In another time, in another period of chaos and conflict, (when the USA was not yet a country, but a colony on the brink of war) Betsy Ross wrote to Thomas Jefferson telling him that times of great challenge demand great leadership. Today, the call for great leadership is one that speaks to us all, individually and collectively.
Because to lead is not to follow the incessant din of negativity and chaos that surrounds us as one people sharing one planet; during an epoch of unremitting change, challenge and conflict that has moved to a global arena is REAL.
To lead is not to follow a popular culture that is consumed by the whole concept of instant success. An allure, if you will, that speaks to the utterly human desire not to really fix things in our personal relationships, not to really let go of the self sabotaging behaviors that limit our best work, build our best character, thoughts and ideas. Why? Simply because it is easier to just create instant success…is there really such a thing as instant success…and if there is, I have never read a story that speaks to this type of magic.
To lead is not to follow the popular culture that has become consumed with fear factor, instant peril, with the worst side, the dark side of human nature that can lead us to the abyss and destruction of all that we cherish.
Somewhere in the middle of the allure of instant success, of quick fix solutions that are cookie cutter answers that will magically fit every life…
Somewhere amid the sense of terrible impending doom, gloom of being powerless to effect a positive change in our life, in our workplace and our world…
We each have the ability to make a positive difference in what ever way we are able. And, this positive difference is important.
Our individual and collective ability to tap into the leader within is not something we can see, nor is it something that we can simply learn. It is something that we must feel.
Feeling leadership starts with a commitment to do our work to move forward and lead our life; rather than following our wants rather than focusing on what we really need.
Because, without this commitment to do our individual work, we can purchase all the self help guides we want, hire the best consultants and coaches, go on retreats, attend conferences and workshops to help us achieve our goals and objectives…
But, at the end of the day, we will not move closer to self actualization, powerful leadership, greater success, fulfillment and happiness. Because, unless we do our work, we cannot begin to unleash the leader within.
Leadership cannot simply be the goal of world leaders and captains of industry, it has to be something that we seek to achieve in our lives, in our relationships in our jobs on a daily basis because we want to do more than talk the talk, we want to walk the walk to higher ground.
As human beings sharing planet earth, the chaos, aggression, discord and the fear we feel cannot be changed until we make a commitment to not simply LIVE our life but to LEAD it.
As the great Gandhi so aptly said at a time when he roused an entire nation to greater values and leadership…It is time to “become the change we seek.”
Or, alternatively, wait for the changes that we face individually and collectively to erode more of the passion, purpose, potential and values that are the foundation of all that we cherish.
As Betsy Ross said to Thomas Jefferson, times of great challenge call for great leadership.
Today, we all face individual challenges in our lives, in our careers and in our world that call for our leadership.
Some of us will chose to follow our worst self,others will chose a place of stasis a rut in the road, where they remain unfulfilled because they do not want to lead but choose to follow the easier path and engage the thoughts, emotions and actions that have led them to a place of discontent.
Others will stretch totally out of the comfort zone and realize that the power to change one’s life, the power to achieve self actualization means retrieving that spark of human goodness that is not simply what fairy tales are made of it the treasure that lies within each one of us.
Because living and leading from goodness to greatness is really difficult work for us all, but it is the foundation of good character, integrity, fellowship, humanity, universal values…the soil that once tilled unleashes the leader within.
For some of us, tilling the soil of leadership will mean going small. Focusing on what we really want to accomplish, and letting go of the expectations of others, when these expectations do not represent our needs and cannot help us to unleash our true potential.
For others, tilling the soil of leadership will mean doing house cleaning and getting rid of goals, objectives and toxic relationships that no longer serve what we truly want and speak to what others determined we needed to have long ago.
For yet others, tilling the soil of leadership will mean letting go of the incessant din of negativity that surrounds us, moving past the drive to do more, and acquire more so that we can feel validated by others.
It will mean realizing our power to BE more, feel more, give more, share more and achieve more by unleashing the leader within and building the human relationships that forms the glue of true success and fulfillment.
FOR ALL OF US, TILLING THE SOIL OF LEADERSHIP, means using our strengths, our courage and our faith to learn, to grow by accepting our flaws, our failures as life lessons, nurturing our strengths and our values; so that we can realize our power and potential to ignite the leader within and to inspire others to do the same. It means seeing and thinking differently, seeing and thinking farther and more by building the 3Q Edge that can help us unleash the leader within.