Reimagining Leadership: Less of the World’s BS. More of You.
The world tells us from a young age to put leaders on a pedestal and that being in a leadership role is the thing to aspire to. It becomes the definition of success.
My brilliant thoughts on this: IT. IS. DUMB.
For a few reasons:
We all know alleged leaders that make life hell for everyone around them. Why would that be something to aspire to?
Because we’re taught that leadership is the thing to aspire to, we can end up down a path that perhaps we would not have chosen if we were tapped into what we truly wanted.
The idea of leadership gets boxed into traditional ideals and standards that leave out more than half the population.
Instead, what if:
We looked at leadership as something that generates more possibility in the world for you and everyone around you?
What if we took leadership off of a pedestal and instead tapped into the humanity that makes great leaders?
What if we took the angst out of leadership to do it a certain way and allowed more leaders to bring themselves to it and ultimately delight in leading and living?
If you breathed a sigh of relief and found yourself whispering (or shouting) “YES” to yourself, then you are likely a committed leader.
Committed leaders are the leaders that understand their leadership has an impact on others and they don’t take that responsibility lightly.
Committed leaders see something bigger than themselves.
Committed leaders deeply care about the people around them.
Committed leaders don’t expect to master leadership but that their growth, learning, and creating will be lifelong.
This commitment is what has allowed so much of their success. It is what has contributed to them being in the leadership role they are in.
It is also the thing that makes them want to run away from all humans and all responsibilities sometimes. (How often do you fantasize about hiding out in a mountain or beach retreat?)
It is the thing that makes leadership exhausting and stressful.
It is the thing that makes their self-doubt louder, eroding their self-trust.
It is what creates this tension between being a great leader and having a great life.
And in this moment, while you are reading this, I REALLY want you to know that if you are struggling with self-doubt, or not being the leader you want, or if you are exhausted and not enjoying much, or you don’t know what you want next …
YOU. ARE. NOT. ALONE.
Every committed leader I have ever worked with bumps up against self-doubt, pressures, and burn out.
THERE. IS. NOTHING. WRONG. YOU.
You’re walking this world being a leader based on old ways of leadership. What I have found is that each phase of leadership comes with its own existential crisis and opportunities to do things differently.
Through all of the work I have done with leaders the past 20 years, I have summarized the phases into three stages, I call, The Committed Leader Cycle.
Phase 1: New to a Leadership Role
Phase 2: Upleveling Your Leadership
Phase 3: What’s Next in Leadership and Life?
Distinguishing where you are at in this cycle, will allow you to see that it’s not weird that you are feeling the way you are, that you’re amongst good company of great leaders who also experience this, and that there is a path forward for you that allows you to have a more free and fulfilling experience of leadership and your life.
In each phase of leadership there are mindsets, critiquing of the systems you are in, behaviors, practices, skills, internal shifts, and more that will allow you to cultivate a way of leadership specific to YOU.
More to come on each of these phases in the coming days and weeks.
For now, I’ll leave you with these questions to ponder:
What if we looked at leadership as something that generates more possibility in the world for you and everyone around you?
What if we took leadership off of a pedestal and instead tapped into the humanity that makes great leaders?
What if we took the angst out of leadership to do it a certain way and allowed more leaders to bring themselves to it and ultimately delight in leading and living?
