LEADERS “RISK DELIGHT”
One of the best sessions I attended last week at the Institute for Transformational Leadership Institute Network annual conference was led by Chris Wahl.
Chris is the founder of the Georgetown Leadership Coaching Program and is admired and respected by members throughout the country. She is an acclaimed, coach, facilitator, presenter, author and administrator.
Chris’s session title was interesting and thought-provoking.
-What did “Risking Delight” mean?
-How do those two words fit together?
-Why would finding delight represent a risk?
Chris opened her session by reminding us that we can’t move forward on our leadership journeys unless we go inward. She challenged leaders to find our true compass, and to do so by engaging in significant self-reflection.
She opined that leaders need a strong ego to mature emotionally. Eventually, she asserted, the ego “thins out” and then we can truly move inward.
Here are some other thought-provoking take-aways from Chris’s presentation, which drew a standing ovation from the participants:
-We are all walking bundles of habits and to grow, we must see our own patterns because if we do not, we get stuck where we are. (Speaking of habits, I recommend “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear)
-Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
-Risking delight is a choice leaders make and we can move toward that choice by asking ourselves three questions:
-How Do We Choose Gratitude?
-How Do We Access Joy?
-How Do We Appreciate Regular Things?
-We can fully embrace our leadership journeys – both the “good” and the “bad” – by holding the light and the dark and being OK with living with that polarity.
-We can acknowledge and accept there will be both exciting positive incidents and discouraging, disappointing ones on our leadership path – it is up to us to accept that reality.
-Our own limiting beliefs can frequently get in the way of our risking delight
-Many leaders do not possess sufficient self-awareness to recognize our limiting beliefs.
-If we are fortunate to maintain a strong relationship with our leaders, we can point out the nature of their limiting beliefs and encourage them to challenge their own paradigm.
-To help risk delight, we can acknowledge our shadow selves -our buried emotions that we fear to acknowledge – rather than sublimate those shadow selves.
-Disillusion is not necessarily a bad word for leaders because disillusion means that our illusions are evaporating, and when that occurs, we can see people and situations more clearly.
-We can endeavor to find our centers, to do the work that reconnects us to ourselves.
-We can help achieve that goal with excellent self-care in the four dimensions: physical, mental, social-emotional and spiritual.
Finding delight, being grateful, and living life with a glass half-full attitude is a choice that we can make every day. I encourage you to email me and let me know how you do that – I would love to share your advice with all our subscribers in a future newsletter.
As you move through your week, please choose gratitude and delight!
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-Larry