Leading is not easy.
I was giving a workshop on managerial courage last week, and courage lives in everyone. All you need to do is get the tools to tap into it when feeling frozen, defeated, overwhelmed, overworked or better yet, develop greater self-awareness to know how to get over yourself and be able act long before feeling that way.
As the character Benjamin in “We bought a zoo” said: “Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, just literally, 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery”.
Leap.
“Just like that.”
If you keep doing different versions of the same thing and are waiting for things to change, they won’t unless you leap.
Leaping further into your leadership means that making unpopular decisions with grace is part of your daily routine. It also means you will be wrong many times and judged based on the biases your team and colleagues around you have.
I was having dinner with a dear friend last night and we were having a great conversation about women and different ways to help that feels authentic to us. She is an inspiring career woman always looking for opportunities and an amazing role model for her son. She is the kind of person you ask, “what do you NOT do”. She doesn’t have a website and is barely on social media. Her way of being around people and the relationships she has build over the years, speaks for itself and so are her ventures. And as you guessed, she is being judged for it because at 40 years old, she should be having more kids by now… right?
…This is the kind of saying you get a blank stare from me…
When we focus on what we want to do and why we do it, being a woman is not in the way. There is always a door that is cracked somewhere, and it is a matter of taking the leap to crack it open and dare to see what is on the other side.
