Category: leadership

Leading the way towards a different Christmas

I am not looking forward to Christmas this year. This will be a Christmas without my son, who is stranded in another country, without a sense of gathering, without the madness of shopping in this busy time and preparing for some big celebration… Indeed… I can recall that this is the time of year where it is often easy to get caught up in family obligations, in the demands of hosting, or to feel lonely because everyone else is reunited and I have no family around.

We may have a very different Christmas, but it may not be that bad! We won’t have to lose track of our own needs as we devote our attention to the people, pets, and places we love. We may be able to take care of ourselves, to seek the light within. We may stand a chance to avoid feeling drained and out of touch with our energy level. We may just be lucky enough to find our way back to resourcing ourselves by ourselves, without the help of external drivers and the outside glamour to feel enriched and fulfilled.

This holiday season may just be what you need! You have a chance to integrate self-care to your schedule, to spend a full hour to let your mind wander, be it on your own or not. Even with close family around and the need to attend to the daily routine, give yourself the hour to go inside and let yourself dream of one thing or another, and restore your energy level thinking of what and whom you love.  This year has been about learning to take care of yourself, and it is time as the year comes to a close to celebrate yourself for it!

Leadership from the neck up

I do not know about you, but the culture I grew up in put the head over the heart. It was more important to use your brain to address issues and people, rather than give in to emotions.  The hierarchy between head and heart went even further in pointing to the fact that women tended to often react too emotionally, when it was perceived as more appropriate to meet new ideas from a level-headed perspective. Many around me seemed to disconnect from their emotions as a result, and to listen and respond, to give and take, from the neck up.

We are today suffering as a society from a mind-driven approach to most issues coming our way, from climate change to bedtime stories, devising strategies, making plans and taking steps to get anywhere according to a well-structured mind, which means ordering things through categories and boxing people in order to process information. This is essentially how we have survived as a species on earth. The mind is clearly a huge asset. However, we may have come to a point in our evolution where we need to rebalance and give our heart a greater say.

Have you noticed how barriers, divisions, and boxes crumble, melt, and disappear when you listen to your heart? The brain gridlock softens, and some new pathways open up. In our super connected world, new interconnectedness starts appearing. Try feeling your way around things, problems, and people. You may sense space between you and what you are confronting. This is the space you need to create something new. This is the path to a more compassionate world, which will tap more into the heart and balance out your brainpower.

Experiencing uncertainty

As I reflect upon the past six months, it feels like a period muddled and unfocused. I am actually unable to distinguish what I did. I can, however, reconnect with the feelings of it all. As I look to the next six months, I am already prepared for a period of fog, where moving through space and time without seeing much warrants slowing down, knowing that where I am going or where I have come from is unclear. I shall keep my eyes open for what emerges from the haze, and mostly feel my way forward.

We may be tempted to pull over and wait for the murkiness to clear. We may also look for the taillights of someone in front of us to follow and make our way along the road. Indeed, most of us prefer to see where we are going and keep steadfast in one direction. Yet there are gifts that come with the fog. Sometimes it takes something like fog to slow us down and think. Involuntary inactivity forces us to see beyond what we may look for, and it may even help us see that the fogginess is coming from within. In reality, we cannot see outside ourselves; the source of insight and light usually lies within.

You can continue to move forward cautiously in the months to come, but you cannot predict when the fog will lift. You can wait for guidance and hope for reliable taillights to follow. But you can also learn to listen for signs, harness your intuition and insights, and distinguish the noise around you from your own voice and clarity within. You will find clarity as you look for your next step, but certainty is becoming increasingly illusive. Let it not stop you. Being clear is all you need. Certainty never lived long anyway.

Leadership and stillness

In the past few months, given the pandemic and teleworking, I have had the luxury of trying to spend a moment by myself in the quiet space of my home every day.  Doing nothing, sitting in stillness… I have been amazed at how challenging this has proven to be. There is always something to do at home, be it the laundry, the dishes, whatever else. The distraction is constant. For some it is children and other people in the house, for others it is chores and screens.  

Our lives consist of everything we engage in, from showering in the morning to sleeping at night and everything in between. It is a race: do, do, do… Basically, we make sure that we are so distracted that we keep away from looking at our lives. Why do we do this? Because of that little voice that may question how we run our lives, the choices we make. Sometimes that little voice reminds us of that dream we once had. It is uncomfortable. In our busy lives, we have become out of practice when it comes to connecting with ourselves. 

You may have noticed how unnerving it is to have a moment to yourself. As a result, you stopped trying to carve out that time to take a seat at the center of your life. You prefer to watch a movie, read a book, reach out to a friend, or have a relaxing time with your partner and consider it your time. Reconnect with that little voice and feel how you have been avoiding it. It knows much more about your way forward in a world where everything is crumbling. Little makes sense and disinformation is everywhere. Leadership is not out there; it comes from within.