The Arena

Yesterday, my good friend J’Lein Liese, Ph.D. shared this post: 

“For years, but in particular the past 4 years, we have undergone a massive MRI exposing America’s tumors after decades of unchecked growth now overlaid with a virus that has served as a gateway for our hate to destroy us.  

In 2021, we have the opportunity to focus on a wholistic approach to get us on the path of wellness... 

Our creator designed our brains perfectly. 

We can’t feel love and hate at the same time.

We can’t feel gratitude and resentment at the same time.

We have a choice in what we think and feel. 

“Where attention goes, energy flows and life grows” 

We’ve got this America!”

#Leadership  #coaching #executivecoaching #mindfulness#leadershipandmanagement 

#leadershipdevelopmentcoaching

As I read her post, it struck me that she is providing us a template to change the way that we interact with each other that is based upon her education, training, and experience. J’Lein is a well-respected psychologist who has worked with governmental entities and private sector corporations around the globe to help them resolve conflict. She focuses on helping people have more effective conversations that ultimately lead to problem resolution.

Imagine interactions with others that were always positive. How would that make us feel? How would it make others feel? How would that impact our ability to solve problems? How would those positive interactions change our world?

So why can’t we seem to get there? Part of the reason may be because we have not been willing to leave the bleachers and fight the good fight in the Arena. In 1910 former President Theodore Roosevelt was travelling throughout Europe speaking to young people in an effort to encourage them to get involved in their communities. In April of that year President Roosevelt gave a speech at the Sorbonne in Paris France that included this excerpt that has become known as the “Man in The Arena”:

            "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

As President Roosevelt points out, we will not always succeed in our efforts to lead change in our personal lives and our organizations. But it is clear that change will not happen if leaders are not willing to enter the Arena and give their all to make that change happen. There are plenty of critics in the bleachers who will say the hatred in our country is so deeply rooted that nothing will change it.

Are you willing to accept their theory that positive change that will impact you and your loved ones cannot happen? I hope you agree to step in the Arena to challenge that theory. If you are willing to take action and step into the Arena, you are likely asking yourself, how to make the change work.

I think J’Lein laid out a solid first step. As she pointed out, your brain cannot focus on opposing emotions at the same time. So, why not focus on the positive? As leaders we need to learn to hold those positive feelings in our minds as we interact with our family members, our team members and our customers. As you approach others with kindness, respect, and a genuine desire to help, the folks that you are interacting with will recognize those feelings through your words and actions and the negative aspects of the conversation can be overcome.

You can learn more about how the brain works by reading on the subject and interacting with experts like J’Lein. You can influence those you lead by sharing these concepts in addition to leading by example. As you coach your team members when they struggle in their interactions with others help them see the value of focusing on the positive. There is no better teacher than real life interactions.  

I challenge you to get in the Arena and take the high road anytime you can. You will recognize it, because it is the road less travelled. I look forward to standing next to you in the Arena as we focus on the positive in an effort to change our world!