Personal Power

Do You Project Positive or Negative Power?

Achieving power requires understanding power – what it is, how it works, who has it, and when to use it. Power should enable you to achieve your goals, and not just your own goals but those of others as well. It is the insecure person who uses power to manipulate and destroy in order to achieve their goals. We see this kind of power demonstrated, unfortunately, on several television reality shows, which quite mistakenly send the message that powerful people are people who use fear tactics, people who are devious, manipulative, cold-hearted, and ruthless. Although some do achieve success with these tactics, they possess what we call negative power. Positive power is free of manipulation. 

Powerful people who are not manipulative are well liked, regardless of age, gender, or culture. They realize that they will not be able to please everyone; and they do not expect total agreement on every action or idea. Personalities vary! In fact, the more powerful you become, the more you will disappoint, displease, and even anger others at times. The key is to maintain respect! For example, people may not like your ideas but they respect your approach.

Business Dress

Do We Need Dress Codes?

Dressing for work was once a simple blue-collar and white-collar decision.  Dress codes took the guesswork out of dressing by giving us direction.  You always knew what was or was not appropriate.  And you always knew who the decision makers were by their selection and quality of clothing.  This has changed in most industries with the popularity of business casual, and the new roles of management.  In fact, many organizations have renamed their managers “team leaders,” and casual dress is the norm for all levels.  The business dress line started to blur during the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s when a record number of companies were “downsizing.”  The “casual Friday” custom was instituted as a way to build morale at a time when pink slips were rampant.  Eventually, casual dress became the norm for the entire week at many companies.  The risk was in the interpretation, especially during warmer weather and when the fashion industry was promoting a new fad that found its way into the workplace.