Every year I choose a personal theme, and in December I decided that 2010 would be the year of SCALE and REACH. Thus far, it’s been an accurate prediction—some days it’s all I can do just to try and keep up.
Lately, though, I’ve been thinking more about EMPOWERMENT than anything else. Empowerment, as I think of it, is all about the beautiful principle of transferring knowledge and helping people consider possibilities that previously seemed out of reach.
The best lesson to illustrate empowerment is through a selection from Hafiz, a Sufi poet from the 14th century. Consider:
The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He
Knows.
While the sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.
Most of us spend a lot of time building cages for those around us. This is accomplished by striving to make people small, so that we small men can feel bigger. Cage-building is protecting yourself and your interests, making yourself look good, and discouraging good ideas because you weren’t the one to come up with them.
Taking the credit for yourself, assigning the blame to others—that kind of thing. Mostly it involves thinking about the kingdom of Me.
Key-dropping, on the other hand, is making other people look good, building them up, expanding the pie. In other words, key-dropping is all about EMPOWERMENT, that beautiful thing of knowledge transfer and possibility.
Think about the times when someone has really helped you think or live differently. It was like they placed a key on the ground in front of you; you picked it up and unlocked a cage. (You had to open the cage yourself, of course, but it was a lot easier with a key.)
As I consider the work I’ve done over the past five years, I see a mixture of cage-building and key-dropping. As Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Accordingly, I see myself dropping more and more keys. But I can also see that I’ve built some cages. The course of action to change this is simple: build fewer cages; drop more keys.
What does that look like? Something like this:
- Before speaking up at a meeting, before sending an email, before publishing a blog post, whatever — ask the question, “Will this empower?”
- Give away your best work, and think about how you can give away even more of it
- Stop keeping score — or if you must keep score, make sure you’re always giving more than you take
- That thing you know how to do that everyone else marvels at? Show people how it’s really done.
You could probably think of examples that make more sense for your own situation. But whatever you do, don’t be the small man building cages. Be the sage, dropping keys for the prisoners.
What keys do you hold that could set a prisoner free? Why not start dropping those everywhere you go?
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Image: Bfick
February 8, 2010
Oleg Mokhov
I used to hoard things I knew how to do. I thought it’s what gives me the competitive edge. I purposefully told people that it’s hard or that “I just know the right things to do at the right time” or whatever other bullshit.
Then, I listened to an interview with electronic artist BT where he said he shares all of his advanced music-making techniques openly. Not only does he hope to elevate the level of music production in the world, but it pushes himself to grow – rather than rely on the same “secret” tricks. To become better, make better stuff, and drop even more keys.
From that moment many years ago, I stopped building cages and started dropping keys.
Lately, I’ve been helping people I know dig out their passion and message they have and then get their blogs up and running. And implant ideas on how to utilize and monetize it all so that they don’t have to do non-passionate stuff for a living.
February 8, 2010
Elizabeth Potts Weinstein
Beautiful imagery.
And this is exactly what I want my work to do. To empower people so they can save themselves. To just give them the little insight, or connection, or inspiration, or tool, that helps them move forward. To show them they already have courage. To hold up a mirror so they can see who they really are.
February 8, 2010
John Koetsier
Great quote from Hafiz – love it! Need to live it
February 8, 2010
Melanie
This is terrific! I love the idea of “beautiful rowdy prisoners” and I can’t wait to apply the “Will this empower?” question to everything I do this week. Thanks for posting exactly what I needed to hear today.
February 8, 2010
Candy Paull
I’ve spent years in the traditional publishing paradigm of guarding copyrights jealously. Now I’m about to make the big step of making some of my best material available for free–and I’m both excited and scared. I’m starting with a “best of” compilation–and we’ll see what happens. One baby step at a time. I’m open to new ways, willing to believe that “as you sow, so shall you reap” is true.
February 8, 2010
Tiera Foy
I have been sampling your site over the last few days, and I have already seen so many things differently. I think this post doesn’t yet apply to me, as I am young and in my opinion I have yet to acquire skills that I can pass onto others. What I do gain from this, is the knowledge that I must share what I learn as I learn it. Thank you for writing about this topic – it fuels my desire to do something good so I can help others do the same.
