I am a leader without a mandate. I have founded my own company, and it is entirely up to my clients whether they wish to continue our collaboration. If I manage myself skilfully, my clients may want more of my help, and new clients will follow.
So, what I can do is to ensure that I have optimal self-management.
I am part of a family with three children, of which I have given birth to one, but I am the bonus parent of the two others. Even though I have given birth to Maria, I have no mandate. She is now 19 years old, while David is 15 and Maggie 13.
As a bonus parent, I have no mandate. This means that the way I can influence the lovely young people I live with is through pure love.
I listen to understand, as I am curious about what they experience, think and feel, and we talk for hours. The mobile phone has been replaced by presence. My wonderful husband tells me that he has never experienced anything like that.
We have no roles at our place. There are no mandates. No hierarchy. We grow based on the idea of mutual respect and helpfulness, and we intervene when there is a deviation from the community.
When I was newly qualified, a hot topic was the importance of having a mandate in order to succeed. Because, it was absolutely vital to have a mandate. Particularly in toxic cultures or fitting-in cultures that had power struggles, and this applied (and applies) in business cultures as well as domestic cultures.
You see, if you have a mandate, you have authorisation, warrant or orders to carry out a task for someone else. And, there is such a thing as breach of trust if you misuse your mandate. But now, the question is what actually gives a person a mandate, and whether mandates even exist anymore?
I strive to be the same person in all spheres, and to meet people with a loving spirit.
This does not make me any less strong or dynamic. On the contrary. It makes me predictable. I work determinedly on my awareness, and that makes people feel comfortable around me.
The authorisation or power of attorney—which the mandate represents—is somewhat hollow in relationships, and this applies to professional as well as private relationships.
The authorisation that you have acquired because you have a specific role on paper—regardless of whether you are a parent or have a professional title—does not necessarily reflect whether you have acquired a true followership.
Time and time again, this new era shows me that the actual power is in the personal vigour that makes you who you are, and in what you offer to the people around you.
You see, personal vigour creates followers who would also follow you if they did not have to ‘on paper’, and these followers will accompany you on your further journey in life.
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