Why Good Leaders Are Well-Equipped For The Good Of Others

I am a great worker bee most of the time.  If there is a list of things to be done, and some structure around how to do them, I can easily get through the tasks pretty efficiently.  I also have the strength and energy to take on the tough tasks that no one else wants.

But - there is a calling within my heart to be more than just a worker bee.  I have a desire to become a a leader.  My challenge is that my 'leadership' role models have been somewhat brutal when it comes to managing a group of individuals.  And, I've carried around the belief that to be an effective leader, I also have to be brutal.

I have to raise my voice when things don't go quite right.

I have to slam doors and critique people in front of their peers.

I have to constantly watch the clock and call people out when they're a minute or two late.

At least, that's what I used to think.  I've NOW learned that the really strong leaders can lead in effective and supportive ways.

I believe that's the case because those same leaders want for their team, the good they seek for themselves.  They get it that people are ready to work hard when they are valued rather than scoffed at.

Those leaders take into account what the individual has done rather than discipline them based on a single error when they make a mistake.

Those leaders look at all that the individual knows rather than belittle them because they lack one small skill.

Those leaders encourage the individual's goals for their life rather than tell them their big, fat, hairy dream is unrealistic.

I no longer have to shy away from leadership roles.  I can be a different kind of leader from the stories I've been programmed with.

I can follow my heart and assert my authority so that everyone on the team, myself included, is well-equipped for the good we all desire.

So, where are YOU struggling to chase your dreams?  Where are you fearful of asserting your authority?

Today, I set the intention to know that it's safe to assert my authority, realizing that the good I want for myself is also the good I want for others.

"Life wants to come into form through you.  You didn't come here to get - 

you came to this world to contribute your gift.  Doing what you love makes you come alive.  

The more alive you feel, the more present you are.  The more present you are, the more

available you are to the creative connection to the Infinite."  

~Christian Sorenson

"That which holds our attention determines our action."  

~William James

Affirmative prayer:
Savoring the magnificence of life, there is the recognition of One Creative Power.  It is the tranquility found in a calm sea and the vibrancy found in the strains of a symphony.  Empowering and at the same time gentle, this Divine Wisdom flows freely around all that is.  It flows through me and around me reminding me that the One Creative Power resides within me.

I embrace this gift from Spirit; the knowing that I am a co-creator with Source.  What I think creates a feeling and as I make a declaration from that feeling, it comes forth in beautiful and amazing ways.  Like a field of sunflowers that follow the sunlight, my ideas and dreams follow a Divine light that calls out for expression.  I welcome the abundant possibilities for my life as a leader.  As I take the steps forward into guiding and directing a team, the perfect and right team-mates are guided toward me.  We work together in ways that support everyone's good, allowing Spirit to lead us to a life even better than we can imagine.  The way is made clear and the progress and breakthroughs into success and prosperity are evident each and every day.  Life is so good as we each contribute our gifts and talents together.

I am filled with gratitude for the connection with Spirit that makes all things possible.  I give thanks for the greatness being revealed in my life and I am grateful and available to the abundance and the joy that are on their way to me right now.

From this place of gratitude, I release my word to the Divine Action of the Law, knowing it is already done.  I sit in expectancy of the good that is becoming a physical reality.  And I let it be so.  And so it is.

Photo courtesy of Lauren Rushing/Flickr

Everything Stops In Order To Keep Going

Three times this morning over the span of just a few hours, I've been reminded to stay in the present moment.  First, this was posted on Facebook by Iyanla Vanzant

"Everything has to stop at some time in order to keep going.  A pause in life's journey does not mean that nothing is happening.  In reality, it is a divine opportunity to be present and 

catch up with all that is going on." 

Then, I stumble upon an article on Brainpickings.org that takes a closer look at one of Alan Watt's books and dives into Happiness and How to Live with Presence.  The author of the article talks about the concept of presence - "the ability to go through life with crystalline awareness and fully inhabit our experience."  And, he quotes Watts - "to understand music, you must listen to it. But so long as you are thinking, 'I am listening to this music', you are not listening."

And right before I headed out to run a few errands, Marilyn Jennett, the guest on the Manifest Everything Now series, started saying that to create the connection to your true source of supply, you must be in the present moment.  

