My next-door neighbour’s cat taught me a lesson about power this week…
Stella (the cat) is about 10, and a typical feline.
She has no desire to please you, no desire to entertain you and no desire to show you any affection.
In fact, if your eyes meet, she shows nothing but an air of disgust.
The only reason she graces our garden with her presence?
The field mice.
More specifically their torture and their murder.
A situation that normally plays out like this…
At twilight, she enters the garden.
She finds a spot under the trees.
She hunkers down.
She watches.
She waits.
… then… WHAAAAM!
She pounces.
The mouse is trapped.
It’s squirming.
Stella doesn’t confirm the kill quickly.
She tortures instead.
Batting the mutilated mouse from one paw to the other.
Letting in escape – just a little…
… Before she reels it back in.
This goes on for one maybe two minutes.
Usually, until the body of the mouse gives out and it lays limp and lifeless.
Stella then loses interest and slowly saunters away.
Power.
Real power.
And let me be clear when it comes to any situation where there is more than one person in the equation…
Someone or something always has it.
Right or wrong, a power dynamic is always in place.
And if I had to choose to be the cat or the mouse?
It’s the cat every time.
Being the mouse at the end of a cat’s paw…
Being a dog at the end of a leash…
Being controlled by another…
Not for me.
And the same goes for this game.
Being under the control of a boss, or under the control of clients, or under the control of employees….
No thank you.
I choose autonomy every single time.
Which brings me to the point of this email today.
Remember, in this game, when you have built something of your own – you get to choose.
And it is a choice.
You can choose to be the cat or the mouse.
I urge you to choose wisely.
Until next time.
Make More. Provide More. Be More.
Charlie Hutton
