I woke up to a message from my friend that struck me. She said, “What I feel the whole BLM [movement] is missing is that leader to speak for us. We don’t have a MLK or a Malcom X right now.”
Her comment made me think about leadership in 2020. In the midst of Black Lives Matter, Covid, politics, global economic crisis, etc. there has not been one powerful voice, one guiding force.
What if we are the Leaders We’re Seeking?
In the absence of clear, good, or strong leadership, where does that leave us? There may be one rising leader amongst us to help us tackle all our problems, but the world’s problems are big and varied. That day may be too long to wait for change.
We have an opportunity to do what we can now. We must be the Leaders we are seeking.
I have seen some astounding leadership — from Killer Mike’s impromptu speech, to Sharing the Mic, Andrew Cuomo’s handling of Covid for NY state, to Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, to my friends Aja Davis and Molly Pinney creating an awesome Facebook group called “White People Doing Something” that grew to over 20,000 participants in a matter of days. I have seen peaceful protests in all 50 States and all over the world. John Krasinski’s Some Good News during lockdown, and many more examples of people using what they have to lead.
There are No Easy Answers to the Problems Of Our World
2020 has given us clear vision to see much of what’s broken. It’s ugly. It’s overwhelming. It’s in need of change. Last year, I created a course called “Leadership GPS.” If you want to go somewhere new, you have to be honest about your starting point. This applies to anything — organizational structure, talent development, marketing, business, even weight loss.
The reason we often don’t want to be honest about where we actually are
…is because it’s often not pretty. If we go through all of our finances, weigh ourselves, take an honest assessment of our personal relationships, our careers, we’ll most likely have some negative feelings. Disappointment. Failure. Guilt. Discouragement. Anger. Sadness. And the biggest one that I find people, including myself, struggle with the most is shame.
We don’t want to feel these things, and many of us are not taught or equipped to process these emotions safely and constructively, so that we can sit in the discomfort and then make a plan and route to actually change it.
So most of the time we ignore it — we pretend. We avoid. We resist. We put on rose-colored glasses and stretchy yoga pants.
In the words of Gloria Steinhem, “The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off.”
Photo by Austin Chan
But We Have to Start Somewhere
There’s a book I love called You Squared: A High-Velocity Formula for Multiplying Your Personal Effectiveness in Quantum Leaps. It’s 1cm thick but packed with wisdom.
“A quantum leap is an act of faith, exhilarating and possibly scary at the same time. You have to give up a large degree of security and safety, plow through greater amounts of ambiguity and confusion and uncertainty, wrestle with a totally new set of problems, invite failure, and possibly contend with criticism from other people who have been part of your support group in the past. Make you uncomfortable? That’s a good sign.”
-Price Pritchett, PhD
We’re going to make mistakes. We’re making mistakes. That’s natural. We can’t let our stumbles stop us from creating real change. We get to choose every day how we show up. Moments make up a lifetime, so how will you spend the 86,400 seconds you get in a day?
And if resting and recharging is how you spend some of those moments, that’s okay too. We all need rest to grow.
Finally, this is a quote taken from how to care for plants, but definitely applies to leadership,
“Light is the energy driver of growth.”
–The Sill
Shine your light. Feel the feelings and do the work to stay hopeful. Change in our world is a mission worth living for.
Your Next Step
If you want to go somewhere new, you first have to know where you are now. Google Maps won’t work unless you put in an accurate starting address.
- Action One — Do a Self Audit
This can include anything and everything — I like to start with what I call the “6 Core Tenants of a Life Well Lived,” but use whatever methodology works best for you.
- Health
- Career
- Spirit
- Knowledge
- Love
- Wealth
*Note: Career can also be what you spend your time doing every day. It does not necessarily need to be a job. Spirit relates to your soul. If you don’t believe in spirituality or religion, think of it as your unique purpose. Love can also take many forms — personal relationships, animals, family. It is not restricted to romantic love. Wealth includes finances, but also includes intangibles. For example, some of the wealthiest people I know don’t have many financial resources, but they are abundantly provided for in many ways. Some of the richest people I know, I would not classify as wealthy.
Moving Forward
We have not seen one leader. Instead, there have been many. And maybe that’s ultimately more powerful and sustainable for lasting change…
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” -Arthur Ashe
We need a leader. We need YOU.