As you may know, I am leading a new retreat this month called Quest for Your Authentic Leader.
Here is a quote that helped inspire me to design, organize, market, and have endless conversations with all kinds of people - in other words, to spend the last year visioning something new:
t “No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders. So the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, to use yourself completely – all your skills, gifts, and energies – in order to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing. You must, in summary, become the person you started out to be, and to enjoy the process of becoming.”
Warren Bennis, American scholar, organizational consultant, professor, author and pioneer of the contemporary field of leadership studies.
Let's look at Leadership. If you go to Amazon.com you will find a million beautifully written books and stories of how Leaders have developed. And yet, even if you read every one, you will not become your True Leader unless you find your own story. You must seek the gifts that are yours to bring - the ones that translate your values and purpose into meaning.
For some this is a big dance, on a big stage. For others the ripples stay in a smaller pond, yet still touch the lives of many with power and magic. We are interconnected in a million ways. Our unity, that we forget a thousand times a day, is always present and so whatever we choose will impact everything else. Having the mindful awareness to notice these choices and how they align with our being is a constant adventure of learning and growth.
In our world today, we all lead and we all follow. Each has its appropriate moments. You will find your leadership in your passion – where the heart is called. To know your heart, you must become vulnerable – give up the old story of being Super Woman. Embrace your humanity that holds both strength and fragility. Your light and your shadow combine to lead you to your wholeness.
For me, this past year of holding the vision of this retreat has been a journey of acknowledging light and dark within myself. There were many times that I felt alone and small and the only one committed to this path. In those dark moments I had to dig deep to hold onto the vision – it seemed like a very small, unimportant thing in the big scheme of life: continued death and destruction in the Middle East, rising gas costs, presidential politics, earthquakes and floods – there were plenty of other things to capture my attention. But I knew in my heart that this was the place I could make a difference. If I supported other women to stand up and lead authentically, it would support the world I was interested in living in. One where men and women share leadership roles equally.
Sometimes it’s actually harder to see your own light when you’ve caught the ‘passion train’ and are piling in the fuel to keep it going. I thank the family and friends who stood by my vision, whose continuing words of support gave me the strength I needed to follow through.
And now as I get ready to actually lead this event (you mean there’s still more to do?! J), I feel ready to step out and take the leap! I believe that from having persistently done the work of Becoming, I can lead courageously, supported by Spirit as always, weaving the web of community and possibility on Retreat. For me this is the gift of Harvest.
If you want support with your Authentic Leadership, contact me for a complimentary session to see if True Life Coaching is the call you’re hearing. I have a special offer in the July newsletter for Coaching that we can discuss. I look forward to talking to you soon.
Coach Victoria
(970)259-9040
Victoria@truelifecoach.net
