Owning Your Brilliance - Tenet 1: Empowering Yourself

As you know, we launched our blog around the topic of “Owning Your Brilliance,” which focused on following a simple process for proactively managing your professional development.  (To review the original blog click here).  It challenged us to be courageous in the face of uncertainty and learn how to honor the seven tenets of Owning Your Brilliance: Empower Yourself, Develop Unwavering Integrity, Become Multi-Faceted, Be the Difference, Develop Financial Literacy, Become Politically Savvy and Pace Yourself.  This week we will take a deeper dive into the Empower Yourself tenet.


One of the best-kept secrets about empowerment is that it isn’t something that someone gives you or allows you to achieve; rather it is a personal conviction made by the courageous and selfless.  It is the first true step toward leadership that a person can take; for how can we lead others until we’ve learned to empower ourselves?   


Unfortunately, empowerment is one of those terms in the English language that ignites endless debate, hope, and discord. While many agree it emerged during an era in which select groups were systematically marginalized, the term empowerment has since come to mean the difference between living an “Authentic Dynamic Life” vs. a life of “Quiet Desperation.”  For the purpose of our conversation today, we will define empowerment as:

EMPOWERMENT—the ability to understand one’s intrinsic value in a given situation and contribute your skills, ability, and/or intellectual capital in such a way that it significantly improves the overall outcome of the process in which you are engaged, while meeting your personal need for effectance.

As Americans, we are fortunate to have a constitution that empowers us with certain inalienable rights.  These unique endowments ensure that every citizen of this great country enjoy the pursuit of happiness and ensures that they are able to make positive contributions to the well being of our society.  So if this is true, then why is it that so many people in our society still wait for someone else to point the way to empowerment?  Some say it is a psychological issue, others believe it is a gap in education, while still others argue it is a sociological reality that exist between “the Haves" and the "Have Not’s.”  Since the truth often lies somewhere in the middle let’s take a slightly more holistic approach to understanding this elusive concept.


Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
It was Abraham Maslow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs) who first presented the theory of human beings possessing a complex hierarchy of needs and an innate desire to achieve a higher level of self-fulfillment once their basic needs were met.  The following diagram illustrates the various levels he believed humans progress through:

Interestingly enough studies show that only 10% of people ever reach the Self-Actualization level.  How accurately do you believe these phases represent your current level of development? 
I am sure many would agree that the topic of empowerment is an extremely touchy subject at this moment in our history because so many of us have experienced significant job and financial loss, in the last decade.  One might say to broach this subject could easily seem insensitive and delusional.  How can we empower ourselves if there are no jobs and continued instability in the marketplace? Not to mention that those of us who are fortunate enough to have a job secretly believe the only way to remain employed is to keep your head down and walk on eggshells, in hopes not to draw any undue attention to themselves.  If this sounds familiar, we recommend that your first step toward empowering yourself be realizing that you are so much more than the money you have, the position you hold or the debt you owe.


Empowerment like most things in life is really a process that enables people to fully access either personal or collective power, authority and influence, for the overall benefit of the community in which they are engaged.  The following factors shape the business communities in which we thrive:

In order to fully leverage the benefits of empowering yourself, you must actively honor the realities of the business community in which you reside as diagram here.


And then work on developing each one of the following key components of empowerment in your personal life:

You might remember that when we originally released this blog and its seven tenets for “Owning Your Brilliance,” we also associated each tenant to a rising star that personified each tenet.  Chris Findley was our role model for “Empowering Yourself” simply because of all he has accomplished in such a short time.  Following is an excerpt from an interview we recently conducted with Chris to find out exactly how he goes about building a dynamic career for himself and his high profile clients.

WMV: Hello Chris it is a pleasure to meet with you today to discuss the distinctive and empowering aspects of the IAMCHRISFINDLEY brand.  We so appreciate you finding room in your busy schedule to share your insights on the importance of Empowering Yourself. 


