Leaders, listen up...
A few weeks ago I sat down with Marianne Zakhour, the co-founder of an eCommerce, order management and back office platform based in Canada. Marianne and I talk about operating from a place of alignment, specifically in regards to leadership (you can listen to E86 HERE).
My conversation with Marianne inspired this week’s blog post about aligned leadership - and if you see the word leadership and think that means this doesn’t apply to you, keep reading…
Guess what?
We are all leaders.
Which means that even if you aren’t responsible for a business or a team, you are still responsible for how you show up with the people in your life.
Before we get into it, I want to give you an analogy to think about…
Imagine you are incredibly frustrated and so you throw a stone into a pond.
The stone creates a ripple right?
Now imagine you are really joyful and so you throw a stone into a pond.
The stone creates a ripple right?
The stone doesn’t care if the energy behind the throw is positive or negative, it creates a ripple either way.
Your actions in life are like this.
The action creates a ripple whether the intention is positive or negative (it does not care) - which means that everything you do matters.
Here is the good news though, you always have a choice in how you show up - which brings us back to aligned leadership.
Ask yourself:
Do you make decisions out of fear?
(ie. fear of getting blamed, fear of not being liked, fear of the outcome)
Do you try to control yourself/situations/others?
(ie. you micro manage, you don’t delegate, you don’t trust)
Do you feel in competition with those around you?
(ie. you don’t want others to outshine you, you don’t want people to think you can’t do your job)
Do you feel a sense of superiority over others?
(ie. you feel better at your job than others (they are the problem), you use your position/ranking to get what you want)
Do you act only in self service?
(ie. you make decisions that make you look good, you help out if you know that someone is watching)
If you answered yes to any of these, your ego is running the show.
Now before you get all defensive on me - the intention of the ego is not necessarily malicious.
The ego is all about self-preservation (so thank it for all the ways in which it has kept you safe over the years), but because of this, the ego is inherently self-centred in nature.
It is separate.
And separate is not in alignment with the whole.
How then do we show up more aligned?
Do. The. Work.
If you were looking for a quick fix, I hate to disappoint, but you won’t find one.
True alignment is a result of inner healing - moving away from self-centring and into self-governing so that we can act from a more conscious, more aware place.
True leaders operate from wholeness (a wholeness that includes the ego, but isn’t run by it) and inclusivity (of self and others) - and this makes them magnetic.
Now think back to the stone being thrown into the pond analogy…
If that ripple had a magnetic effect - if it inspired others to show up more consciously, more aware, more aligned, more inclusive isn’t that the stone you’d want to be throwing?
People often ask me why I started coaching.
This is why.
Because how we show up in our lives matters - always.
And the only way to show up as our best, most conscious self is by doing the work.
People often ask me why I started consulting.
This is why.
Because how we show up in business matters - always.
And the only way to show up as our best, most conscious self is by doing the work.
And that is really what it is all about at Thrive - showing up as our best, most conscious selves always, and when we don’t, making sure we clean it up (and we teach other people, just like YOU how to do this too!!!!).
Our team of badass coaches and consultants is here to support you in becoming the best version of yourself and bring more joy, grace and fluidity to everything you do.
Check the team out here: http://www.charlotteferreux.com/the-collective
And thank you Marianne for inspiring this conversation.