MetaPower Institute
Fragmented Power
Power is no longer linear or possessive—it’s fragmented, layered, and fluid. History is not made by legendary leaders but by events and power networks.
In today's complex digital reality, identifying hidden force fields — marked by invisible power structures, nuanced influences, quiet loyalties, narrative shifts, and subtle interventions — is a challenge.
MetaPower Framework
Through our framework of MetaPower, you master your inner dynamics and decode the external chessboards—the power structures you navigate daily.
We unravel these fields psychologically, philosophically, strategically, and geopolitically.
From there, you advance with strategic precision, dance confidently to your own rhythm, and stay sovereign and unwavering in your purpose and actions.
Leadership fog
Leadership is a normative veil—an overstated façade, mere styling of deeper power realities. Real power is the hidden grammar underneath. Power is not written in autobiographies.
Focusing on shallow leadership skills is already playing someone else's game.
That’s why we honor this depth by decoding both the inner and outer power codex—unveiling the hidden dynamics within yourself and within external force fields.
For whom?
We provide decision-makers in international corporations and governments a power codex, a clear, unfiltered view of where power truly resides.
Thus enabling them to stay three moves ahead instead of one step behind—ensuring decisions that are not only strategically superior but also responsible, transparent, and fair.
Welcome to the MetaPower Institute. Power literacy.
MetaPower concepts
The first part of our MetaPower framework introduces foundational concepts drawn from multidisciplinary perspectives and principles.
Layered Reality
Our world is volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and hyper-fast. Reality is not vertical anymore: it surpasses old dichotomies like formal/informal or top-down/bottom-up or open/closed. Instead, power operates in networks, on many dimensions and layers. Additionally, networks of actors narrate and symbolize it, blurring the boundaries between humans and objects.
Inner Basement Power
Each actor (human) has a multi-layered basement of inner forces and drives and obstacles. In fact, as the publication 'Psychoanalysis on Sneakers' depicts, this is the root level of all hidden power dynamics.
The second part of our framework translates these concepts into practice: Which methods and tools do we (as analysts) employ, and how do we apply them concretely?
The MetaPower Praxis
1. Basement power (analysts)
We as analysts must cultivate profound self-awareness by:
  • Identifying internal drives, unconscious desires, historical biases, and obstructive ideological assumptions.
  • Examining our pre-understanding —the prior knowledge, assumptions, and biases we bring into every interpretation.
  • Gaining autonomy by recognizing and preventing the projection of personal conflicts onto others.
2. Strategic clarity
We define your strategy and objectives:
  • Actor’s Basement Power: Uncover unconscious forces that either block or boost strategic effectiveness.
  • Strategy Design: Scenario planning, risk analysis, and psyops.
  • Targeted Interventions: Narrative, symbolic, and unconscious-level strategies.
3. Force Field mapping
We map power fields by:
  • Actors form networks and alliances.
  • An inventory of practices, discourses, loyalty pacts, and informal circuits.
  • Analysis of emotions, behaviors (micro-level), linguistic patterns, and symbolic actions
4. Interpretative analysis
We construct an interpretative matrix from insights gained in step 3 by:
  • Historical tensions, ideological models, narrative structures, and symbolic meanings.
  • Immune systems and defense mechanisms within actor groups.
5. Total Power Dynamics
We integrate all insights from 3 & 4 into a concluding picture that serves as input for a refined strategy.
  • We are identifying and scoring all power dimensions using Morgan's metaphor scan.
  • The focus is on defining the concrete practices, structures, and dimensions that shape power.
Used Techniques
In (3): We are developing AI and OSINT pipelines for live signal scraping. We perform diary mining, linguistic, sentiment, and non-verbal analysis, as well as narrative analysis.
In (4) we use a multi-disciplinary approach: concepts from philosophy, psychoanalysis, sociology, business strategy, linguistic analysis & behavioral science.
In (1-5) we occasionally use a stress test. People often hide their real power structures behind defenses, strategic stories, and narratives. By intentionally creating provocations or simulated threats, we get authentic information.
