Leaders who walk through fire

There is no way we can give our kindness* to another without knowing it ourselves first.

*or whatever you'd like to offer

I could really wrap this newsletter up here and now because that's all there is.

That said, it's been a bit of a journey to arrive at my current understanding, as it might be for you, so I'm going to invite us to explore this in a bit more detail...

What is effective leadership?

I see leadership is being of service. To be able to lead with high levels of self awareness, presence and emotional intelligence, and inviting the best in others.

What the recipients of this caliber of leadership experience is the quality of the leader's awareness; the direction and focus they command; the safety their presence brings; and the ability to tune into others. This leadership is naturally effective.

These leaders know it is from their very core, from the quality of their being, they set in motion people and a series of events that create outstanding outcomes.

Wherever you go, there you are

The challenge is that wherever we go, there we are. We take our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with us everywhere - our being hardly makes a distinction between "private" and "professional".

This is where the quality of the leader makes a big impact.

See...

If a leader is not comfortable with themselves (meaning their inner landscape, eg beliefs, stories, emotional blueprints, reactionary patterns...) - they cannot be comfortable with the other if and when things outside leader's comfort zone arise.

If you haven't been with your own sadness / triggers / patterns (basically, the whole of you), then you cannot hold the space for the other when a similar experience is present.

If we're not present to what arises in us, these moments will make us fight / flight / freeze (depending on our conditioning). We go habituated. Automatic. No choice.

And, this can happen on such a nuanced level, in a split second, that it can get ignored. It simply just happens - and we might not even notice it. Not even afterwards.

But it doesn't mean it wasn't felt. It doesn't mean it wasn't there.

If you haven't experienced it, you can't be with it

The leaders' willingness, desire and ability to tune in with themselves and to know their inner landscapes and its workings, is what the work is all about.

As leaders, we cannot assume everyone can, or will, do their own inner work. Nor are we going to be therapists for others either.

But - what we can do is to offer our positive regard and presence to the other who is experiencing life. That simple (and not so simple) way of being allows things to move...

...because when we don't resist what is, it gets to move.

And this allows people to move on and do their work. Really, sometimes the only thing is asked from us is to be present to what is. People want to be seen and heard. They don't need to be fixed. They don't need advice. They might just need that one moment.

And then they can get to work.

This maturity, this cultivation of inner landscape of leaders, is a totally undervalued area of leadership. Considering the impact (not even mentioning the level of fulfilment!), this work is meaningful. When the leader reaches for their depth, things change. Leadership changes. People who experience this leadership, change.

This is the work I do together with my clients - from the level of mental gymnastics to the practical application. We like to look deeper and cultivate our own inner landscapes because we know that from a fertile soil, all things beautiful grow - and it gets to benefit everyone.

Thanks for reading,

x Anna