The art of power,
practised wisely.
A platform from Dr Steve Vinay Gunther and Dr Paul Donovan — eighty years of combined experience helping individuals, teams and organisations transform how they hold power.
The Death Zone
Imagine climbing to 8,000 metres — where the air is too thin to sustain life.
Your judgement falters. Your balance begins to fail. This is the psychological state many leaders inhabit when they reach the summit of their careers.
Power is not a static object you possess. It is a dynamic, high-voltage energy that exists only in your relationships with others.
Power is not a dirty word.
It is as fundamental to our everyday activities as electricity is to the life of a city.
You cannot not influence.
The question is whether you have the Power Intelligence to use it without it consuming you.
It is the skill we are never taught.
Using power effectively is a core life competency — yet almost no one is shown how.
The Paradox
The very traits that got you here are the first to erode once you arrive.
Without a clear Power Compass, most leaders fall prey to the Power Paradox: the empathy and social intelligence that helped you get ahead quietly erode the moment you attain authority.
The result is a lifeless peace or a scorched-earth war — teams disengage, motivation drains away, and innovation dies on the vine.
The Art of Power involves transforming your internal fears and blind spots into a generative force that serves a Noble Goal higher than your own ego.
Lead with strength and heart.
Leading with wisdom means stepping into the Power Zone — a healthy, flexible range of behaviour where strength meets heart.
This requires inner work: self-awareness, recognising your power style — your Powerprint — and learning the unique way you are meant to use power effectively.
All ships need a captain. Abdicating the wheel is as dangerous as becoming a Captain Bligh. Our aim: help you feel more powerful in every sense — internally confident, externally effective.
"Abdicating the wheel is as dangerous as becoming a Captain Bligh."
Internally
Grounded. Confident. Self-aware.
Externally
Effective. Generative. Relational.
The Power Compass
A map of how power actually behaves — across two axes, eight archetypes, and one wise centre.
The Axes
Power moves vertically — Up (engaged leadership) and Down (engaged participation) — and horizontally — between Grounded Selfhood and Relational Intelligence.
The Centre
Wise Power — the Power Zone. A flexible range of behaviour where strength and heart hold each other.
The Distortions
- Tyrant · overpowered
- Manipulator · charming
- Pleaser · approval-led
- Evader · withdrawn
Four doors into the work.
Begin where it serves you — a podcast for curiosity, a course for practice, consulting for change at scale.
The Power Compass Podcast
Listen to the two Drs illuminate the topic of power in fascinating, far-ranging conversations.
Learn the art of power
A self-paced programme to recognise your Powerprint and develop the skill of using power well.
Executive · team · organisational
Consult with us about power — at the executive level, the team level, or across an organisation.
Best Practices of Power
A forthcoming MBA unit on the wise practice of power in leadership and organisational life.
Two doctors. Eighty years.
One conversation.
Dr Steve Vinay Gunther
Therapist · author · organisational consultant · founder of Gestalt Therapy International.
Dr. Steve Vinay Gunther has been a practicing therapist since 1986. His life experience includes street theatre, clowning, community activism, and a range of businesses — including a vegetarian cafe, printing press, sign-writing business, and food coop.
He founded the Northern Rivers Gestalt Institute in Australia and has been running professional therapy training in China since 2012. He has taught in many countries over the last 25 years, is director of Gestalt Therapy International, and founder of Learn Gestalt.
He has practiced meditation since 1973 and was Professor of Spiritual Psychology at Ryokan College in Los Angeles. He is author of the bestseller The Woman In Your Life — A Man's Guide to a Happy Relationship, published in four languages.
An accredited career counsellor since 1993, he developed a unique system called Career Decision Coaching. His PhD explored the interpersonal dynamics of power with managers across three countries.
Dr Paul Donovan
Owner and director of The Change Company · executive coach · author of Bosses Behaving Badly.
Dr. Paul Donovan is owner and director of The Change Company, founded in 1999. He specialises in working with senior executive teams — facilitating team building and strategy, coaching, and leadership development.
That work often involves Paul assisting executives to pause their transactional and familiar conversations and examine the individual and collective tensions that are not being discussed. His research suggests these "undiscussable" topics are often among the most strategic for the organisation.
Paul has worked across sectors including property development, higher education, pharmaceutical, defence, food manufacture, high-technology medical, government, consulting, and finance. He has published several research articles including a chapter in the award-winning Realising Critical HRD — Stories of Reflecting, Voicing and Enacting Critical Practice.
He wrote the popular book Bosses Behaving Badly, exploring how power can be applied skilfully by those in leadership positions.
Step into the
Power Zone.
Whether you're navigating power as a leader, a team, or an organisation — we'd be glad to talk.
Podcast
Listen on YouTube ↗