February 8, 2010
pamela
Exactly. I imagine this is what the world will look like (more keys, less cages) as we move towards becoming human beings. There is enough on the planet to go around. Share, live, love. The keys we are dropping were given to us for free. They’re called creativity, inspiration, innovation…
February 8, 2010
Krista
LOVE this post. One of my favorites from you. Thank you for sharing and for dropping keys.
February 8, 2010
Tricia Herbert
My first response to this title – I know many of those small men! And then I wanted to forward this post to them. In the next breath, I realized that it was also me. By wanting to point it out to them, thereby securing them a little tighter into their own locked cages. What a great post on reminding us to keep on doing what we love, and to drop keys for those in cages, but not to insist that they use them.
February 8, 2010
C. A.
Thank you for this fabulous article. Truly inspiring… ‘Thinking about the kingdom of Me’ is a striking description. Thanks again.
February 8, 2010
Joel D Canfield
“Dropping keys for the beautiful rowdy prisoners.”
That’s worth living for. I needed that today.
February 8, 2010
Betsy Talbot
When we first started blogging about preparing for our trip around the world I thought it would just be for family and friends. But what I noticed as we became more transparent about our successes, struggles, and crazy ideas was that people who weren’t even planning to travel were following us.
They wanted to know how we saved money, how we decluttered our lives, and how we were actually making this life work so they could do something similar in their lives. I have never felt richer than I do now from sharing so much of my knowledge and personal experience for the good of others.
That being said, I still build cages and am inspired by your post to reexamine a few other areas of my life. Thanks for the mental workout today – I needed this lesson.
February 8, 2010
Kylie
Hmm. I recognise myself as a ‘small man’. But not because I try to keep others from being excellent – I’m just afraid that they’ll see my lack of excellence.
Quote:
Cage-building is protecting yourself and your interests, making yourself look good, and discouraging good ideas because you weren’t the one to come up with them.
Ouch. This was not a realisation I was expecting to have today. Time to learn about being secure enough to let others be brilliant around me.
February 8, 2010
Penny Hall
Beautifully put. I made the decision to empower others by giving them the gift of tools that will help them find their own truth. We all know all there is to know. The problem is some of us fail to see the truth we already know. A simple shift in focus can make all the difference. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing your heart so openly.
February 8, 2010
giulietta nardone
Hey Chris, lovely poem!
I have come to believe that we build our own cages, lock ourselves in and “forget” where we’ve put the key. Funny or not so funny part? We’ve being taught that it’s good to be in the cage and are given instructions early in life on how to build a nice secure one. You may think you’re learning something else, but it’s really how to build a cage.
Too many of us walk around in our mobile prison/cages. When you are ready to get out of the cage, you’ll remember where you put the key. Fortunately, I found mine. It was hanging around my neck the whole time!
Thx
February 8, 2010
Drew Marshall
Thanks for your provocative post, Chris. My favorite empowerment saying was often quoted by the founder of the consulting firm of which I was a partner for a time (his name was Benjamin Tregoe). Ben thought that the power of an idea was not in using it for one’s own gain, or even in the sharing of the idea, but rather the power of the idea lay in how many you could teach it to who could then pass it along themselves. True empowerment was a gift that keeps on giving. The quote he so often mentioned is from Lao Tzu: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” So, I strive each day to be a teacher of fishing.
February 8, 2010
Michael Tiojanco
Couldn’t agree more. It’s always about helping as many people as you can. Instead of pushing others down, pull them up.
I’m just starting the journey to working on things that I’m passionate about – and I’m being sure to document the steps I take so I can help anyone who wants to do the same.
Thanks for the post Chris!
February 8, 2010
Tianna
Great post Chris. I owe any success I’ve had to a myriad of key-droppers. Thanks for reminding me how much I want to be one as well.
February 8, 2010
mauco
Brilliant! Simply Brillaint!! Just this weekend I felt I was being stupid for giving away some of my most cherished secrets… worried over it throughout the weekend feeling bad. Now that I’ve read this, I don’t feel bad anymore… infact I’ll try and drop more key from now on.
But wouldn’t it be better if there were some form of reciprocity in dropping key from others too?
February 8, 2010
Lindsey
Chris,
This is so wise, and so important – the really strong, the really wise, are the ones who are happy to help others be big – even bigger than they themselves are. That is true strength, true confidence. I think we all know when we are in the presence of those people. It’s easy to dismiss that quality as innate, but I think, as you posit here, it is something we can learn and work on. Thank you for inspiring me to do so.
