Personal Power<br >Personal power is a tough concept to pin down. We all recognize<br > %<br >power when we see it exercmed: the president of the United<br >States making cabinet appointments， an executive launching a<br >new project， a mother convincing her child to attempt a new<br >task. But how is it that we know a person has power even before<br >we see him or her exercise it? What are the personal， human<br >qualities that make up power? And， most important， how can we<br >develop these qualities in ourselves?<br > Simply put， personal power is the process of balancing and<br >directing your creative energy. There are five key elements in<br >this process: confidence， decisiveness， control， skills and aware-<br >ness. To help illustrate how these elements work together we<br >have developed a model called the power star. Each point on the<br >star stands for one of the components of personal power. The<br >center of the star is the source of the creative energy by which<br >you nourish， motivate and renew yourself -- you might consider<br >it to be your "center" as well. A woman in one of our workshops<br >described it as the "home base" she carries with her at all times.<br > These five elements strike a perfect balance in the star. They<br >must also exist in balance in the personally powerful individual.<br >Let s take a closer look at how you can develop and balance them<br >in your life.<br ><br >