Anti-Leadership Leadership

(Yup: giving away the lede.)

Mushrooms & the Matrix

Last week my friend Teege Mettille said something to me that spun me on my head.?

We were sitting in our favorite coffee shop (I was drinking a chaggacino - have you tried mushrooms in your coffee? I highly recommend. But I digress.)

We were sitting in our favorite coffee shop debriefing after IMPACT2024 and I was on my soapbox about how much I hate a lot of what passes for leadership theories. I was ranting in particular about servant leadership because seriously – do women need to be told to freakin’ serve? No. No we do not. – and he said, all matter-of-fact-y, “Yeah, that’s sort of your thing. Anti-leadership. That’s totally you.”?

Suddenly I was Neo watching the matrix fall apart around me.?

When people ask me what I do I always feel sort of squirmy when I answer “I’m a leadership coach.” People have been trying to persuade me that the ick I feel is just imposter syndrome. But I don’t feel even remotely incompetent in this regard. Even more -- I know I'm good at helping people lead better. Still I’ve wondered – if it’s not imposter syndrome, what is it?

And Teege pointed it out, clear as day: it’s simply inaccuracy.?

When I coach women, I don’t care whether they become experts in any particular kind of leadership. I don’t even care whether they use the word "leader" to describe themselves. And I really don’t care whether they can distinguish one kind of leadership theory from another.?

What I care about – because this is what my clients themselves care about – is that they find congruence between their internal states and their external behaviors. That they find their way in the world by aligning their values, words, and actions. And that they model that in ways that allows others to find the same alignment.?

I think this is why I believe leadership is like teaching. Why leadership is like parenting.?Even why leadership is like dog training (and I've podcasted about that one!)

All these things, at their heart, are about understanding motivation and purpose, and using them to do good, and be good,?in the world.?

The Purpose Accelerator

Teege inspired me to rethink one of my favorite programs – The Leadership Academy ?– which I've now updated and revised as The Purpose Accelerator. The program is for women who teach and lead in any capacity; it focuses on skills, strategies, and frameworks for developing self-awareness and self-regulation, communicating with clarity and empathy, and organizing your work (and the work of your team, if you have one) with purpose. It's a month-long program and includes workshops, digital materials, co-working sessions, and two 1:1 coaching calls with me. At the end of the month participants will have created a living document that charts their plans for applying what they've learned to their individual/institutional context.

If you're a woman who teaches (which let's be real: is a form of leadership in a large group setting) or leads in any capacity ... and if you're interested in feeling peaceful, principled, and purposeful at work ... this program may be exactly what you're looking for.