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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Energy, Power and the Leader-sphere - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post - A Professional Networking Community for Educators

Energy, Power and the Leader-sphere - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post - A Professional Networking Community for Educators:


Energy, Power and the Leader-sphere

Have you ever thought about the difference between energy and power? We use them interchangeably when discussing fuel, but not so much when discussing people. Energy is the availability of power, and power is the ability to get things done. Today’s young professionals expect to be both energized and empowered, and organizations are quickly morphing to meet the challenge and the opportunity.

Consider it in terms of how our thinking about fuel has evolved over time…

From early on in human history, access to fuel has been linear. We’ve had to find and go to the source: water, wind, fire. Eventually, we realized we could harness fuel for specific uses, so we built mills on rivers and ships on oceans and we cooked at fire pits. It was a step forward, but it was still a linear path.

Then came electricity. You don’t “go” to electricity…you make it come to you through conductors, insulators and wiring. It was still linear…available through stationary