Welcome to the very first of my Wednesday Whispers! I am really excited about this. Not even a year ago I would have done everything, not to do this. And yet… life progresses and things shift. And the reason is the topic of this Newsletter: Leadership Happens.
Leadership Happens
Leadership happens when someone turns on the light. In all honesty, I never really understood what it meant to be a leader. I founded 2 companies, ran a global marketing research unit, was president in a number of associations and still I had no idea what leadership actually was. What is different now?
When I started coaching, I turned to one of the top schools to get my training from: CTI, The Coaches Training Institute. Quickly, I fell in love with their experiential and transformation-driven approach to learning. At some point, all I wanted was to be a Front-of-the-Room leader in their Coach trainings. After my core curriculum I assisted in a number of the trainings and had a chance to dig deeper in what it means to be leading a coach training circle. At one point, one of the leaders, Alex Verlek of CoachingWorks and a faculty member of CTI, said something along the lines of: “leadership is something for you”. And though I didn’t quite “get it”, somehow I felt like “yes, this is something”.
Cutting a long story short: a couple of months later I was on a plane to California working my way up to the Westerbeke Ranch to start the first of 4 retreats. The first night, that very first evening exercise, the lights went on. Leadership happens.
And guess what: there is no way back. Once the light comes on and you “see” (and hear, feel, sense…), you can’t un-see anymore.
Wednesday Whispers for September 2018
Two main articles I want to point you to:
The first is on “Why Words Matter“. Leadership is a lot about communication. Knowing the choose your words wisely is a key skill. As the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius said: “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it’s all within yourself, in your way of thinking”. The thinking determines everything that follows. And the one thing we have control over as humans is our internal narrative. When choosing our words mindfully to form our internal narrative, life shifts around us. Don’t believe me? Play with it. Find one point of friction you have noticed and change the narrative. See what happens.
No inspiration? Try this one. Oftentimes people say “I have no time to do this, or that”. It’s a common excuse, we all use. I am definitely one who does that. Next time you want to say this, try to modify it with “it is not a priority to do this” See what happens. What shifts? Leadership happens.
The second article I would love to point you to is the book review on Becky Halstead’s 24/7. The essence of her Leading From Within thinking is captured in the word Steadfast. All leading starts from within yourself. There is no way around. And that is when leadership happens: when you realise that there is a leader within you.
Enjoyed the read? Have you registered yet?
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See you next month!