CF:  Thank you for inviting me.  It is my pleasure to be here and have an opportunity to discuss the necessity of empowering yourself to succeed.  It is a topic near and dear to my heart.  In fact, it is what the iamchrisfindley brand is all about.


WMV:  Really, Chris and why are you so passionate about the topic of empowerment? 


CF:  Because I believe that every human being has something great and special to offer this world and it is in all our best interest to encourage, inspire and empower ourselves and others to make sure that happens.


WMV:  How is it that you have been able to start and run your own branding firm and lead one of the largest graphic companies in New York City, The Graphic Express LLC, at such a young age when other people are struggling just trying to find and keep a job?   


CF:   I would have to credit my drive, personality and determination for that.  Running a business is not for everyone so if having a 9 to 5 gig is your thing, then I say great.  However, I have always had the desire to build something from scratch and do my own thing.  What makes me particularly blessed in this instance is that I realized these desires at an early stage in my life and then acted upon it.


WMV:  The word empowerment means a lot of things to a lot of different people, what does it mean to you?


CF: Empowerment can take so many different forms and expressions.  You can empower yourself mentally, physically, financially, spiritually etc. however I really think that it is about keeping yourself in a positive state of mind so that you can be the best you can be in whatever endeavor that you are engaged in.  Empowerment is a daily thing that inspires growth in the best athletes, moms, business people, celebrities etc.  It is not something you can limit to a particular class or status of people.


WMV:  What were the greatest obstacles you faced in starting your business?


CF: Realizing I could do anything that I put my mind to.  Ultimately, the hardest part is the internal battle.  It is much easier when you have the confidence in your ability and then the commitment to execute on your ideas.  I have always had the confidence however when you begin to match it with commitment and action and then you begin to see it take shape, it can be a bit overwhelming at times.


WMV:  What can be overwhelming?


CF:  When you are confronted with your own brilliance in the manner in which you intend to make it available in the world. 


WMV: What do you want your legacy to ultimately be?


CF:  I am extremely passionate about the legacy I am creating.  While I do not have every aspect of it mapped out as yet, ultimately I want to leave this earth knowing that I invested my energies and expertise in helping others promote and build their brands through the use of cutting edge Social Media Marketing strategies and techniques made available to them through my firm, The Graphic Express LLC.  I also have philanthropic aspiration to help build schools and communities, absolutely but ultimately I want to know that because I lived and was invested in the lives of the people around me everyone grew and benefited.  Not just me and mine but we all flourished and thrived because of the chrisfindleybrand.


WMV: Chris you work with many high profile people and celebrities and I know you are not a person to name drop so I will not ask you to however, I would like to understand how you are able to maintain your integrity and convictions in the midst of all the affluence and power that you are exposed to.  How do you keep it from compromising the essence of who you are as a person? 


CF:  The only person I really consider a celebrity is God.  He is the only one I worship or idolize.  I truly believe that everyone’s valuable it is just that some people have more fortune and fame than others; but every single person matters.  And I believe my clients appreciate that about me. 


WMV: Chris as always, it was a pleasure speaking with you and I so appreciate you allowing us to catch a glimpse of empowerment in action in such a self-direct and dynamic young professional as yourself.  To learn more about the extraordinary things Chris does to “Own His Brilliance” and empower himself for success, visit him at: www.iamchrisfindley.com.


If you have found the information and recommendations contained in this blog helpful and are interested in learning more about “Owning Your Brilliance,” consider attending one of our upcoming Professional Development workshop series by clicking on the following link: http://owningyourbrilliance.eventbrite.com/


In the meantime, we encourage you to make a conscience choice to Empower Yourself each and every day of your life by working on building up each of the eight key components of empowerment outlined in this blog.
Respectfully submitted for your thoughtful consideration,


Willie Mae Veasy
President and CEO
Covenant Business Concepts LLC
www.covenantbusinessconcepts.com