Leadership Tip
Do You Mouse Around With Your Power?
Saturday morning I was talking on the phone
with my sister in St. Louis
about what we were going to wear
to our respective holiday parties that night.
The conversation was abruptly interrupted
when I saw a grey little creature
scurry across my kitchen floor.
I squealed, shrieked and reacted by jumping up and down.
From my new found perch on the kitchen counter
I could see it move around to the dining room.
After my sister and I stopped laughing,
she calmly talked me through the next steps.
“Hang up and call critter control,” she directed.
Armed with my broom in one hand and the phone in
the other,
I called my neighbor instead.
As it turns out, she had had a mouse last week
and was on her way to Walmart to buy supplies.
This purchase was now doubled.
We had our plan of attack.
After my initial hysteria, I went upstairs (safer
ground I thought)
and called my dad in New Orleans.
(Why couldn’t this have happened when he was here last week?)
Again, after more advice and a reminder
that the mouse was scared and wouldn’t hurt me,
I stepped back to look at the options.
I was giving up my power to this 4” rodent.
I was letting him take control of my house
as I tiptoed from room to room.
When we react, we frequently give up our power.
I am a powerful woman. I speak publicly (the #1
fear people have),
I run my own business, I am a risk taker.
Yet I lost sight of all of this.
When I stepped back, took a few deep breaths and
reviewed the game plan, I became proactive.
I regained my power.
Look at the situations
where you give up power.
How can you get it back?
What happens when you shift from reacting
to being proactive?
For now there’s a mouse in my house.
We’ll both sleep warmly tonight.
Leadership Tips Archives
2012 |
2011 |
2010 |
2009
2008
| 2007
| 2006 |
2005
Do You Mouse Around with Your Power?
Does Your Physical Environment Support You?
Does Your Communication Frustrate You?
Can Opportunity Exist in Crisis?
Labor Day Honors The Workforce
Get that "Vacation Feeling" Everyday
