Some of us, as leaders, go through a series of purpose-expressions, a series of careers, as we grow, learn and become more and more of who we are meant to be. Others find one avenue immediately after high school or college and stay with that one expression of their vision throughout much of their life. Whichever path you follow is yours, not right or wrong, just yours..
The one core truth we learn, however, is that whatever path we choose, there will be a continuous series of opportunities for growth or stagnation. For living our truth or being in self-betrayal. Choosing leadership, consciously or otherwise, requires that we be ready to grow in order to deal with all the challenges, opportunities, and expansions that happen as our vision takes on a life of its own. That choosing can support compassion, understanding, and a greater leadership skill as those around us go through their process as well.
As leaders, we are challenged at times to decide if we are ready or even want to grow to that next level, to lead at that level, to become even more of who we are.
If you are human, you will at times want to stop, to breath, to reconsider your choices. That is never a failing, or a weakness, rather it is an amazing gift you give yourself. When you have grown significantly, or when it is time to grow significantly, stopping to catch up with yourself, to integrate all that is happening, is a smart and solid way of strengthening your foundation, your connection to your Spirit, to your purpose, and to you.
Use these articles as a means to do that.
This holiday season carries many names – Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and more – but at its core, this time of year is about light. Not just the kind we string across rooftops or place in windows but the light we carry within us. The light we often forget. The light that dims under responsibility, pressure, achievement, and exhaustion. And…
Despite being taught that leaders are primarily logical, strategic, and persuasive, powerful people feel more deeply than they ever admit. To teams. To investors. To their families. To themselves. By December, when the holiday season arises in the midst of the end of the year stresses, the emotional backlog begins to surface: the unspoken disappointments, small betrayals, quiet victories, and…
For many, December is a doorway month. It’s the completion of the old year while also being the preparation for the new year preparing to enter. Most high-achieving leaders use this season to plan, strategize, or sprint to the finish line. But those doing the deeper work – the kind of work I see in private with founders, investors, and…
Leadership, stress, and the hidden health costs of power. Although I am a guest on many Podcasts, one today really struck me. It’s called Eavesdropping with Spencer Wise. We discussed a number of topics, yet one he asked about repeatedly, and I will return at his request to discuss it more, is the fact that your physical symptoms are not…
There comes a point in every leader’s life when gratitude deepens – not because of what we have, but because of what we’ve survived and how far we have come. Thanksgiving isn’t really about the table or the feast. It’s about the pause – that sacred exhale between all we’ve built and all we’ve become. For many of the extraordinary…
Legacy isn’t what you build; it’s what you become. What if your next level of growth isn’t about more – but deeper? What if you had all the training, success, and influence you needed, but now needed only the chance to become the person you want to be? What if you could put on the title, the job skills, the…
The cost of hiding behind competence. Power can be the most elegant disguise for loneliness. So many I have spoken to, surrounded by many admirers as well as family, are so immensely lonely, yet don’t always allow themselves to see that. “This is life.” “Life isn’t a fairytale.” No matter how we need to phrase it or understand it, loneliness…
Power isn’t time or money — it’s energetic coherence. When we begin our careers, our businesses, or even our lives as young adults, planning a future with so much enthusiasm and dreams plus a wonderous sense of adventure we have little awareness that we are also envisioning what type of leader we will become. Leaders in our homes and in…
The silent burnout of success. You’ve mastered the art of achievement. But does your life still feel like yours? I’ve had the experience, more than once, where although I loved what I was doing career-wise, it felt as if my work was governing my life. Almost as if there was no room in it for me. What amazed me was…
Edge without erosion is a choice—architected, not hoped for. We all have them. A calendar serves a purpose especially for those of us who can forget so quickly. However, calendars also fail smart and visionary people. They’re built for other people’s urgencies. They are built primarily so we can be there to serve others and to fill a list of…
“When we fear not being “enough” we have lost sight of being more than was ever imagined”. Copyright ©2018. Dorothy A. Martin-Neville, PhD, LLC