When something like this happens, I tend to take notice.  That's especially true when the first reminder to be in the present moment also talked about a pause in life's journey and that everything has to stop at some time.  Hmmm, like my job?  I did recently take a sabbatical from work.

So, to me, the Universe is obviously saying, "Hey, Sandy, listen up!"  Taking this to heart, here's what I've been present to so far today:

A graceful hummingbird flitting around the flowers outside my front door.

The sun shining on my sleeping dog, warming his coat, as he sleeps soundly.

The fan blowing a gently breeze across my shoulders as I sit and drink my coffee.

The delicious scents of Indian food coming from my neighbor's window as she cooks dinner.

All of these carried a feeling of contentment and grace with them, however, as I started to deepen my present moment awareness, there were also more mundane things I noticed.

The candlesticks lined up on the credenza next to, Albert, the fish.

The basket slightly overflowing with various half-finished bags of bread and tortillas

The forgotten Wall St. Journal still sitting on the coffee table from this weekend.

Then something clicked for me and I realized that these things simply ARE WHAT THEY ARE.  And as I become present to them, I label them and react to them in a number of ways.  What if I just started to notice without attaching a feeling or label to them?

Nothing is 'good' or 'bad', 'boring' or 'exciting' until I give it that label.  If I just see things as 'Life', then I believe I start to really tap into the receptivity of the Divine Presence that moves through everything.

Maybe this is what Iyanla meant when she talked about stopping and catching up with all that is going on.  Everything today is becoming more vibrant.  Even the newspaper on the table takes on lines and forms that are edgy and brilliant.

I feel as if I'm almost hyper-sensitive as I remain present and I'm really starting to GET that I am part of the Oneness.  They are becoming no longer words that I speak, but something that I experience at a visceral, gut level.

As I change my focus from labeling to experiencing, it is creating a space for the crystalline awareness of what is around me.  And, rather than simply think about the breeze from the fan, I get to understand that breeze and savor the nuances of it as it flows over and around me.

It's always been available to me and I've danced around the edges of it.  I just haven't truly slowed down enough to tap into it.  Until today.

So, where in YOUR life can you change the way you look at a pause in your life's journey?  And can you be present during that pause?

Today, I set the intention to fully inhabit my experience, embracing the divine opportunity to be present and catch up with all that is going on.

"The overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute

 is the great mystic achievement.  In mystic states we both become one with

 the Absolute, and we become aware of our Oneness."  

~William James

"There is a side to us which lies open to the Infinite.  The infinite wisdom becomes

 human knowledge in such degree as the human furnishes a channel through 

which it may flow.  The greatest people who have ever lived have recognized 

this fact.  They have consciously expected it, and there came a time when they

 consciously received it, and there came a time when they 

consciously felt it flowing through them."  

~Ernest Holmes, Can We Talk to God

Affirmative Prayer:
Turning within and allowing this moment to unfold, there is a recognition of One Divine Power, One Creative Intelligence.  This Power and Intelligence is a presence that is only a resounding love, only a resounding joy, only a resounding enthusiasm as the beauty of each day is revealed.

Embracing the love, joy and enthusiasm that is a powerful force for good, I let go and celebrate the knowing that this Divine Power is also in me.  It is a comforting Presence that expresses as me in unique and positive ways.  It is a Source that I call God and I am always supported by this Source, filled daily with infinite and unlimited possibilities.

I am so unified with the presence of God, I only need to say I am peace, I am harmony, I am grace, and that is what is revealed throughout the day.  I stay present to all that surrounds me, simply noticing and I am overwhelmed by the Divine aspects of life.  Walking the dog, cooking dinner, listening to music - all are expressions of Source that become so vibrant as I stay present and allow them to flow over and around me.  My day-to-day experience stays centered in Spirit and nothing that unfolds is too good to be true.

Joyfully, I give great thanks for the presence of Spirit that inhabits my daily experience.  I am grateful for the vibrancy of life that is becoming so clear.  And I am filled with a deep, profound gratitude for the pause in my life that is making space for so much more - more goodness, more prosperity, more than I can imagine.

Complete in my intention to stay present for the greatness within me, I release my word to the Divine Action of the Law, knowing it is already done.  Moment by moment, my good is activated and revealed.  Something wonderful is happening right now!  And I let it be so.  And so it is.

Photo courtesy of Greg Westfall/Flickr