February 8, 2010
Tanner
Empowerment is truly a powerful force to be reckoned. It feels so good once you empower something with knowledge or skills that impact their lives for the better. One of the best gifts in the world, better than anything else.
February 8, 2010
Jessica
This really gets a clear and important message across. Let’s start helping one another and leave our egos out of it! Thank you for a great post today.
February 8, 2010
Sheila
Someone’s been annoying me all week. Thanks for helping stick to my own standards of behaviour, because I was getting very tempted to drop down to his level.
February 8, 2010
RJ Weiss
Well done.
My key, resides in financial planning. I have been studying for years to learn how to empower others to take control of their finances. I’m now working on putting that all together.
Keep up the good work.
February 8, 2010
annie smidt
Chris, I love how you put this. The dropping-keys metaphor is beautiful.
I wrote a post about almost this exact topic yesterday, talking about how the government doesn’t seem to do things like the Berlin Airlift anymore, but luckily us regular citizens (especially bloggers, designers, entrepreneurs, non-conformists!) are leading the charge for being generous and giving and changing the world from the bottom up. Of course, I had you in mind as I was writing. Cheers to our non-movement movement of sensible kindness and openness!
-annie
February 8, 2010
Jared Yellin-Brandentity
This is an important philosophy to embrace because the most valuable intellect and skill is that which is shared with the masses. There is a reason that a graveyard is the home for the most potential in the world because people often fear sharing their insight with others and in turn, it is never utilized. I have always been an advocate of transparency which results in shared knowledge, potential synergies, and the ability to create something with someone else that you would have neven been able to do on your own. Therefore, it is time to let your keys dangle and begin sharing “what you know” with the world so that everyone can reach the next echlon in their existence because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
February 8, 2010
Valerie
Amazing poem. I copied it down into a book I keep for just such purposes. Just a few minutes after reading this my boss gave me a small squishy figure of a bodybuilder who is wearing a shirt that says “You’re empowered!” Every time I look down at his little flexed foam muscles (or manboobs, something weird is going on with this guy) I laugh.
What perfect timing. Thanks for another inspiring post!
February 8, 2010
Ron Robison
Try as we may, we can never get others to conform to our self-imposed standards. Empower and embrace people for who they are not what we expect them to be. Look for their strengths, not our perceived weaknesses of them. Thanks for the thought fodder.
February 8, 2010
Andie Russell
Wonderful post! Beautiful poem! Thank you.
February 8, 2010
Ted Gonder
Loving the poem. That went down in the journal…
February 8, 2010
Alicia
A great reminder….give first, share always.
Thanks for another great post!
February 8, 2010
Emily-Sarah
Lovely. Empowering others can take on lots of wonderful (and *easy*) forms, including encouraging, teaching, taking time to listen *and hear* people … sometimes I think that if we took time to engage others (genuinely and unrushed) that alone would help empower a lot of individuals: allowing a person to share his/her true voice = mighty empowerment.
February 8, 2010
Ben
Chris,
I love this new series of “in your face” philosophy. Keep up the good work. You’ve certainly empowered me!
-Ben
February 8, 2010
Marc Winitz
Chris – a lot going on in this very short post. I would contribute another analogy that is pretty practical and something I would think you see in some of your world travels. The models of scarcity versus abundance. The scarcity model means some people think the “pie” is constrained to a specific size. The pie is innovation, economic development, growth, etc…They fight over what exists versus finding ways to make the pie bigger so more people can have some. I saw this a lot working in parts of Latin America for example. Sometimes its just cultural. Regardless, it’s nice to see you making the pie bigger for everyone through your empowerment attitude.
February 8, 2010
Joanne Whitlock
Great timing – thank you. Just doing last minute updates to a talk I am giving tomorrow night about giving feedback. Will tie in to book I read recently too expressing the difference between critical and creative thinking (Think!: Before it’s Too Late: Twenty Three Reasons Why World Thinking is So Poor by Edward De Bono – highly recommended to people reading!) Thanks again.
February 8, 2010
Tim
Excellent post (again).
I always used to think “scarcity” instead of “empowerment”.
Where I work (as a telco engineer) I always protected myself through scarcity of information.
