Mindfulness and Accepting the Weather in Leadership
I’ve been doing a challenge on Insight Timer (meditation and mindfullness app). In one recent lesson, the guide spoke of accepting the weather in your life (sometimes its sunny and rainy, separately and together). You have some control (your attitude and how you approach it mostly). We all face external challenges we cannot.
This reminded me that communication and attitude are the most important tools and traits for a good leader. Easy to get bogged down with all of the external and have even a sunny day turn to dung from a sign of clouds. Harder to accept the weather and decide to put on your galoshes and play in the rain. We have to work to remain calm and useful (most of us at least this does not come natural).
As a good leader (great leaders are humble enough to know that great is fleeting and tested constantly, so focus on good and let history decide if you’re great) it is vital to not try and control the weather. Do good risk planning and even openly strategize the what ifs that are really bad, and how do we survive them? But, you will wear yourself down and become ineffective trying to shield everyone around you from all of the bad, and save everyone from it. And, the same will happen if you don’t have the courage to admit your armor has entry points when you’re overwhelmed.
What’s important is to address head on when days are stormy. Admit that you don’t have all the answers and ready made solutions in your back pocket. You have a few to create a break in the rain and let some sun through the clouds (otherwise you would not be in the position in the first place to lead). But you need, and genuinely want, help. Because you know that you have a mountain of talent with you. And you know that you all own some pretty sweet looking galoshes (Batman, maybe). What’s more, you’re confident to drop back and let someone else step up when they are the best one to lead through the storm; and you have their back in doing it.
You also have to allow yourself to be a little vulnerable in the moment and admit if you’re lost, maybe even befuddled and making a mess of a situation. That takes a helluva lot of courage and confidence. You have to practice that by giving others the weather report periodically. You may have people around you ready to circle you like a shark. But you will also likely (if you selected well) have people who also understand that you can’t always control the weather. And its their turn to tell you to get your galoshes and follow them for some puddle splashing.
Happy leading. I hope this has been useful in some way or another to you.
