and clear of divisive strategies.

Often people project their fears and patterned thinking onto those above them and then play out their role in the fantasy they have created. Others aren’t privy to your private world, so do not “play their part” even if they could. You making things up from your “about me” perspective is dishonest and you know it even though you try to pretend you do not. Honesty is your answer. Here honesty means not taking things personally even when the pointy finger is waggled in your direction. It means leaving the problem where it lies, not taking it on and making it your own. At the core, it means not giving another person the power to determine your attitude.

The third power is power in peer, customer, client and colleague relationships. It is much the same as power in relationship to those who have authority over you.

The fourth power is power over those for whom you are responsible. And the same rules apply.
And these are only people-related aspects of power. Real power aligns with universal power, bringing about good for all and everything.

Everyone has authority – even if it is limited to authority over your dog or cat, your child, your subscriptions, your diet, etc. But few have power. What real power is, is something that you stand in – not something that you wield. We’re used to thinking about power as holding the gun, the deadly weapon. But having a deadly weapon only confers authority. Power isn’t that.

Real power is what engages the whole of you and the whole of others in something that is good for everyone and everything involved. This kind of power aligns with everyone else’s real power. So aligned, it draws out creativity, imagination, energies and commitment that those limited to authority can’t even dream of. You grow a context of mutual respect and appreciation. Power struggles are history and a remarkable collaboration begins. Let’s drink to that.