Welcome, Welcome to episode 150 of Let Go, Lean In Podcast! This also happens to be the first episode of Year 4. It’s hard to believe I’ve been talking with you about Leadership for four years! I’ve shared about leadership, development, values, leading through the lens of the Enneagram and have shared stories of others’ leadership journeys. I’ve also talked about self-leadership in the second half of life. I’ve tried to share the importance of leadership as a woman of faith since there aren’t many places for women of faith to learn about leadership in church. More on that another time.
In today’s episode I feel as if I am answering the 4th grade writing prompt: What did you do on your summer vacation? I share a bit of what I did do over these seven weeks of not podcasting or creating content for publication. It may sound like I did a lot in list form when what is true is I spent a lot of time in silence and solitude working to unearth and heal. I’m grateful for the gift of time; I know it is a luxury. I’m also grateful for the healing I received in the four crucial areas of life: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. In the coming weeks I’ll share more as time allows, but for today I have eight takeaways and a tool for you.
- Growth and resulting change take time. Be Kind to Yourself.
- No matter what you choose to focus on, be kind to yourself in your Practice. (See #1)
- You have a beautiful Soul. Learn what makes you come alive and do more of that.
- People may be confused by your changes. Be kind to their confusion. (Also, see #1)
- Allow curiosity to be your guide.
- When you feel misunderstood and lonely (and you will), remember you have a Kind Companion in the Person of Holy Spirit.
- Ask God to connect you with someone who understands. I call them “Jesus with skin on”.
- Capture your thoughts and experiences as you learn what self-leadership looks like. (Again, see #1)
The tool I have for you today comes from the Internal Family Systems model of therapy. IFS has been around for over 30 years. As a tool within therapy it has amazing healing and integration components. This is the link to their 8 C’s of Self-Leadership Wheel. In this tool you can reflect on and score yourself in these eight areas. My hope is that you will take my counsel and choose One to learn more about for your own self-leadership journey.
Here are the 8 C’s
- Calmness
- Clarity
- Curiosity
- Compassion
- Confidence
- Courage
- Creativity
- Connectedness
Remember, you can’t do all the laundry or clean the entire house all at once. You have to pick one thing to focus on at a time. Remember to be Kind to yourself in this journey of learning to let go of what no longer serves and lean in to the invitation of soul rest that Jesus offers.
I’d love to connect further over on my Substack Learning Along the Way. You can also reach out to me here if you’d like to have a complimentary coaching exploration session.
