“Successful people say the same things over and over.”
These leaders proactively shape the culture of those they lead because they have developed their Power Messages.
As a leader, you need to know what your Power Messages are. These are the words and phrases that have a power in them that impacts people. They are your mantras and messages that leave legacy. Their power lies in the fact that you are leading out of your wiring and your experiences. No one can take it away from you because you were there.
These messages are something you talk about with authority. They don’t require you to expend energy–they actually energize you to share them. God brought you through something, or taught you something, or redeemed something in you and you want the rest of your life to lead and help people with it.
One way to think about this is: When you enter a room what do you want your employees and teams to feel and experience? When you walk into a presentation what do you want people to feel and experience? When you leave a room, what do you want people to feel and experience?
These markers/messages are the things you’ve decided are going to be who you are, how you’re going to lead, and they are what will drive that experience of you and your leadership for the people around you.
One of my Power Messages?
You Find Your Life As You Give It Away.
That Power Message has been formed in me over decades of experience and self-awareness. I’ve come to the conviction that when I am giving my life away to a greater purpose, mission, or calling, that I bring my best self, my best strength, and my best satisfaction to my life.
So when I am stuck in a decision corner, I ask, “In this decision, what would it look like for me to give my life away?”
That question has driven me towards how I respond to people, how I challenge my teams, how I invest my time, and how I define the next season of my life.
What are YOUR Power Messages?
N.B. You will not have dozens of Power Messages (or they lose power). Focus on 2-5 that really resonate and fuel you when you use them.
To get you started…
To drive them home and begin to leverage them…
1. Walk each Power Message through this grid:
Power Message:
This means to me:
This is important to me because:
A story I tell about a time I lived this out is:
2. On a regular basis use your Power Messages to align your life and decisions using these questions:
What are 2 behaviors in my life right now that flow out of this Power Message?
What is an area of my life right now that is in conflict or not aligned with this Power Message?
When I am living life by this Power Message, my life looks and feels like:
The early warning signs that I am not aligned with my Power Messages are:
3. Don’t just capture these; leverage them. Work them into your conversations and leadership moments. Use them as compass points when you are navigating what’s next. There’s power in your messages when you bring them into your life and leadership.
I help Point Leaders identify and lead out of their Power Messages. How can we get you leading better today?
Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash
