Executive Coach for CEOs and Top Teams | Expert in Authentic Leadership | Keynote Speaker | Author | Co-CEO at Heimann Cvetkovic & Partners.
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In the Cambridge dictionary, power is defined as “the ability to control or influence people.” Traditionally, powerful leaders exist in our minds as people able to exert their influence using top-down and heavy-handed approaches. But in reality, wielding power is seldom straightforward. In fact, research has shown that leaders with the most effective uses of power rarely employ direct coercive tactics. A 2018 study published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal, for example, found that followers had higher levels of “sub-optimal motivation” when their leaders exercised hard power. When they perceived their superiors to be using soft power, however, followers felt more motivated and tended to identify more easily.
Inner power resides inside us all, but many top executives and CEOs unknowingly lead from a place of fear. Doing so is often a result of years of environmental conditioning in which the authentic self becomes buried underneath a complex web of false beliefs, old wounds and the ego itself. When this blindspot remains buried, leading from fear becomes leading from an unconscious coping mechanism that hinders access to authentic inner power. As a result, a CEO is pushed to instill compliant, protective or controlling power techniques.
Take Michael, for example. A CEO who subconsciously feared not being liked, would fold himself in half just to please others, avoid difficult conversations and find solutions to keep low-performers in his team. When Michael finally became aware of how much personal energy he was spending doing this, as well as the toll it was taking on his team and ultimately what it would cost his organization, he realized how this blindspot was sabotaging him not only as a person but also his baseline results.
Another example of a CEO whose blindspot blocked access to their inner power is that of Barbara. She was struggling with poor sleep and having a difficult time shutting off her thoughts. As I began to dig deeper with her in our work together, we discovered an underlying fear of being wrong. Barbara was afraid of not making the right decisions, and this was what kept her up at night. Of course, a CEO’s decisions have weight and impact many people. As fear had unconsciously kicked in, Barbara was delaying important decisions and taking emotional distance, neither strengthening her leadership nor benefitting her organization as a result.
When a CEO leads from a place of unconscious fear, they get the irony of intent: What we unconsciously try to avoid, we receive. While Michael was trying to avoid losing relationships for fear of being disliked, Barbara was afraid of making the wrong decision and avoiding failure. These adaptive behaviors are inauthentic, uncreative and uninspired, coming at the expense of being respected. That is why it is only when Michael and Barbara connected back to their authentic inner power and tapped into their resourcefulness again that they communicated with clarity, began making decisions, set boundaries and had tough conversations — building back their respect, one step at a time.
But CEOs are human, and fear is a human emotion. And while fear is a word that no CEO likes to hear, think or feel, it is important to realize the following: If you don’t want to feel the fear, suppressing or pretending to be fearless in the process, you are giving away your power and weakening your leadership. You are disconnecting from your creative, authentic inner power. Dr. Sharon Melnick describes the difference between these two types of power as “being in power” versus “being in your power,” two entirely different leadership styles. Professor Brené Brown echoes Melnick’s theory when making the distinction between “armored leadership” and “daring leadership,” which she describes as “the need to be right versus the need to get it right.”
Inner power is the space inside of us that holds our treasures and resources. It can be defined as the power to inspire others through confidence, trust, courage and compassion.
To wield inner power, it is important to begin by harnessing observation and focus as key skills. To activate observation, it is important to practice being present all while keeping a “connected distance.” This quality allows you to observe the fear or the emotion without becoming the fear itself. Being able to observe, you will become aware, creating the freedom to choose from which part inside of you to lead.
Once these skills start feeling more natural and you learn to shift back to your inner power, you will have access to three key resources: creativity, trust and wisdom. These resources are not something you can practically do. We can’t “do” trust, nor “do” wisdom or creativity. But they are resources every CEO should hope to have access to.
Imagine being able to observe a fear and shift back to your inner power where you can connect again with deep trust, wisdom and creativity. How different would leadership decisions and actions look from this place?
In my book How to Develop the Authentic Leader in You, I write: “A leader who is authentically connected to their inner power creates an environment of security, openness and trust driven by inspiration, fueled by motivation and bonded by engagement.” Accessing inner power means being real and speaking truth, seeing things as they are without judgment. This connection to authenticity yields power and when this power is put in motion, a CEO can begin to trust their process. It requires a lot of deep self-reflection and practice, but wielding this inner power has impressive results.
When a CEO connects with their inner power, everyone else around them recalibrates. They lead with clarity, focus on the vision and use their resources to become a driving force, rather than forcing others to drive. Communication becomes easier to facilitate and boundaries become clearer. Witnessing this deep change, this newfound connection to power, is truly inspirational. Others will want to join you on your mission.
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