The Mind as an Empowering Agent

Be the master of your mind rather than mastered by your mind. - Zen Saying

Superheroes like Superman and the X-men, is somehow similar to us in terms of possession of power. Yes, you’ve read that right. Superman, like you and me, has a power. If these superheroes have supe
atural powers that give them the ability to fly, to climb buildings and walls, to become invisible, to produce fire and ice, and to have special physical strength, we human beings, on the other hand, have the ability to mold our personality, to shape our future, and to create our own destiny. And all these are due to the power we possess – the power of our own mind.

The power we humans possess can never be compared to any supe
atural powers these superheroes use. After all, they are not real, ours is. Some higher power or higher consciousness in our body is responsible for giving us this power that makes us more hero than they do, an empowering agent, and this is our mind. It is our mind that gives us authority and superiority, confidence and self-esteem, and inspiration and guidance over ourselves and others. This is how the mind works. This is how the mind empowers.

What is empowerment? The book entitled Empowerment Takes More than a Minute explains it in an interesting way. It is about Marvin, a president and CEO of a mid-size, once-successful company. It will give a clearer insight on what empowerment really is and, it might also change your view on it.

For some time now, Marvin had been thinking of his problems on the company he was working at, or for that matter, he was managing. What he failed to see was the company also had its problems on him – and that he was turning out to be an ineffective leader. He had taken over leadership there for over a year already, or should I say, for over a year only, and yet his effectiveness as a leader is already not enough for the maintenance, if not progress, of the company. But, at least, in all fai
ess to him, he cared enough to reflect on the matters that might lead to the company’s failure. Again, only it was hard for him to accept the fact that change should start on him before the rest of the company changes.
This made him ponder for quite a while. And then he came up with a solution, one that would make them leaner and meaner, one that he ‘thought’ was helpful – empowerment. And since he believed that everyone needs to be empowered, he made them, not certain if it was at all for the best of the company. Well, for nine months, it seems that it was not even close to being good; especially that empowerment was merely a word to those supposed-to-be-empowered, and nothing more.

Desperate, he sought help from Sandy, the so-called “Empowering Manager.” At first he was hesitant because he found out that what he once thought as a “he” is really a “she.” It’s as if his self-esteem decreased since he was asking for a help from a woman. But eventually, he had accepted the truth that he really needed advice. The conversation went through and the most interesting part was how Sandy defined empowerment:
“Empowerment is not giving people power. They already have plenty of power – in the wealth of their knowledge and motivation – to do their jobs magnificently. We define empowerment as letting this power out.”

With such clear and motivating points of view, Sandy was able to change the attitude of Marvin towards managing his company and being able to compete once again.
Although the story was basically focused on managing and leadership, what we can relate to is what empowerment really is and how it works. All of us already have that power inside of us. What the mind does is empower us by releasing that power and letting us use it in appropriate measures.

By being the master of your mind and living intentionally, much more is accomplished in life. Not only do you live your life on purpose, but you become a shining magnet to those around you.