Leadership is Ownership

When you are in a leadership role (be it work, community, your family, your life) it is important to always be accountable and own your role in the journey.  Recently I had a crucial conversation and while I prepared for this meeting, I needed to truly understand what my intention was and to also own the situation and solution—not just look for others to fix it for me.  When we blame and/or just complain, we are not taking full responsibility.  Clearly there are times that we can’t take ownership for other people’s actions and challenges that are out of our control, but what we can do is take control of how we handle it.  This is probably the most challenging thing for us as leaders and as human beings.   It is really hard work, really hard.  The key is to not do this hard work alone.  We can’t do anything alone.  Can we be in our thoughts or do the important work we need to do every day alone at times, yes, it is necessary, but we cannot hold it in or expect things to change if we are not courageous enough to speak up, ask for help, have the difficult conversations and have them with the right people.  I recently had this experience and because I was thoughtful in my approach and because the person listening was someone whom I trust and confide in, I felt so much better after sharing my feelings, my challenges and asked for help on how to navigate around them.

Perhaps you are experiencing a challenging situation and it is bothering you.  The best thing we can do is LET IT GO (but this is so much easier said than done at times).  There are times I feel like a champ when it comes to this and I can easily do it and cheer others on, and choose grace, strength and perseverance….  And there are times I feel heavy and some things weigh on me like a boulder, and they show up in my body like weight, and in my mind like weight and if I am not careful in my spirit, like weight.

Leadership is ownership.  Stop blaming.  Stop complaining.  Start building.  Build strength inside you.  Build a positive attitude about your work, life, people, and problems.  Build courage to speak life into others.  Build others up.  Build relationships.  Build a culture and community that does not allow the destructive behaviors that corrupt others.  Build confidence in yourself and those around you.

Own It. Lead It. Love It.  XO.