I fell into leadership somewhat haphazardly. For someone that plans everything, I know that is hard to believe. I didn’t set out to be an educator and influencer in leadership, but like most things in my life that somehow found their way in, after years of trying to redirect the ship to be exactly what I wanted my life and calling to look like, here I am surrendering to it, to who I am and what I am called to do...
to create brave leaders who changed the world
Why Brave Leadership?
I have spent the majority of my career developing leaders and helping organizations grow. I've run programs that have won awards from all over the world, I've traveled and spoken to groups on how to grow in leadership skills, and I've learned what truly differentiates a leader from someone who just manages. And believe me, there’s a big difference between the two. Not just in whether people like their boss or job, but in the leader’s influence and overall success.
Surrendering to my calling to pour into leaders so that they can change the world, has been the best decision in all of my career. In my own career journey, I ended up being thrown into the deep end of leadership and discovered that true leadership takes sacrifice, vulnerability, courage, and most of all transformation. If there is one important truth I would urge you to learn it is this: great leaders continually develop and transform to become better versions of themselves and grow into who they need to be in order to excel in the callings where they have been appointed to lead.
So if leadership, which is not management (that’s a different topic), requires sacrifice, vulnerability, courage, and transformation then what it actually requires is bravery. No one runs after sacrifice, pain, and loss voluntarily, but in choosing leadership there is a decision that has to be made, at some point, where you do walk into those things or you fail. You may make money and become successful, but you will not become a courageous leader that marks history if you do not ever decide to walk through the fire.
"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent."
Douglas MacArthur
What is Brave Leadership?
This has been a hard piece to quantify. I will do my best to spell out practically without becoming too lofty and idealistic.
Brave Leadership first takes dying to self. If I care more about my achievements and publicizing my name, then I am not a leader. I may be powerful and successful, but leading by definition is showing others the way. I cannot best lead others without letting the pride and ego die off first.
Brave Leadership is vulnerable. It communicates concern, fear, weaknesses, needs, and feelings (yep, you heard that right). We all know leadership takes risk, but when people are involved we cannot ignore that feelings are a part of the equation. Taking a risk to put yourself out there, and know that you may be hurt or disappointed, is exactly the kind of leadership that people want to follow. We are in a time where everyone is feeling deeply and the climate is thick from the unknown. You cannot flippantly make tough decisions that possibly could, or will, end devastatingly; people that do this are not the kind of leaders others want to entrust their lives to.
Brave Leadership requires courage. Courage for tough decisions and tough conversations. We all have had those interactions with others that we can tell they are not saying something or are being passive aggressive with us. They don’t want to rock the boat, offend people, or make us upset. But the fact is leaving someone in the unknown is cowardly. Most people can sense when something is off and are annoyed by passive aggressiveness. They will either never grow, which means you failed this person as their leader, or they will leave to go to someone who will help them grow, which also means you failed as their leader. Either way, the other person is never the only one impacted by the decision to not own the courage to have tough conversations, and with vulnerability and kindness to show that you care about the other person.
Brave Leadership requires transformation. This has perhaps been the most impactful truth I have had to face in my leadership journey. I cannot stay the same. While being authentic is paramount, I believe we have lost the truth that we can be authentic while also understanding our need to grow and transform. Transformation is actually the path towards becoming our most authentic self. We pick up falsehoods, lies, and fears from the time we are young and transformation is often what it takes to face those things and become who we truly are at our core. Early in work, I realized I was not who I needed to be to walk in the dreams and callings that I had. My journey and transformation have shaped me into the person who could carry the weight of my passion and responsibilities of my calling. Leaders who do not understand that they must continue to transform to become healthier, more purposeful leaders will become stagnant and their leadership will eventually stop. Instead, they will move into a compulsive power and authoritative commander- that may get results but it’s not leadership.
If you’re still with me in this conversation you may be asking yourself what makes this space different, in a field where the conversation is loud at best and deafening more often than not. Leadership is talked about a lot, yes. But leadership has so many facets, leadership doesn’t always equal being a professional in the workplace.
Community leader
Stay at home parents are leaders
School leader
And most of all, I believe we are on a personal journey of becoming stronger, deeper, and more focused individuals- allowing us to become leaders in our circles of influence and the world around us.
For this reason, I think something is missing from the conversation. This is what I am attempting to add to the topic. I work in leadership and what I hear is that we are desperate for this type of Leadership: one that is raw, authentic, and scarce in today’s world.
My desire is that this will be a space where we can explore how to become brave leaders, living fully in our purpose, and what it looks like in our everyday lives: in the dead-end job, in the piles of bills, the busy schedules, and to-do’s lists, in the longing that we know we are meant for something more but see no way to that path. What is the goal in all of this? Full Purpose Living.
That is the destination. That is the answer. That is the ache.
Welcome to the journey.