Wholehearted Leadership in a Time of Fragmentation
One of the highlights of a trip to Egypt was seeing a mummified alligator in a sacred temple. Quite a contrast from my days living in New Orleans where blackened alligator, colorfully garnished, was served as an ‘exotic’ appetizer.
Their choice to honor this creature in such a ritualized fashion intrigued me. I continued to learn about the way the Egyptians collaborated with the wisdom imparted by the animals, unseen spirits, and the land. Not unlike other tribal communities in more current times.
They made room for the wide range of emotional experiences humans have. They honored and decorated their physical bodies as shrines. They operated from the wisdom of ‘being’.
The invitation to wholeheartedness
Leaders today face a rapidly changing world with greater demands, challenging circumstances. and broad cultural implications. We’re in a time of increased input, technology and sensory overload to our mind, body and emotions.
The result is overwhelm, stress, declining health and imbalances. These factors require a new way of viewing problems, creative approaches and integrated wholehearted thinking.
This wholehearted approach is an integration of our entire being.
A collaboration with our intuition, emotions and physical bodies as messengers and pointers to the innate wisdom we are all part of.
“We’re being called back to our innocence and childlike wonder.”
The field of wisdom
Authentic leaders are comfortable with complexity and look for opportunities to partner with individuals and groups to address organizational, societal and environmental issues. They foster innovation and help their families, organizations and communities to discover unique and creative solutions.
Our culture often views collaboration exclusively as working with others to create or solve solutions. Something magical happens when a group creates a field of wisdom and listening with an openness to see what wants to be revealed without an agenda or expectation.
A radical view of collaboration
Shifting focus toward the collaboration required within our own being. This inclusion lays a foundation for larger ripple effects in the ocean of global awakening.
How do we welcome all aspects of the human condition; even the ‘gremlins’?
This inner work starts with how we respond to our emotional tides, our default to protect our beliefs, and the judgments we place on ourselves and others.
Do we go to war with ourselves through judgment, criticism, comparison and rejection? Do we unconsciously transfer this hostility into wars between countries, races and religions? Is the battle fundamentally any different?
Our capacity to meet all these parts of our perceived self is a direct correlation to how we engage in intimate relationships and how we lead and model wholeness and authenticity as leaders of our life.
Leading from within is a practice of increasing our awareness to reveal what we believe and how we perceive the world. It’s a practice of challenging these assumptions.
When we resist our experience, because it doesn’t match how we think it should be, we struggle.