Power Is Not a Dirty Word

Power is not a dirty word.

Power, at its most basic, is the capacity to produce an effect. To change something. To move a situation from one state to another.

To make a thing actually fucking happen.

The discomfort with the word is a cultural phenomenon, not a logical one. In practice, power is operating in every interaction you have. The question you need to ask yourself is whether you understand it, have cultivated it, and are using it deliberately.

The person who declines to engage with the concept of power doesn't avoid it.

They participate in it passively.

This is a choice.

It's a choice to remain subject rather than actor.

The alternative: understand what power is, how it operates in the specific contexts you're in, and how to develop the kind that aligns with your values.

Not the corrupted version. The useful version.

The capacity to produce an effect. To lead others. To lead yourself.

Develop it.

Use it well.

The effect you produce matters.

Start there. Everything else waits.