In this lesson, let's explore our power. Do you feel powerful? And when you do, how does this change the way you act? Research has shown that those of us who feel powerful are more tuned to capitalize on opportunities. We express and feel optimism. We engage in conversations more readily.

We take initiative and we persevere longer, and we act calm, even in high pressure situations. Now, let's contrast this against a state of powerlessness. Because when feelings are powerless, this overwhelm us. It can be stifling. Maybe it's a bad day. Maybe it's something that isn't working out for us the way we expected.

When we feel powerless, we feel more to two threats, not opportunities. We feel anxiety and our outlook is much more pessimistic. We feel uncomfortable in social settings. we hesitate we defer to others, we hide our true talents remain hidden when we feel powerless. This feeling of power or lack thereof directly affects our level of confidence. Feeling personally powerful is not the same thing as having achieved social power.

Social power derives its origin from the titles we hold, or our positions in society. And when we hold social power over somebody, they are obligated to do as we beg because of this social structure. So let's not confuse personal power with social power. personal power is the freedom from the influence of others. It's the power to do something, anything and feeling confident enough in ourselves to pursue it. So in this rather short but important lesson, I want you to recognize moments in time when you either feel powerful or powerless, because recognizing your state directly impacts the executive presence that you're going to have in that moment.