New Year, New Story
What are the stories that you tell yourself about the world now and about the leader that you are capable of being? (Are they alive with possibility? Or dead ones that suck the life out of you?)
We can’t afford those sucky stories anymore. Because the stories that we tell ourselves create the stories we enact – and the world we make.
(Also, the sucky ones make us terribly vulnerable to despair, which is the enemy of the people.)
It’s a new year. We’ve put 2020 in the rearview and it is already clear that progressive leaders are going to need all our gifts and courage in 2021.
Are you ready to transform as a leader? Are you ready to live a new story?
(I’m not talking about a resolution, btw. I’m talking about dealing with your resolution’s weird cousin, who lives in the hut out back and makes chainsaw noises that keep you up at night. I’m talking about your leadership blindspot: the old stuck pattern that keeps you from being the best boss you can be and which, when addressed, can liberate you and your team to do the amazing world change you’ve got in you. Plus eat less meat or call your mom more. Whatever.)
Mythologist Joseph Campbell would call liberating yourself from your leadership blindspot the “Call to Adventure”- the kickoff to this heroes’ journey. That’s what I call it too, because I see your leadership transformation as a journey into the dark and back again- returning with the goods that make you even greater.
When leaders go on this journey, we don’t experience the Call to Adventure as a new monster that threatens to wreck the whole town. (Though, actually 2020 felt a lot like that, didn’t it?) For us, the Call to adventure falls somewhere between a sneaking suspicion that it’s time for you to level up your leadership game and a downright existential panic that you can’t go on like this anymore.
The challenge right now at the beginning of the year/ journey, is to listen to that call, whether it’s a whisper or a shout. It’s not always easy to listen – the lure of the familiar is strong: “Don’t change! It’s fine! Just…try…harder…”
That voice is the one that would keep your gifts locked away and keep our world from changing for the better.
There’s a better way forward and it is through the power embedded in your leadership story.
That’s what this blog is about. For years, I helped thousands of elected leaders, advocates and funders win progressive political campaigns using the power of story. I know your world. I’m also a certified leadership coach with a gift for helping leaders transcend old habits.
Now, as you choose the story you’ll live this year, I offer this work to you. Along the way, I’ll share the stages, the tools and some stories of brave and brilliant leaders who are doing this work. Join me: sign up for my newsletter, read the blog, download the rituals, check out my coaching services (and the new year special prices for some of my packages including the mini-package on Beautiful Boundaries.)
Let’s become the authors of the future through the practical and profound power of story.
Up Next: What’s Your Call?