I’ve now automated my role and empowered people to check stuff (that I used to check for them) themselves, which has made me largely redundant but everyone a lot more useful and informed.
I think it’s a much better way to play the game.
February 8, 2010
Sue
Great post and wonderful poem. I’ve worked with people who seem to enjoy putting others in cages through pettiness, envy and micro-management. In these kinds of situations it seems that there are a few who are also quite happy to be in a cage and would rather try and get the Sage caged, than have the courage to pick up the keys and set them self free.
My sense is that we can all swing between being a Sage or a cage-maker depending on how content/happy we are with our own lives and how confident or secure in ourselves we feel. When the contentment and confidence are low, some will build cages for themselves (or allow themselves to be caged) and others will set out to try and clip the wings or otherwise undermine the autonomy and freedom of others. I’m thankful for the Sages in my life. I try to behave more like them than the cage makers when life occasionally slides sideways.
February 8, 2010
Jim
What a great post Chris! I have benefited from many keys being dropped for me and I have had the pleasure to see many keys I have dropped help others. Like you, and many others, I still have cages though… some keys for the future.
February 8, 2010
emma
What a beautiful poem to highlight such a profound truth. I find it sometimes overwhelming the forms fear takes. I wholeheartedly agree with those above who acknowledge your talent for empowering others. No one is perfect, but your desire to continually trudge closer to that unreachable point is inspiring.
February 8, 2010
Kat Eden
When you have compassion for someone, and come to truly care for them, it becomes impossible to build yourself up at their expense or even at all. I don’t know if it’s an age thing, or if I’m finally just learning how to put myself in someone else’s shoes, but I’ve noticed myself really listening and feeling the ups and downs of my clients, family and friends over the last year or so. And I notice how much more I care, when previously most of my concerns were for myself.
I think it’s hard to say which comes first either – finding happiness in your own life and therefore feeling free to focus on others, or focusing on others’ needs and thus finding peace for yourself.
Either way, the outcome is pretty fantastic!
February 8, 2010
Ami
Today must be poetry day, what a treat. Love the Hafiz piece, I had never read it before. It gently encourages us to take risks by sharing our knowledge and strength – thought provoking stuff. thanks.
February 8, 2010
Erin Wilson
Such a beautiful, powerful post. Thank you.
February 8, 2010
Meg
Thanks for dropping me a couple of keys today, Chris.
They’re much appreciated, and I hope to put them to good use!
I see empowerment at work when I go to autocrosses — all the people there are so willing to help you out! In a way, it’s more fun for them if you start getting better, as it pushes them at the same time. But they also like to pass on their knowledge to others. It’s fun to benefit from that, and also to pay it forward.
February 8, 2010
Rod
Love this post. I’ve been thinking about it all day.
February 8, 2010
Dave Ridarelli
A Perfect Poem & Metaphor – I’ve always enjoyed this one too..
I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
“It is futile,” I said,
“You can never — ”
“You lie!” he cried,
And ran on…
-Stephen Crane
February 8, 2010
Sandi
I love the poem the keys you dropped in your post about it, thank you! The reason I became a coach was to empower people. I’ve been blinded to the keys strewn around me at times because of the cages I believed contained me. What a lovely analogy, the keys are always there if we look for them, and I would posit that they don’t always come from generous and open people. I would love for others to see that the keys are just waiting for them to pick up and use…Thanks for the great post…
February 8, 2010
Laura Lee Bloor
Thank you so much for this beautiful post, Chris! You are one of several people who has given me the key of looking at the world in a more positive manner and more of a “why can’t I do that, too?” mentality. Know I’m on your team, working to inspire and empower others with all that I am learning in life along the way.
February 8, 2010
Eve
Chris, this is awesome! This is probably one of my favorite posts of yours. Thank you for this.
February 8, 2010
Wyman
Chris,
Getting behind in my reading of posts with $100Business Course. Enjoying both.
If we keep finding solutions for new problems we won’t be afraid to give most of our best suff away.
February 8, 2010
Cali Harris
Gorgeously said, Chris.
I am absolutely guilty of building cages. On the flip side, I sometimes keep knowledge to myself because I don’t think it will be useful to others. Of course, that’s unreasonable. I believe we all have empowerment to share in multi-faceted, layered ways. Thanks for this bit of empowerment.