Our challenge as leaders to become great depends much on our ability to reflect and adjust. Many times, what has helped us to achieve success is not what will keep us there. I’ve often observed people in positions of authority refuse to fully embody their roles in lieu of doing other work that they find less draining, but also less fulfilling. More and more people want to avoid what is a truth for them.
Perhaps they are in the wrong position? Perhaps they need a life transition instead of a promotion they have been chasing? Perhaps these shifts are not something that causes great loss but brings greater fulfillment.
It has become more and more common for people to move blindly through life in the hopes that everything will “work out.” They don’t take the time to reflect, adjust or make different choices. They ignore that feeling deep down in their gut that something is not right.
It begins when we are young; it happens with such subtlety that we hardly understand it’s not real. What do you think I am referring to? Is it our weight? Our age? No, no, it’s simpler than even that. It’s our truth.
Being honest with ourselves has become so foreign. How do I know? I hear week after week. I hear story after story of clients who are at the top of their game and yet completely out of touch. Professionalism has become how well you can cover up the truth rather than speak out about what will help save an organization, a team, a family. We cover up our intuitive thoughts and knowing because if it’s said directly and openly, it is considered mean or unprofessional.
The truth is ours to speak. The more honest we are with speaking what we know, the more we become the leaders of our own life.
The best leaders worry less about being in the right role and more about their truth.
Tips to be more in your knowing:
- Stop gossiping. Give yourself a 24-hour challenge to refrain from talking about anyone else. You may speak to your experiences with others but not about them
- Write in a journal or take notes on your calendar of how many times you said something that wasn’t true. Tracking helps us to become aware. As we become more aware of our current behaviors, we allow more space to make different choices.
- Notice where you might blame others for your situation. Blaming is the quickest way to know you are not taking full responsibility.
- Celebrate your being in your truth. Celebrations, having fun, laughing are energy that propel us forward into our strength. Celebrate when you are speaking up and out in your truth.