Power, Well-Designed | ChiefX DC
Power hums differently when no one’s asking for permission.
In a city of tightened shoulders, ChiefX DC brought a let-our-hair-down energy. Equal parts finesse and fortitude to name what we wanted without cushioning it for comfort.
Cindi Leive described that self-actualizing power as the “entitlement we should’ve had the whole time.” She'd watched younger colleagues walk into the workplace and make change immediately, questioning long-standing policies her generation had quietly endured.
We all listened and shifted: Gen X recalibrating, Millennials exhaling, Gen Z already asking for more. A reminder to trade apology for audacity.
Lydia Fenet reframed for us: “Let your network become the mouthpiece for your ambition.” Your people will buoy your vision. Just tell them what you’re building.
Networks become the infrastructure when institutions refuse.
I scribbled in my notes: yes…and we still have to build the adaptive organizations we need.
It’s the crux of my work with global funders and founders, helping institutions design for:
Courage: the steady, quiet kind that keeps questioning despite the unknown. (TEDxLogan Circle)
Innovation: the dual imagination and proximity that sustain durable change. (The Aspen Institute)
Resilience: the infrastructure choice, not the personality trait. (Opportunity Collaboration)
Each redesign turns entitlement into infrastructure – confidence with a system to catch it.
As the final Chief session closed, that no-permission-needed hum never broke.
It multiplied as we hugged too long, squealed at familiar faces, and two-stepped until last call.
Power, when well-designed, doesn’t need seizing.
Originally shared on LinkedIN.
Photos from ChiefX DC