The Hermeneutic Circle
The MetaPower model, a multiperspective lens, is neither static nor linear, but dynamic and cyclical, inspired by the hermeneutic circle:
After several iterative interpretative rounds, a decisive playbook emerges, delivering a strategy, precise interventions, and leadership actions tailored to shifting power dynamics.
This playbook then serves as fresh input for subsequent interpretative cycles, continuously refining and sharpening strategic responses.
Each iteration undergoes pragmatic evaluation, measuring tangible impact, effectiveness, and real-world shifts in power dynamics.
Ethics & Compliance
Our approach strictly aligns with the ethical standards set out by the Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, and the Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects (ELSA) framework. Principles of fairness, transparency, and justice underpin every step of our strategic intelligence activities.
Through our internal Compliance Shield 3 mechanism, we conduct rigorous pre-audits to ensure full compliance with the EU AI Act, GDPR, and NIS2. Additionally, we provide a transparent ethics statement and a formal assurance letter from a trusted law firm from day one.
Moreover, the MetaPower framework guarantees institutions and leaders with good governance, decision-making processes that are transparent, sovereign, democratic, fair, and resistant to manipulation.
Services
MetaPower Scan
  • One-time MetaPower Scan
  • Silent or Open MetaPower Intelligence Scan
  • Comprehensive MetaPower Strategy Report
Challenge Calls | Advisory Experts
Engage in provocative, strategic conversations
Uncover hidden basement dynamics, question your strategic assumptions, and decode your scan report.
Expect transgressive insights and actionable strategies for more profound power transformations.
Subscriptions
  • MetapowerScan: quarterly strategic map & briefing. (20,000 per year).
  • Operator: PowerScan monthly 1-on-1, masterclasses, lectures & events (70,000 per year for max.5 persons).
  • Orchestrator: live dashboard, weekly support, weekly 1-1 challenge, on-site red-team drills, custom interventions (95,000 per year for 5 persons).
Events, Masterclasses & Salons
We engage in discussions, conduct scenario lab lectures, conduct interviews, provide geopolitical overviews, deliver philosophical lectures, and delve deeply into each MetaPower model layer and AI workflows.
MetaPower Press
  • Bon Voyage Motherf**ker august 2025.
  • Psychoanalysis on Sneakers (Own Your Basement); May 2025. This book serves as the foundational root level of the MetaPower method.
  • Essay
Licenses
  • Becoming a metapower expert
  • Exclusie curriculum, materials, background
  • Sponsorships & merch
Cases & Impact
Pharmaceutical & Innovation Case
Challenge:
A global pharmaceutical corporation was unable to break through in the international cardiology market. Underperformance was traced not to external competition, but to internal sabotage, distorted power narratives, and symbolic misalignments undermining executive coherence.
MetaPower Intervention:
MetaPower deployed a continuous Power Scan, exposing the internal power codex and mapping sabotage networks previously denied by management. Targeted interventions included psychoanalytic basement analysis to detect executive blind spots and collective denial, radical narrative recalibration, symbolic realignment, and “red-team” loyalty stress tests—revealing which managers acted as invisible brakes.
Ethical Guardrails:
Compliance Shield-3 protocol enforced: strict psychological safety, confidentiality, and legal/ethical adherence (SDG16, ESG, GDPR).
Outcome:
  • Internal alignment shifted from feigned consensus to real power literacy
  • Executive focus on external growth—no longer hostage to internal sabotage
  • Market response and sales metrics moved sharply upward (specific numbers optional, kan anekdotisch: “double-digit gains”)
Energy conglomerate Case
Challenge:
A leading energy conglomerate was paralyzed by internal resistance and compliance fatigue during a critical global tech transition—while competitors ate their lunch.
MetaPower Intervention:
Unleashed a full-spectrum MetaPower Scan, decoding both the internal power codex and external force fields. Intervention focused on narrative disarmament, psychoanalytic deep-dives into resistance pockets, and “red-team” stress testing. Management discovered their compliance “culture” was mainly performance: realignments cut through the theatre, not the paperwork.
Ethical Guardrails:
EU AI Act, ESG, GDPR, pre-audited. No reputational blowback, no human collateral.
