Power
A User's Guide
Want to know how to attain both inner and outer power? Check your own unique “Powerprints.”
As we head into another presidential election, the issue of power is once again a source of curiosity. Why do certain people crave it, and, perhaps more importantly, how do they behave when they get it? Julie Diamond, a veteran leadership coach, knows that power is not just for politicians and CEOs. We all crave some sort of control in day-to-day life, regardless of profession or social status.
Through anecdotes about acquaintances, clients, and personal experience, Power: A User’s Guide is accessible to anyone interested in deconstructing his or her own attitude about power. The book is well organized, offering reinforcement and review of the concepts discussed in each chapter. But be warned that Diamond employs a fair amount of jargon that seems commonplace in the field of self-help books.
Diamond describes different types of power, primarily “positional,” which is based on a person’s job title, economic status, or social status, and “personal,” which is pretty much everything else. Attitude goes a long way in determining how people feel about their place in the family, the workplace, the larger community, and society in general.
The author uses a self-examination approach that some may find uncomfortable. There are numerous exercises that require complete honesty if the lessons and suggestions in Power are to be successful in ascertaining and achieving what she terms as “Powerprints,” comparing these identifiers to fingerprints, in that every person has unique characteristics.
Such introspection may well come easier to some than to others. “Being yourself is a lonely road,” Diamond cautions. “It takes courage.” Through gentle prodding, she tries to help her readers find that courage to explore their individual situations and see where her advice might be beneficial. Whether such courage can be found within the pages of a book is for the reader to decide.
Reviewed by
Ron Kaplan
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
