Collaboration Café: Personal Power and Empowerment

This week’s collaboration focuses on two power concepts, personal power base and empowerment, and how they are related. Regardless of the type of formal power a nurse may have, whether a novice or expert in the role as leader, each must develop a personal power base. Part of becoming a transformative leader is learning to empower others and is related to having a personal power base.

• What is a personal power base and what is (or has been) your plan for building one?
• Have you had any experience with having to rebuild it because of a position change or change in practice location?
• What was that experience like?
• Empowering others is reciprocal in nature. What does this mean?
• What is the relationship between having a strong personal power base and the ability to empower others?