Power

July 14, 2023

Power is often thought of as an external force given to few, that is wielded over others, but power can also be an internal force, available to all, which helps us find our voice and make our place in this world. Coach, speaker, and Certified Dare to Lead(TM) Facilitator Nekvapil (The Gift of Asking) knows that many women struggle to enrich their lives by claiming their inner power. Rich with moving stories from her life as an English-born Nigerian living in Australia, her book will draw in readers with its relatable style and bits of humor sprinkled throughout the chapters. She addresses the work of building personal power through sections: "Presence," "Ownership," "Wisdom," "Equality," and "Responsibility." Each section contains meaningful stories and ends with a Power Process complete with three reflective questions and an action to take. The author doesn't shy away from difficult topics, such as racism and privilege, stating that confronting these issues will only empower women. VERDICT Fans of Bren� Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, and women everywhere who are looking to claim their space will find this work useful and inspiring.

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July 31, 2023
Executive coach Nekvapil (The Gift of Asking) sets out an impassioned if scattered guide to embracing personal power. After growing up as a Black foster child in a white suburban neighborhood and being rejected in her teens by Black peers who told her she “talked white,” she realized, “If I don’t belong in a white world, and I don’t belong in a Black world, I’m going to belong to myself.” Doing so involved investigating how racism and misogyny had stymied her agency, and prioritizing such values as presence (meditation helped the author carve out “a space for to be in touch with power in a mindful way”) and wisdom (which helped her to confront challenges by keeping past experience and future direction in mind). Nekvapil is at her best when painstakingly capturing moments in which power structures asserted themselves in her life, as in childhood when the frequently bullied author played a cruel trick on a neighbor girl because “I needed someone else to feel like shit for once.” The outing, though, suffers from a fragmentary structure, which confines such topics as patriarchy to three- or four-page bursts and dispenses piecemeal advice, allowing glimmers of insight but precluding a more cohesive narrative. The confidence-starved will find some value, but may be left wanting more to sink their teeth into.

August 1, 2023
An Australian career coach offers a set of principles for boosting self-worth and thwarting self-negating thoughts. "I was born in England to middle-class Nigerian parents in the 1970s," writes Nekvapil, who was a foster child in five different white families before she was 18. Many Nigerian families, she writes, fostered their children through white families, hoping to give them "the best opportunities in life." From an early age, the author had to quash the self-defeating ideas about being a Black woman that society has thrust upon her. Initially trained as an actor, Nekvapil became a bakery entrepreneur before moving to Australia with her husband to start a family. She addresses honestly the kind of prejudice she has had to overcome as a Black woman, rejecting the instinct to apologize or make herself small and invisible. She emphasizes the necessity of shifting the paradigm from thinking that we must have external power over someone else to nurture an internal sense of power, and she sets out five "Power Principles," which include presence, ownership, wisdom, equality, and responsibility. Considering each of these straightforward principles, Nekvapil offers letters from readers about their own stories. Most helpfully, after each section, the author poses questions that engage readers in active reflection--e.g., "What one action could you take today to practice presence?" "Who or what do you need to see to feel that you belong?" Finally, Nekvapil discusses the benefits of having real power, which could include the power of money, the power to lead, and the power of privilege. The final exercise is putting these many principles into action: "Practice owning your thoughts, your words, your voice, your power." Influenced by the work of Elizabeth Gilbert, Martha Beck, and others, Nekvapil imparts how not to be afraid of power. Uplifting advice for fellow seekers encouraged by self-help guidance.

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