Brene Brown on Power

I was listening to Brene Brown, a professor and author, speak about power the other day. If you haven’t looked into her work, I highly recommend it. She is fantastic on many topics from empathy to emotion to vulnerability. I was actually interested in her work in empathy which lead me to this podcast on power. And in a strange and odd way, the two are intertwined.

We all have so many ideas of what power is, and in the last four years, our definitions may have changed–especially after the last administration. Even disregarding that, I think most of us would struggle to define it. And define it clearly. But Brene Brown does, and she does it eloquently in her podcast. She explains how people can wield power, which is neither negative or positive on its own, but rather it becomes so in how it is applied.

Brene Brown explains the different types of power and how they are applied in a way you can use this information for personal relationships, political leaders and even bosses. Which type of power do they use? It will tell you a great deal about them.

The reason I am bringing up this podcast and the topic of power is because it also relates to deception. As you listen to her descriptions of power, you should clearly be able to see which use of power will be deceitful, dishonest and untrustworthy. And worse highly destructive.

Let me know what you think. If you listened to the podcast, did you enjoy it?