7 Truths About Power Most Leaders Learn Too Late
Before You Grow Your Influence
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7 Truths About Power Most Leaders Learn Too Late
Before You Grow Your Influence
As Ramadan begins, millions around the world fast from dawn to sunset for an entire month.
It’s a time of reflection, and it always brings me back to this truth:
Power doesn’t corrupt people. It exposes who they already are.
And before your influence grows, that matters more than you think.
Because influence amplifies everything.
Including what you haven’t examined yet.
What’s in store:
A leadership lesson from an ancient story
7 truths about power most leaders learn too late
A recalibration question for ambitious leaders
Linked And Lift Picks
Read Time: 5 minutes
We See Power Twisted Everywhere
Don’t we?
Leaders who need the spotlight more than they need to serve.
Influence weaponized for personal gain.
Strength confused with dominance.
And if you’re a woman navigating visibility, authority, and impact - whether in your business, your team, your home, or online - you’ve likely felt this tension:
How do I hold power… without becoming hardened by it?
Here’s what I’ve learned:
Real power works quietly.
The Leader Who Empowered Others -Then Walked Away
A true leader understands that true strength lies not in recognition, but in what you leave behind in others. I learned this from an ancient story in Surah Al-Kahf about Dhul-Qarnayn
He was a leader given strength, resources, and reach.
He traveled across lands and encountered two very different situations:
In one place, he found injustice and wrongdoing.
In another, he met vulnerable people who needed protection.
And each time, he had a choice:
Exploit or uplift.
He chose to uplift. Every single time.
When he found wrongdoing, he held people accountable, with justice, not vengeance.
When he met those in need, he didn’t offer charity alone.
He didn’t create dependency.
He didn’t brand the solution with his name.
He helped them build their own protection.
Their own strength.
Their own defense.
He empowered them to stand without him.
Then he moved on.
No monuments.
No legacy campaign.
No demand for recognition.
Just the work, done well.
7 Truths About Power Most Leaders Learn Too Late
Some leaders only learn these after they’ve damaged trust.
Some realise them when influence has already hardened them.
Some discover them when the spotlight is brighter than their character.
Here they are - before you grow yours:
1. Power is a test, not a status.
It’s not about what you can do.
It’s about what you choose to do.
1. Power is a test, not a status.
It’s not about what you can do.
It’s about what you choose to do.
2. Influence magnifies who you already are.
It doesn’t build character.
It exposes it.
3. Authority without accountability is just ego in a suit.
The more power you hold, the more humility you need.
4. True leadership is rooted in justice.
It protects.
It serves.
It doesn’t perform.
5. Platforms are neutral. Intention is not.
We can build spaces that inspire, or ones that inflate.
6. Real strength works quietly.
The strongest leaders don’t announce themselves.
They build others.
7. Our impact is measured by who we protect, not who we impress.
The real question isn’t “Did they see me?”
It’s “Did I see them?”
Legacy isn’t who applauds you.
It’s who grows because of you.
Here’s What I’ve Learned:
Leadership isn’t just about us rising. It’s about who we bring with us.
When we help our teens move from “I’m not a language person” to confidently earning top marks, we’re modeling what empowerment looks like.
The clarity we model matters.
The confidence we instill matters.
The strategy we share matters.
Because real power is about empowering others to stand without us, and knowing that that is the truest measure of our impact.
Before You Grow Your Influence:
A Leadership Audit
Audit Your Influence
Where do you hold power - at work, online, at home? Are you uplifting or controlling?Replace Spotlight With Service
Before posting or speaking, ask: “Who does this help?”Build, Don’t Brand Everything
Empower others to grow without needing your constant presence.Practice Invisible Leadership
Do one meaningful act this week that no one will applaud.Ask the Recalibration Question
“Am I using my influence to uplift, or just to be seen?”
Sit with it.
Not as criticism.
As alignment.
Linked And Lift Picks
● Book: Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek, on leadership rooted in service.
● Podcast: The Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast - episode on character-driven leadership.
● Quote: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln
Closing Thought
The greatest leaders don’t build monuments.
They build foundations
for others to stand on.
They build protection
for others to stand behind,
until they’re strong enough
to build their own.
With respect and purpose,
Véronique
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And thank you for being a part of our Linked And Lift community!
Until next time,
Véronique Barrot
Educator | Founder, Linked And Lift
Helping women leaders grow their impact, and their high school teens achieve French exam success at the highest level.
Follow me on LinkedIn where I share self-leadership and growth insights Monday to Friday (except Wednesdays).
P.S. For those who are newer here: alongside writing Linked and Lift, I work with women leaders in two closely connected areas - strategic personal branding, and supporting their high school teens with IGCSE, O Level, A Level and IB French when confidence or foundations are shaky.
Different contexts, same intention: helping people rebuild what was never quite solid, so progress feels possible again.