Power Tool #3: Use What You’ve Got
In No Excuses, I share a dream I had one night. I was in my out of control speeding car, and I couldn’t stop it. I slowly realized the keys to the car were in my hand, and they had been all along.
You don’t have to sit in the shrink’s office to figure out the metaphor in that dream! Have you ever had a similar experience?
To be able to use power, the first thing you’ve got to do is realize that you have it. I’ve found in personal life and in meeting challenges at work that what you need is usually there if you can only see it and have the courage to use it.
Here are just a few examples women shared with me about how to use what you’ve got:
• Know Your Value. Honestly assess your talents, skills, experiences, and capacities—how can you best demonstrate your special expertise? Women have clout, clout that we haven’t fully leveraged. Who values you, who wants you on their side, who needs your skills and talents?
INTENTIONING
Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women
Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good
The new book from Gloria Feldt about the future, taking the leadership lessons learned from this disruption and creating a better world for all through the power of intention.
• Toot Your Own Horn. If you don’t, who will? And instead of getting stuck in the weeds of self-reproach, ask yourself: What did I do right? What experience did I gain that will improve my abilities and chances next time?
• Give Yourself a Whack on the Head. Author Roger von Oech says, “‘Only the most foolish of mice would hide in a cat’s ear,’ says designer Scott Love. ‘But only the wisest of cats would think to look there.’ Don’t miss the obvious. What are you overlooking? What resources and solutions are right in front of you?”
Women collectively need this metaphorical whack to get us out of stale thought patterns and help us realize what incredible power we have at this amazing moment when all signs point to a world that wants the qualities we bring to life and leadership.
What keys do you hold in your hand? And how can you use what you’ve got to get what you want–your goals, aspirations, the power to use your gifts?
Interested in learning more power tips and tools that have worked for other women? Find them here in No Excuses.
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
As co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a leading women’s leadership nonprofit, her mission is to achieve gender parity by 2025 through innovative training programs, workshops, a groundbreaking 50 Women Can Change The World immersive, online courses, a free weekly newsletter, and events including a monthly Virtual Happy Hour program and a Take The Lead Day symposium that reached over 400,000 women globally in 2017.
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Gloria, I really enjoyed this section of the book. It reminded me of a professional development class I took, where the facilitator had us take an inventory of all of our skills and interests. We used those to build an action plan for achieving a goal. I ended up quitting my job so I could go to culinary school. One of my long term goals is to open my own restaurant. Taking time to write out all of the skills and knowledge that I have and still need to acquire really helped me to clarify that goal. I am constantly working towards my dream.
You are a Renaissance woman!
While I adore this entire book – I think this is my absolute favorite chapter. In particular this passage REALLY resonated with me:
“That mistaken tendency to locate the sources of power outside of ourselves so that we respond rather than initiating action is the essential challenge women still face today, despite the many doors that have been opened and barriers that have been smashed. Even young women, who grow up being told they can do anything and be anything, often don’t make the necessary connection between their ability (potential) and their willingness to act on it (intention). Nor do they have a clear sense of their responsibility to themselves and to other women to utilize their abilities to the fullest so that the female half of the world can continue to advance toward full justice and equality.”
This struck me so deeply because it describeD me to a “t”… and then I took action!
My passion is women & money. I believe that as little as 10 hours of basic personal finance education can change a woman’s life. So after reading this chapter and this book… I created “The Women’s Financial Literacy Initiative” – dedicated to increasing women’s voices and choices through personal finance education. I am launching my first (FOR-PROFIT) eCourse later this month.
And… that’s another issue. For far too long women have a history of giving away their skills for free or below market value. So through its own example this initiative will seek to change that. The Women’s Financial Literacy Initiative’s goal: To get 1 million working women to take the course and on the path to financial empowerment.
Thank YOU, Gloria, for inspiring me to step up ad take ACTION with this chapter, and with this wonderful book.
Manisha, you really know how to make an author’s day! I’ve been reading your comment to people all day. Which was very important because the rest of the day was full of stressful events.
Best of luck to you in your new venture. Will you coach me?
Hi Gloria,
Speaking of unused power….
The Democrats didn’t use their power in the Brown-Coakley senatorial election. Martha Coakley was a convenient scapegoat. It was easy for the Democrats to blame her for loss of the senatorial seat. This election has proven it was not Martha’s fault. This time, the Democrats worked together and succeeded in holding the entire delegation. In the senatorial election, Barney Frank, John Kerry, and Marty Meehan were scarce until the eleventh hour when it was clear that Scott Brown was zooming ahead. Martha has proven her mettle by running a forceful reelection campaign for attorney general after her senatorial defeat. Hopefully the Democratic Party has learned a lesson: that even the most prominent Democrats must engage the voters.
Ruth Nemzoff, Ed.D.
Author and Speaker: Don’t Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with Your Adult Children (Palgrave/Macmillan,2008)
Resident Scholar
Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center