Always Leading, Always Following
We are all leaders and we are all followers at every given moment in time. Always someone ahead of us, always someone behind us, and always someone beside us. To become aware of, responsible for, and accountable to that truth is one of the most powerful things we can do in this time of great turbulence and change.
Leading from the Inside
Leadership is not about what we say or how we look from the outside. Leadership is about who we are and how that shines from the inside. It is about how we walk on this earth, the path that we take, and the trace that we leave. It’s about the direction we are heading and how we meet everyone and everything along that path. There are leaders who walk in the direction of lack. Who meet all with a sense of self-centered fear, and bring light to that well-worn road for its many eager followers. There are leaders who walk in the direction of abundance. Who meet all with a sense of trust, and illuminate that route so that others may find their way. Right now, we are each treading a path, making it more accessible and clear for those around and behind us. Which path are you leading down?
Size Doesn’t Matter
Leadership is not about the size of your tribe or the extent of that reach. There are leaders of nations, and there are single moms who are leading an only child into their future. There are leaders of great movements that will last a lifetime, and there is one who is leading themselves from the darkness of depression out into the light of this day. There are champions of the environment, and there is a family growing food in their back yard. All of this leadership matters and has the capacity to ripple out further than we will ever know. Right now, are you a leader of one, of a few, or of many? Notice how you matter.
The Voice That Leads
Leadership is not about the amplitude of your voice. There are those that lead loudly and can inspire great change throughout. There are those whose humble, quiet presence can lead us within and evoke the strength to create a new paradigm. There are those who lead with their kindness, their resilience, their generosity, their gifts, their grace. There are those who lead with their aggression, their righteousness, their selfishness, their faults, their fear. All of these forms of leadership can express in both big and quiet ways. What is the volume and tone of your inner and outer voice?
A Caravan of Leadership
Leadership is not about where you stand, but how. Some lead from the front, forging a new way into uncharted territory. Some lead from within, intimately helping others along the way. Some lead by shepherding from behind, making sure the path is clean and clear and that no one has been left or gone astray. Where are you now within this caravan of leaders and followers?
Reflections for Conscious Leadership
We are leaders, even as we rest here in this space of transition. But leaders of what and to where? It’s vitally important that we each own our impact and ask our wise and truthful hearts: What path am I following? Which direction does that go? Who am I becoming, right here inside of myself? How do I move in a heart-centered way at this one moment in time?
May the questions and answers guide and align us well, so that with great compassion we lead in the way of love. But when we get off track, which we will, and find ourselves wandering in the desert of forgetting, may we have patience with ourselves. For all humans will visit this place. Here in this land, may we have the strength to take heart. To look within. Then, to look around at the others who are also lost, and cultivate the courage to guide ourselves and those that wish to come, back to love.