Authority and Power – Are They The Same?
Last month my book “Financial Independence for Women” was published in the States and is available on all shops and on Amazon.
(that’s the photo with my US attorney that helped me get my book contract with my publisher… The nicest attorney EVER!!! – Thank you Peter Hoppenfeld)
If you’ve done any work with us in Open Circles Academy you know that writing a book immediately puts you in a position of an expert and an authority on the topic you’ve written.
The days after the book was published I kept getting emails and messages of questions about the issues I raised in the book. I noticed that while I was happy to hear how much the book has helped so many women (and men) in the ways they took control over their money, I had some struggle with the notion that I was associated in being an expert and an authority about financial issues.
My book deals with money, wealth and financials, but I never considered myself an expert or an authority on the issue of financials. I kept explaining to people that I don’t have the right diplomas to talk about financials. I’m not authorized to give any advice or suggestion when it comes to money. The only thing I can do is share my journey and what I have done to become financially independent and later on financially free.
Women find it difficult, to show their authority on the issues that they are experts in.
Let’s examine for a minute the issues of authority and power and try to shed some light on this issue from a different angle.
Have you noticed that the word Authority has in it the word Author-ity. This means that the idea behind authority is that the person who is in authority has meaningful issues to deliver. They have more wisdom, more knowledge, more experience than others and are in a position of authority on a specific topic.
The issue becomes complicated when it comes to the corporate world where some people have bosses that know less than them and they became an authority because of their title, not because of what they know.
When you are in a position of authority but you know that your people know much more than you, most people would start working out of force (not power). That’s when authority is being misused.
The definition of Power is the ability to act . Most bosses act not out of inner power but from power that was given to them by their title and not from their own inner power.
Therefore we will find that so called authority will act not because of their power but due to their position and title that was given to them.
If we wish to become an authority we will need to develop our inner power which comes with self-esteem and confidence and has nothing to do with the title that we carry, the diplomas that we have or even the years that we have.
I believe that we are all born as authorities in our own field. I mean who else knows what YOU like, think, or dream better than you!
Of course that is not enough to become an authority. However, if you’ve ever looked at kids (before education and school hit them and in most cases destroyed them…) they act out of authority. They are very clear about what they want, what they think and how things should be. Sometimes they are too clear for us adults and we try to educate them and tell them: “shush, you don’t say those things in public”… or; “that’s not polite to say such a thing” (even when we think the same…
Somehow we’ve lost our natural authority in life and we are looking for other people to give us the permission to be an authority and to recognize us as an authority.
I believe that each time that we are willing to share our knowledge, our experiences, our success and failures; we demonstrate our leadership and teach other people who are willing to listen. This for me consists of authority. Authority doesn’t mean that you need to know it all. On the contrary many of those people that had the I-know-it-all attitude are the least authority people that I have met.
The question that I have to you is… what are you willing to share about?
Share with us what are you an authority about…? Share with us in, the comment box below.
If you find this article inspiring, please SHARE it on Facebook, LinkedIn or retweet it, by pushing the button on the left, for the right channel, so more women could benefit from it.
Please share this article with your:
- LinkedIn connections
and blog readers...
Have a magical week! Vered
