Money, Influence, and Impact: Reshaping Power Dynamics through the Helping Professions

The Allure of Power: What Netflix Dramas Teach Us: Our Fascination with Power Dynamics

I have a serious fascination for Netflix series like Narcos or Peaky Blinders. I've often wondered why I felt such attraction to these series, and upon reflection, I think it's about the money-power-influence game.

Series like Narcos (or Griselda, which perpetuates the same dynamics, only with heels and lipstick) showcase a world where money fuels control, ambition, and often ruthless decision-making. These narratives, while gripping, perpetuate behaviors traditionally associated with a win-at-all-costs mentality - actions that have historically shaped many power structures and dynamics, at the cost of violence, destruction and corruption - to name just a few.

The Real-World Money-Power-Influence Triangle: Understanding the Connection Between Wealth and Control

Unconsciously, most people I talk to about their relationship with money have a belief that if they were to have more money, they would be "like them" (not necessarily Pablo Escobar, but you know, their own version of what a "bad guy" is).

Yet money, power and influence ARE connected in our world.

This triangle of influence is not just the stuff of Netflix dramas - it's a reality that shapes our societies, economies, and personal lives. Money often translates to choices and opportunities, which in turn can lead to increased influence over one's environment and others. This influence, when leveraged effectively, can generate more wealth, creating a self-reinforcing cycle.

The key question isn't whether this dynamic exists, but how we choose to engage with it and what values we bring to the table when we find ourselves in positions of financial power.

Breaking the Mold: Reimagining Power in Helping Professions

What if we reimagined power? What if, instead of replicating these destructive patterns, we leveraged our financial success to foster positive change? As coaches, therapists, and consultants, we're uniquely positioned to redefine what influence and impact can look like in the (business) world, we are real agents of change.

When we step into our financial power in these nurturing professions, we're not just changing our own lives - we're creating waves of positive change that extend far beyond our immediate circles.

Challenging Our Money Stories: Confronting Limiting Beliefs About Wealth and Success

Challenging our Money Stories is key to challenge power structures. Our money stories - those deep-seated beliefs we hold about wealth, success, and our worthiness to achieve them - are the foundation upon which we build our relationship with power and influence. To truly redefine these concepts, we must first excavate and examine these stories.

Are we holding onto the belief that money corrupts? That power is always wielded at the expense of others? That influence means domination rather than inspiration? These narratives, often inherited or absorbed from our environment, can unconsciously limit our potential for positive impact.

Redefining Success on Our Own Terms: Building Thriving Practices with Empathy and Integrity

When we redefine success on our terms by building thriving practices, we're reshaping what success looks like in traditionally undervalued "soft skill" industries. We're proving that empathy, emotional intelligence, and the ability to guide others are not just noble pursuits, but also financially viable and respected career paths. This redefinition matters profoundly because it challenges the prevailing narrative that success must come at the expense of others or our values. By demonstrating that we can build prosperous businesses rooted in compassion and integrity, we're not just changing our own lives - we're offering a new model for the next generation of entrepreneurs and professionals. This shift has the potential to transform entire industries, steering them towards more ethical, sustainable practices that benefit both practitioners and clients alike.

The Ripple Effect: How Our Financial Empowerment Creates Wider Impact

By challenging these stories, we open ourselves to new possibilities. We can rewrite the script where financial success equates to greed, replacing it with one where prosperity fuels generosity. We can reimagine power as the ability to uplift rather than control, and influence as the capacity to inspire positive change rather than manipulate outcomes.

A New Paradigm of Power

This internal work isn't just personal growth - it's the first step in a larger transformation. As we heal our relationship with money and redefine what power means to us, we create a new paradigm. One where our financial success becomes a tool for collective empowerment, where our influence is measured by the lives we've improved, and where power is synonymous with the ability to effect positive change.

Influencing Industry Standards: Leveraging Our Success to Shape Ethical Practices

In essence, by challenging our money stories, we're not just changing our own lives - we're laying the groundwork for a new understanding of power and influence in society at large. And as coaches, therapists, and consultants, we're uniquely positioned to lead this charge, modelling a new way of being successful that prioritizes impact alongside income.

Modeling Ethical Leadership: Demonstrating the Coexistence of Wealth and Values

As coaches, therapists, and consultants, we hold a unique position at the intersection of personal growth and professional development. Our work isn't just about helping individuals; it's about catalyzing transformative change that ripples out into families, organizations, and communities. When we model ethical leadership and demonstrate the harmonious coexistence of financial success and values-driven practice, we become living proof of a new paradigm.

By consistently aligning our actions with our values, we demonstrate that ethical practice isn't just a nice-to-have - it's a powerful driver of sustainable success. This proof-of-concept has the potential to influence industry standards, inspiring a new generation of helping professionals to prioritize integrity alongside income.

Our role transcends individual client work. We're architects of a new business ethos, one that places equal emphasis on profit and purpose, on wealth and wellbeing. Through our daily work and the example we set, we're quietly but powerfully reshaping the landscape of power, influence, and success.

Stepping Into Your Power: Embracing Your Potential for Positive Influence

So, I will still be captivated by series like Narcos, knowing that it’s glorifying old paradigms of money, power and influence.

I stand for writing a new script - one where our financial success fuels positive change, where influence is measured by lives improved, not empires built or lives taken.

When we reframe our relationship with money and power and grow our financial influence as coaches, therapists, and consultants, we are a force for good.

It's time to own our worth, scale our impact, and collectively redefine what power looks like in the 21st century.

Until next time,

Maria x