With so much written about leadership we can all be forgiven for passing on by when another blog or article arrives on this subject. And yet leadership is so vital to our evolutionary success as an individual and as a collective (family, community, business, nation, Humanity as a whole and beyond) that in truth we can never have too much exploration of this subject or practise.
In particular ‘inner leadership’ requires deep, ongoing exploration. Here we are not talking of roles or functions within a formal structure, though it applies to anyone in those roles more than most. Inner leadership applies to every single person. It’s the inner force or compass by which we guide our own lives. How many of us see ourselves as guides and leaders of our own lives as opposed to succumbing to outer mores and influences, allowing them to define our way of being?
As we raise our consciousness and awareness of more subtle aspects of leadership, we start to see that in fact leadership is an inner impulse which is fuelled by our own specific ethics, values and philosophies. How often have you read phrases such as ‘happiness is not how much you have it’s how much you appreciate what you have’ and either rejected or accepted it? Our worldview, our attitudes and ways of being in the world all give clues about the foundations of our inner leadership.
By having a powerful relationship with our own inner leader we are able to give the world an insight to who we are and the way we seek to tread upon this earth. It’s our manifesto if you will. Not full of hot air and hyperbole, but a powerful yet subtle expression of our self-governance.
This matters because it offers choices for others to be influenced by us (leadership and followership) or to discount us and find another with whom to affiliate. Of course, we may not be looking for this sort of power in the traditional sense of leadership, but each of us is destined to find our own inner power at some point in order to take our place in the unfolding journey of Humanity. This inner power radiates and may inspire one other person, or it may affect a large group, or even a nation. Not because we set out to inspire but because inner leadership is radiatory. It happens whether we choose it or not.
When we pay attention though we can amplify. We can make conscious choices about our self-governance and how we show up in the world, enabling us to play our part in the transformations that are needed at this time (locally or globally). Not because we are protesting or picketing but because step by step, day after day, we are nurturing our inner leader and becoming ever more radiatory. Yes that may lead to us taking more outward focused and visible actions but first we start with the inner.