When Words and Actions Don’t Match · The 4 Types of Power (Revisited w/ a fresh take)

🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟

You've probably felt it lately…that low-grade frustration of watching a conversation that's supposed to go somewhere, go nowhere.

Whether it's a congressional hearing, a leadership meeting, or a dinner table debate, there's a particular kind of disorienting feeling when the people in charge seem most skilled at not actually saying anything.

Language expands, but meaning contracts.

Lots of words, lots of volume — but what's really being communicated? And more importantly: what do you do when what someone says and what they do are two completely different things?

The truth is: leadership behaviors are rarely random. They're almost always the expression of an underlying belief about power.

When we understand the kind of power someone is operating from, we stop getting pulled into reactive cycles. And we can stay focused on building the kind of structures that create real, lasting progress.

This week, Karlee revisits one of the most foundational episodes of the show, originally recorded in 2020, but perhaps even more essential right now. She unpacks the 4 types of power operating all around us, and invites us to ask not just what kind of leadership we're witnessing — but what kind we're inhabiting.

In this episode, you’ll learn that real leadership is about bringing out the potential in people, not hoarding power at the top. The more we share power, the greater it becomes. And whether you've been lifted up by a great leader or are currently weathering an ineffective one, this episode is a reminder that we deserve to be nourished by the structures we're part of, not diminished by them.

If you’re ready to see beneath the surface of the power dynamics in your workplace, your community, and your politics, and choose how you want to respond, then this episode is for you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• (6:32) What leadership actually means and why it's a responsibility, not a rank
• (9:26) The purpose of your power: what you're really building when you claim it
• (13:24) The 4 types of power - and which one is quietly running the room you're in
• (15:52) What happens when leaders believe power is scarce
• (25:07) The Godzilla Effect: how to know what to trust when someone's words and actions aren't lining up

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Buildings and Bridges by Ani DiFranco

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown

Real Teams Win: What Smart Leaders Need to Know Now About Achieving Peak Performance by Thomas L. Steding

The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza

Black Lives Matter

Lady Don't Take No Podcast with Alicia Garza

People Mentioned In This Episode:

Maria Sirois

Brené Brown

Tom Steding

Alicia Garza

Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Aud