Have you ever thought about why it’s easy to spot those who will one day become great leaders? When younger people enter our orbit in whatever way, we can very often see something in them that tells us they will have an impact. Not necessarily within the hierarchical, corporate and organisation structures. In fact, these days, many young people are actively opting away from those environments because they aren’t transforming quickly enough.
When we reflect on great leadership we often comment on something ‘special’ within that person – a specialness that isn’t always easy to describe. It’s different to charisma and yet it is an energetic quality that can look similar. There is definitely a magnetic quality – something that attracts and draws from us a positive and active response that is almost involuntary.
There is also a level of ease and centredness – not because the person is blessed with a life devoid of troubles but because, despite the troubles, they have a way of holding those with perspective and maturity, focusing more on others than wallowing in their own challenges.
We can speculate on the source of that centredness. In some cases, it may be the product of a secure and loving family life. In others it may derive from an inner resource or quality such as compassion, empathy or perseverance. For some it may be the ability to connect into a deep sense of service or responsibility. The list could go on. What if it’s the presence of a conscious or unconscious connection with their own higher self. A connection that even if they can’t name it, explain or even talk about it, propels them into a richer and wiser version of themselves.
The truth is we all have access to this connection and to our own inner leadership. All too often it can be lost to the many more immediate factors that show up in life. Yet if we dare to go looking for that deeper, higher part of ourselves, that awareness and consciousness, we too can access the resources inside of us that might lead us on the path of great leadership and our true place in the world.