Pema Chödrön speaks beautifully about courageous leadership in her book, “The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times.” Courageous leaders understand that creating positive change starts with a willingness to discover and reflect upon limiting thoughts and beliefs. Courageous leaders are warriors on behalf of their organization’s growth and development. They maintain a practice of self-reflection that allows for any outmoded beliefs to fall away, making room for what is needed now.
“The essence of bravery is being without self-deception,” writes Chödrön. “However, it’s not so easy to take a straight look at what we do. Seeing ourselves clearly is initially uncomfortable and embarrassing. As we train in clarity and steadfastness, we think we’d prefer to deny judgmentalness, pettiness, arrogance. These are not sins but temporary and workable habits of mind. The more we get to know them, the more they lose their power. This is how we come to trust that our basic nature is utterly simple, free of struggle between good and bad.”
“A warrior begins to take responsibility for the direction of her life. It’s as if we are lugging around unnecessary baggage. Our training encourages us to open the bags and look closely at what we are carrying. In doing this we begin to understand that much of it isn’t needed anymore.”
Be a courageous leader. Make time for self-reflection. Decide what’s not needed anymore and let it go. Take a quiet walk in the woods or do some reflective writing. Close your office door for a couple of hours on a regular basis to just simply be quiet. As you may know, the world of work is very noisy with many distractions. A courageous leader finds ways to enter silence in order to listen to their instincts and deepest sensibilities. Consider, too, that you don’t have to do this alone. Find a trusted friend, a mentor, or a trained coach, that will listen to you think out loud. Your organization will be better for it, and so will you.
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