King Solomon in the bible once warned, “Woe to the land when a slave becomes king.”
Not because leadership is reserved for the elite, but because power does not correct a limited mindset.
Authority amplifies what already exists inside a person.
If the mind is disciplined, power sharpens it.
If the mind is shallow, power exposes it.
This is why position alone does not create leadership. Promotion does not create wisdom. Money does not create clarity. Visibility does not create competence. Power only reveals what preparation has already built.
Many people believe motivation is the missing ingredient. That if you say the right words, offer the right incentive, or apply enough pressure, effort will follow. But motivation cannot manufacture work ethic. It cannot replace discipline. And it cannot awaken someone who has decided, consciously or not, to remain comfortable.
No amount of motivation can change someone who does not want to work hard.
This is a difficult truth, but a freeing one. Once you accept it, you stop wasting energy trying to pull people where they have no intention of going. Leadership is not about dragging unwilling minds uphill. It is about building yourself high enough that the right people can see the path and choose to climb.
Growth also requires a shift in how we see resources, opportunity, and effort. You cannot reach certain heights in life with a scarcity mindset. Scarcity makes people defensive. It makes them territorial, reactive, and afraid of collaboration. It turns learning into competition and success into a zero-sum game.
Abundance, on the other hand, creates patience. It allows long-term thinking. It encourages investment in skills, relationships, and systems that compound over time. People with an abundance mindset are not in a rush to prove themselves. They are busy building.
This is especially important as a new year begins. New calendars do not create new outcomes. New habits do. New thinking does. New standards do.
If you want different results this year, do not chase power. Chase preparation. Do not chase visibility. Chase competence. Do not chase motivation. Build discipline. And above all, illuminate the mind before you place it in positions that magnify its influence.
Because when power meets clarity, progress follows.
But when power meets confusion, everyone pays for it.