Leading from the heart
Leading is not the prerogative of bosses and people at the higher end of hierarchies. Leadership is not a matter of rank, status, ego, or power. It is not one's IQ that determines the strength and impact of their leadership.
Like in a flock of birds, where birds take it in turns to lead, everybody is a leader in human group-life.
Leadership starts with you, your whole you. It begins with the journey of discovering who you are. Discovering who you "really" are. And the answer to that question is not to be found through reasoning alone but feeling. Get out of your head, Feel! Learn to listen to your heart, your gut, your body, cause bodies never lie. The intelligence of your whole you is exponential to what your brainpower brings to the table.
Leading people is about being your authentic self. Only when individuals let their armor down, show up, and engage; the nuclear power of group-life can and will emerge. And those who go first, having the courage to be vulnerable and imperfect, lead. They lead from the heart. They are leaders by being.
The outcome is not guaranteed; that's why it takes courage. You jump into the wide-open, not knowing whether the landing will be soft and glorious or rough or lethal even. But you know, no landing without jumping. And you have to trust that you going first will invite others to follow, putting down their armor, and go all in.
It's that courage of trusting before there's proof of trustworthiness, that lays the foundation for psychological safety within a group and is the humble invitation for others to be courageous. It's "being true to your whole self" that will generate that courage.
Join the growing group of humble, vulnerable, courageous leaders from the heart. Get out of your head, and Jump!
Procurement Enthusiast and Bridgebuilder. Initiative - Guts - Common Sense - Silo breaker - Can do - Kaizen Ninja
4 年Authentic/Emphatic leadership helps to get the best out of people....and you know what ? It is much less exhausting than tryingbtonbe a bossy boss. Thanks for sharing Lieven Baeyens
Management Consultant & Co-founder
4 年Mooie boodschap Lieven. Onlangs nog gelezen en m.i. passend: er is nood aan "verbinders" ...
Group HR Director Renson
4 年Sterk verwoord, Lieven.
?? Founder & frontman @ Springbok Health & well-being at work | ??? Whealthy Workplaces |??? Keynote speaker and corporate wellbeing influencer | ?? Creator of the Whealthy workplaces global community
4 年"being true to your whole self" - great writing ??? Lieven. Inspiring! Makes me smile ?? reminds me as well of a super YouTube movie of ‘the shirtless dancing guy’ where leaderships lessons are shared starting from the true self #mustsee
This is great. And so true. Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow but everywhere you go, there you are!