When we think of leadership, we think of power, authority, and influence. We often assume these three traits are interchangeable, that they mean the same thing.
They don’t.
According to Merriam-Webster, those with “power” have the “ability to act or produce an effect.” In addition, the dictionary also says power may be a “legal or official authority, capacity, or right” that possesses “control, authority, or influence over others.” Despite this, don’t confuse “power” with either “authority” or “influence.” You can possess power without having either authority or influence.
How is this so?
Merriam-Webster fails to help here, as it defines “authority” as the “power to influence or Continue Reading “What Every Leader Wants (and Better Have)”
A Life of Flabby Loneliness
It was a cold February winter more than 35 years ago. I sat uncomfortably close to a diminutive manually assembled Bush Furniture computer hutch. You remember those things. They looked like the mutant offspring of a too short desk and a flimsy book shelf.
Little did I know I was on the leading edge.
Actually, I did know I was on the leading edge… and loving it.
Hunched over what was then a new Wang PC, I had convinced my employer I needed to Continue Reading “A Life of Flabby Loneliness”