A leadership solely begotten of character.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so shall he be”

― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

There is this amazing source of energy generated by character. One that can only be accessed through your choices. 

Character is a catalyst, helping you unleash your potential. But it also doubles as a guide, creating for you an internal pathway. A trail that can lead you ever closer to the best version of “you.” 

Your character can act to shepherd you towards many opportunities for growth, achievement and success. And one such opportunity stands out among all the rest: the call to leadership. 

Every choice, every decision you make is an opportunity to affirm the strength of your character. So if you stay true to yourself, then the choices you make will always parallel your character. And decisions made on this basis become the deeds that reveal the core, fundamental truths about “you”. A genuine, unmistakable and lasting image of the very best part of you. 

This mass – “who you are” – begins to work in concert with the leader that resides within. There is power in that collaboration. 

Your character becomes an irresistible force. Spreading ever outward, casting an indelible impression on the people and the world about you. 

A leadership solely begotten of character. 

Childlike.

Each morning before I rise, I get a gospel reflection via email from Bishop Barron.  In today’s, this part struck me: 

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

It made me think about how “we wise and learned” are not fully present.

We know of all the templates.  

KPI’s.

How to drill down to move the needle.  

Shift the paradigm. 

Employ and expand core competencies. 

 Jump the shark.  

Build “culture”.  

But we just are not “here”. 

Somehow, we wise and learned get caught up and captured by the jargon.  Buzzwords that create a desired appearance but are largely absent of substance.  Choosing  to live but losing sight of our true sense, being  and nature. 

The childlike.  

For it is only when we can fully embrace this aspect of “self” that we can truly be present. 

By feeling  the immeasurable comfort only found in a hug. 

Knowing the joy of laughter.

Finding the peace that accompanies every smile given or gotten.

Embracing the solace meant to be found  in silence.  

Acknowledging a  continuous affirmation flowing  from above – no matter what.

Understanding love in its truest form. 

On the surface, we all think we are wise and learned.  

How ‘bout we shift the paradigm,  drill down and find our way back to being how we were made. 

Childlike.

Circumstance

“Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will affect in the material conditions of his life. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance. “   – James Allen

A truly keen insight. 

Thought, habit and circumstance. A pattern of interconnected consequence which creates a lasting resonance.  Entirely and utterly accountable to you alone.  And in certain respects, this pattern of interconnected consequence reveals how your character becomes woven directly into a  pursuit of excellence.

As you make your way along this path, it would be prudent to honestly discern and conduct an assessment oneself.

What pattern of thoughts tend to hold you back? Is it fear? Of beginning? That it somehow isn’t within you to start?

Or, is it the commitment once started ? That it is too much for you to see it through. To finish?

Perhaps it is more about the unknown. The possible, undesirable outcome that dogs you. The daunting spectres of disappointment. Discouragement. Disapproval. Defeat.

Maybe it is the fickleness of change. A need for security. The inability to trust. An aversion to honesty or criticism. Selfishness. Arrogance. Ego.

Misperceptions about the call for your leadership ?

Misconceptions about its demands for constant, unrelenting accountability, presence and effort?

Despite your efforts at concealment and containment, your thoughts rarely remain secret. 

Your thoughts and doubts are traitors. By word or deed, they make their way to the surface. 

A little here.  A little there.

Soon, all at once, you become an open book.  No longer private, your thoughts can come to govern each habit, control every action, impede any achievement and prohibit excellence, all in a very public manner.

Alter your thoughts from doubt to possibility and then you can alter your trajectory. 

So let the transformation begin.

Once thoughts crystallize into genuinely positive, productive and permanent habits, they will soon enjoin the effort to form your circumstance. A radical alteration of ones thoughts transforms the essence of ones life.

Circumstance becomes a product of habit.

And the outcome mirrors ones thoughts.

To love.

We all are made to love.  

Part of His divine design. As created by our higher power.  God is the very source of love and we are called to embrace, reflect and direct that love to others. 

Yet during the course of life’s travails, disappointments and distrust, we begin to engage in the process of actively obscuring that attribute.  Cordoning off that integral and essential aspect of our being.  Seeking ephemeral pursuits.  Avoiding our true nature.  Evading our responsibility.  And in so doing, creating a false sense of security, safety and wellbeing.  

Despite the fact that we are hardwired for it, and it is our primary purpose, it can hurt to love.  

To give it without condition, guarantee or quid pro quo.  To expose oneself to a seemingly fatal level of self-inflicted pain.   We convince ourselves to capitulate to that illusion.  That we will not survive the giving.  That it will never be received as we intend.  Or more to the point – how we expect it to be taken. Or that we need to be present to witness the ultimate outcome.  

Choosing to succumb to a skinned knee, while another within our immediate universe might  be in the throes of a hopeless, lingering, lonely spiral downward.  Choosing process, research and expediency over interaction, intuition and patience.  Focusing on our flaws rather than the good inherent to the core.  Choosing ourselves and our needs first over those of another and making them second. 

True, dispensing, gifting and asserting love are all arduous tasks. The heaviest lifting imaginable   Missions that can generate more than their fair share of discomfort, disappointment and despair.  

Forgoing our heavenly purpose, ignoring our design and ignoring our Creator.  

Fortunately, there are those within our midst that refuse to be deterred.  Fervently remaining on point. Absorbing the pain.  Depleting themselves.  Giving it up.  

These sturdy souls, with an unyielding faith, have leaned into this mission.  Recognized that their purpose lay within.  The pain is temporary.  Reserves can be refilled.  And giving it up is who they are.  

You see, we are all made to love.  It’s just that we need to trust in that level of faith, learn to surrender ourselves to Him, and allow Him to direct our path.   

Then we will be fully equipped and supported to do so for others.  

To love.

Both born of Him.

“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

An obvious consideration I have encountered during my self reclamation project.

Prideful and ego driven. No need for God in those circumstances. Why? I knew it all, knew what was best, had all of the answers and expected all just to accept it as fact. Not really from a pulpit, but a bully in certain regards just the same.

The level of static this generated between my ears prevented me from hearing Him. My chest hollowed out and empty. But most damagingly, the ruin it laid to my soul, blocking Him from me.

I was certainly looking down. Gathering in the landscape of my self destruction.

Then, one day, I chose to raise my gaze. To finally see what things really were. Removing the spectacle of ego brought me to embrace a new day and encounter another horizon.

Both born of Him.