Finding Our Voice of Leadership
I was so grateful to celebrate President's Day this year. It was a day off from school for the children of dear friends, so I was able to rumble & tumble with the kids. Computers and cell phones only existed to ask Mr. Google fun facts and check the weather. These moments are always so restorative for me because I allow my inner child to lead, and the only focus for the day is “what are we going to play?”
When I went back to work on Tuesday, I felt refreshed and my creative juices started flowing again. I later discovered that President's Day was created not only to honor and remember the American Presidents for their exemplary leadership but also to provide a 3-day weekend in February for the public to reinvigorate itself. It was believed that at this point after the winter holidays that people needed another break to inspire greater productivity nation wide.
Celebrating Black History Month and President's Day, February is a month to remember and honor our ancestors and leaders. We get to look at history from the perspective of the path behind us and what path we want to forge ahead. As leaders, we have the luxury of hindsight to choose behavior we want to exemplify or discard as we’re looking at the journeys of our ancestors and leaders.
For many of us the search for our purpose and the legacy we leave behind is all important and very serious because we don't want to make any mistakes or do it wrong. For goodness sake, people are following us and paying attention to what we are doing and saying; we have got to get this right!
The trouble is, this way of thinking can often paralyze us and keep us silent because we don't want to be seen and judged doing it wrong as some have in the past. Also, we compare ourselves to those who have gone before us and often find ourselves lacking. I'm certainly no Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Abraham Lincoln.
The thing is...they weren't either. History and hindsight made them so. They were human beings just like us empowered by the vision of what could be and unwilling to tolerate what was. That vision burning in them propelled them to ask themselves the questions, "What would it look like if we didn't tolerate what was?” and "What if we 'pretended' life was like what we envisioned—or what if we created a new way?"
Our leaders were willing to activate the child within that has no boundaries in their imagination. They spoke out and "acted as if" the vision was manifest…and lo and behold, it was. These leaders believed and followed their vision, and men and women followed them because of the fire of that vision. Some died for that vision, and some thrived with that vision, but in every case we were led to see life in a new way.
As we seek to embody our own voice of leadership today, let's ask ourselves the questions:
"What am I no longer willing to tolerate in my life?"
"What vision for the world lights me up and propels me to go outside of myself to follow it?"
"Who am I here to help and lend my voice to?"
Then go. Be it. Follow it. Trust it.
Remember: the first person we need to lead is ourselves. The Divine Voice of Leadership within you will lead exactly where you need to go and partner you every step of the way. I celebrate YOUR voice today, Leader! Thank you for your courage and vision!!!
Quote of the Day:
Affirmations of the Day:
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader.”
“I live my life every day as though I am a creative visionary born to lead.”
