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Giving Away Your Personal Power – And Taking It Back

Just like balancing on one foot, once you understand the feeling of InPower, it’s easier to identify when you unconsciously give your power away and can take steps to retrieve it and catch yourself earlier next time. “Taking back your power” is as simple – and as hard – as paying attention to these emotional signals and putting yourself in a genuinely positive state. Sometimes this is easier than others, causing us to learn to let go of beliefs and unconscious reactions that no longer serve us, and other times it’s really quite easy. Always it is a choice. Once we become adept at managing our own InPower balanced state, we can also practice it in the world, helping others around us attain more InPower so that the groups we lead as a whole can access more power. An InPower leader can not only foster group power, but direct it into achieving great things in the world.

This is the second post in the Take Back Your Power series of posts.

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Five Steps to Start A Mentoring Circle

Did you know that according to this 2011 Linked In survey of 1,000 women professionals, while 80% said having a mentor was important, only 20% actually had a mentor? In my work as an executive coach and speaker, I notice how easy it is for many women to second-guess ourselves. We tend to focus...

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The Perils of “Easy” Consensus: Leaders, Do Your Job

Throughout my career I’ve had experiences with government, nonprofit and corporate cultures, and I’ve noticed a leadership pattern in all three that leaders can learn from. Consensus means different things to different people. Be brave. Do Your Job. Don’t take the ”easy” path. The word consensus...

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Speak Your Truth To Power – High Risk/High Reward

Almost half of respondents from a recent survey (48%) say they withhold their truth more than 25% of the time. Why? Because 82% say they’ve been penalized in the past for speaking up, being pushed aside, minimized and even losing their jobs. When I asked this question in discussion forums and in the survey, some of the emotions were raw. People feel that their integrity is at stake when something important is on the line and most (76%) feel regret when they decide to bite their tongues. But there’s a silver lining here if you want to advance your career and feel like you’re taking your whole self to the office every day (i.e., most of us) – 72% said that speaking truth to power actually got them ahead! You can learn to negotiate this professional development minefield to help advance your career and maintain your integrity at the same time. Read the full post for more stats and insights. Download the survey results free and register for the new eCourse, Speak Your Truth to Power.

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6 Communication Tips to “Bring People with You”

How many times have you had a conversation with a colleague who carries on about a topic and you never get to say a word – nevermind ask a question? One-sided conversations can get tedious – quickly. And I’m sure if you have experienced this, you hide from the person when you see him coming down...

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