As a leadership coach, I focus on, write and think so much about leading others -- and leading organizations -- mostly aspects of professional leadership.
Our professional selves spring from how we define ourselves -- by our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions -- as people in the world. So for anyone wanting to be their best as a leader, as I do, it's equally important to reconsider every so often what we stand for in the area of personal leadership -- meaning, as we define and redefine our self each day, what must be true for us to feel right with life and the world?
It's been a few years since I've done that, and high time I do. A quiet, fun weekend has left me inspired to update my declarations of personal leadership for the time immediately ahead:
1. Living in appreciation.
2. Noticing true happy moments as they happen, or soon thereafter.
3. Having faith in the future, even in its uncertainty.
4. Spending my attention and resources carefully.
5. Being "all-in" the full and rich present moment.
6. Feeling the full range of my feelings, for better and worse.
7. Hearing others openly while minimizing the need to tell, direct, or solve for them.
8. Being curious and learning, constantly.
9. Listening for the voice of a power greater than myself, and greater than my ego.
10. Accepting what is, even when it’s hard.
11. Giving my life, love, work, and care for others my absolute best.
Declarations have more power, I've learned, when shared with others. So thank you for allowing me to share mine with you -- and I warmly invite you to share yours with others, when you are so moved.
David Peck
