{"id":369,"date":"2010-12-02T08:16:55","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T08:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/viva-la-vida-and-power\/"},"modified":"2010-12-02T08:16:55","modified_gmt":"2010-12-02T08:16:55","slug":"viva-la-vida-and-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/viva-la-vida-and-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Viva La Vida and Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/object>
\n  <\/p>\n

This video is from a song by Coldplay<\/a>.  Maybe you've heard it before.  But have you had the chance to read the lyrics?  Take a look:<\/p>\n

I used to rule the world<\/em>
Seas would rise when I gave the word<\/em>
Now in the morning I sleep alone<\/em>
Sweep the streets I used to own<\/em><\/p>\n

I used to roll the dice<\/em>
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes<\/em>
Listen as the crowd would sing<\/em>
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"<\/em><\/p>\n

One minute I held the key<\/em>
Next the walls were closed on me<\/em>
And I discovered that my castles stand<\/em>
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand<\/em><\/p>\n

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing<\/em>
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing<\/em>
Be my mirror, my sword and shield<\/em>
My missionaries in a foreign field<\/em><\/p>\n

For some reason I can't explain<\/em>
Once you go there was never<\/em>
Never an honest word<\/em>
And that was when I ruled the world<\/em><\/p>\n

It was the wicked and wild wind<\/em>
Blew down the doors to let me in<\/em>
Shattered windows and the sound of drums<\/em>
People couldn't believe what I'd become<\/em><\/p>\n

Revolutionaries wait<\/em>
For my head on a silver plate<\/em>
Just a puppet on a lonely string<\/em>
Oh who would ever want to be king?<\/em><\/p>\n

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing<\/em>
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing<\/em>
Be my mirror, my sword and shield<\/em>
My missionaries in a foreign field<\/em><\/p>\n

For some reason I can't explain<\/em>
I know Saint Peter won't call my name<\/em>
Never an honest word<\/em>
But that was when I ruled the world<\/em><\/p>\n

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing<\/em>
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing<\/em>
Be my mirror, my sword and shield<\/em>
My missionaries in a foreign field<\/em><\/p>\n

For some reason I can't explain<\/em>
I know Saint Peter won't call my name<\/em>
Never an honest word<\/em>
But that was when I ruled the world<\/em><\/p>\n

One thought occurred to me this morning (very early); what if power is best understood once its been lost.  Maybe when you're powerless you gain the sweet awareness of what it all meant.  Sounds like the writer of Viva La Vida understood this.<\/p>\n

In our time humilty is something we say we admire, but rarely do we want to actually, authenically, live it out.  There's still a bit of mental stigma with the whole idea.  Not many messages out there about letting someone or something else go first.  Sadly, we often crave to be number one and in-turn crave power.<\/p>\n

What if power is a wild beast that can only be handled by people who understand its ferrious nature and all the dangers accordingly?  What if power is subtle and can sneak up on you after you've stop paying attention?<\/p>\n

Here are some points to consider around power:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Don't be fooled by all the treasure power can bring.  It can go as fast as it came.<\/li>\n
  2. More organizations should require all managers to take a class\/workshop on power.  I conduct these, so I am ready.<\/li>\n
  3. Power can be a great tool to help.<\/li>\n
  4. Power in the hands of arrogant and reckless people creates chaos.<\/li>\n
  5. Learn humility.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

       This video is from a song by Coldplay.  Maybe you've heard it before.  But have you had the chance to read the lyrics?  Take a look: I used to rule the worldSeas would rise when I gave the wordNow in the morning I sleep aloneSweep the streets I used to own I used to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,122,5,123,6,170],"tags":[22,943,478,298,402,336,177,269,119,479],"class_list":["post-369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-commentary","category-career-2","category-entrepreneur-advice","category-leadership-development","category-learning","category-management","tag-business","tag-career-advice","tag-coldplay","tag-education","tag-entrepreneur-advice-2","tag-leadership","tag-management-2","tag-professional-development","tag-self-help","tag-viva-la-vida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}