Leadership is Personal
I had a stimulating conversation with an amazing person the other day. She is the president of a company striving to build a better world, and many of her observations and questions revolved the topics of social impact, making a difference, and the power of Leadership.
We really connected around a descriptor she used for her company: we don’t fit into the boxes. What her company does is outside the “norm” and I related to that, as my brand has puzzled many people for years (Happiness? What does that have to do with work?). We talked about the need to find and serve the people for whom we CAN make a difference, people with passion and purpose and a desire to make the world a better place.
She is also coach, insofar as great leaders use coaching as a key skill to engage and develop others and facilitate decisions. Her questions challenged me to be clearer about myself and what I offer.
One of those questions was, “What is the key learning that your executive clients take from working with you?” My response was, “Who you ARE is who shows up.” As I said that aloud, I could feel how true it is for me.
Leadership is Personal, and the clients who most benefit from working with me are those who bring their whole self to coaching, who understand that unless they change, nothing changes.
Who You Are Is Who Shows Up
The conversation forced me into reflection — exquisitely well-timed as I am writing my 2017 business plan and preparing to fully reengage with my business after cutting back to part-time to manage the build of our new multi-generational home. We’re now moved in and it’s time to… well, that’s the question. What is next for me?
I am at a place of many decisions. My wife and I are redefining everything in our life, adjusting to new roles, new responsibilities and routines, even new shopping and commute patterns. Years ago, after the death of one of our children, we adopted a philosophy of “new normal.” New Normal means accepting that things will never be back to normal, and giving yourself permission to re-create normal in this new world. Even though the disruptions in our life emerged from choice versus tragedy this time, the impact is still the same — we are in a space where we get to—and indeed, must—consciously decide what’s next.
Over the next few weeks I will be reflecting on this and other powerful questions, and right now I don’t know what is going to emerge. My friend and colleague, Michelle James (www.CreativeEmergence.com), is a pioneer in the field of emergence, and she often uses a birthing metaphor to describe the creative process, in that “birth involves pain and screaming and blood” before the baby (or idea) is born, and that’s exactly where I am today.
The questions I’ll be working with:
- Who do I WANT to be in the future?
- What needs to change for that shift to occur?
- What am I being called to do?
- What IMPACT do I want to have in the world?
- How do I want to put myself “out there” in the world?
- What is next for me? What do I want as my New Normal?
- Where do I want to be a year from now that is different from today?
- What will it mean to stay True to who I am?
What’s Next for The Executive Happiness Coach®?
I don’t know what’s going to emerge. I don’t know what will need to change. I don’t even know if this newsletter will remain, or remain the same.
Stay tuned.
2017 Planning – What’s Next for YOU?
Want to do a little work on yourself or your relationships? Assess your happiness? Review or renew your Core Values? Audit your life as part of your planning for next year?
Click one of these two links to access my Annual Planning Kit for Individuals or Couples. Cheryl and I take a day in January each year, just before she “disappears” for the tax season (she’s a CPA) to work thru this process. It helps us recalibrate, clear out any Tolerations that have accumulated, and create joint goals for the year. Have fun getting to know YOU again!
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Remember, Leadership is not about a title; anyone can be a leader who gets clear about where they are going before they invite others to follow.