Outcome:
  • Resistance dropped; strategy uptake increased
  • Real compliance (not just checkbox theatre)
  • Increased market adaptability, faster response to disruption
LNG & Gas
Diverse global change trajectories & intelligence programs
Challenge:
Strategic ambiguity and global volatility created chronic indecision, paralyzing competitive response and operational clarity.
MetaPower Intervention:
MetaPower executed strategic intelligence mapping, force-field analysis, and “narrative exposure therapy” at board level. Clients moved from reactive firefighting to anticipatory power literacy.
Outcome:
  • Board-level clarity in volatile contexts
  • Internal intelligence capacity upgraded
  • Strategic “fog” replaced by actionable foresight
A Leading European Retail Corporation
Challenge:
Despite years of “strategic alignment” sessions and leadership offsites, a top-tier European retailer faced chronic drift: decisions evaporated in endless consensus, while internal cliques wielded silent veto power over bold moves. Competitive agility was a façade—real power sat with informal networks, not on the org chart.
MetaPower Intervention:
Deployed a forensic PowerScan to chart the actual power codex, exposing the “shadow directors” who dictated pace and direction from behind the scenes. Conducted basement interventions to surface deep-seated groupthink and narrative stagnation. Narrative recalibration targeted the “alignment myth”—replacing it with real executive confrontation and strategic friction where it mattered.
Outcome:
  • Informal vetoes neutralized; real decisions executed, not just promised
  • Executive team forced into productive conflict—ending groupthink, igniting innovation
  • Retailer shifted from chronic drift to agile, decisive market moves
Ethical Guardrails:
Full transparency and psychological safety protocols enforced—no “hit jobs,” only structural liberation.
Selected highlights (2020-2025)
  • Strategic Advisory & Intelligence: Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Storage, Retail
  • MetaPower Scans: 45 completed, revealing hidden power dynamics
  • Executive-level Advisory (Orchestrator Tier): 15 engagements at board & senior executive level
Calendar 2025: MetaPower Events
28 August
Lecture on Hegel & 'Who thinks abstractly'
Prof. Cees Leijenhorst explores Hegel's article; this is relevant for strategists and other thinkers on how to deal with complexity.
12 september 2025
AI - Power Dynamics Roundtable
We are offering an exclusive demonstration of our proprietary AI tools for power analysis, which include OSINT integration and scenario engines. We will showcase case studies from our work with clients in the pharmaceutical and energy sectors.
23 October 2025
Salon on MetaPower and Peter Thiel
Private evening discussion on technology monopolies and power concentration, followed by Chique Noir demonstration of power signaling through luxury fashion.
23 November 2025
Interview with expert
Ron Jacobs conducts a livestreamed interview with a renowned expert on power.
20 December 2025
Metapower Dashboard
Demonstrating our ever evolving interactive platform for force fields, geopolitics, etc.
11 December 2025
3 lectures on book 'psychoanalysis on sneakers'
presenting the framework for achieving power over inner self & actor-networks
March 2026
Boxing for Metapower
Masterclass with Boxing Parallels and Chessboard. Referring to the Guinness record, November 2025.
Institute (foundation)
Founder & Board Member
Ron Jacobs (director)
Ron Jacobs grew up in a marginalized environment. His Roma heritage gave him a sharp sense for hidden power dynamics. He co-founded the MetaPower Institute with Cees by combining his intuition with academic studies in philosophy, linguistics, and psychoanalysis, along with extensive experience in global business leadership.
Founder & Board Member
Cees Leijenhorst (co-director)
Professor Cees Leijenhorst is a distinguished philosopher and historian specializing in power and political thought, notably Hobbes and other seminal power theorists. His rigorous academic methodology, strategic intuition, and deep historical perspective strengthen and contextualize our advisory services in metapower strategy.
Our Team
We are a collective of associated multidisciplinary experts in power dynamics, strategists, philosophers, former CEOs, and political scientists.
Academic Interns
From Political Science and Philosophy backgrounds
Backoffice
Account manager & secretary
Contact
Contact or Request for Intake: Email: info@metapowerinstitute.com or call +31 6-18945821
Locations
Maastricht Centre HQ (TBA)
Radboud University