To be a leader, in life and at work, you need to let go.
Let go of schedules and outcomes, experience and opinions, details and plans. Let go of control. Let go of yourself. Let go of your definition of reality. Let go of your certainties.
If you cling to any of these, being a leader is going to be much more difficult. And eventually you will be the one regretting it the most.
When somebody attacks you on some of the features that define you (your work, your values, your reputation), all you can do is continue nurturing those very same features.
Going head-to-head can be fascinating in a sense. Demolishing the attacker’s argument, pointing out all the good that you have done, bringing people onboard to testify on that goodness, providing evidence that what you say is correct. Fascinating, and costly. And eventually it will most likely play in the hands of your opposer.
You are in it for the long term, not for the next news cycle. Work, values, reputation are built over time. Let others craft and enjoy the hourly commentary, the back-and-forth, the speculation, as it will be soon gone.
You, on the other hand, are here to stay.
There are many paths to success.
And so all you have to do, day in and day out, is walk the path that leads where you want to go, in a way you are comfortable with and that aligns with your values and stories.
If you let others define this for you, you are missing on the best part.
The very same event can be described by those involved in very different ways. The same person can describe the same event in different ways at different times.
Does this mean one version is the correct one and the others are wrong?
When we describe what is happening to us we almost never stick to the facts. We bring with us past experiences, values, emotions, sensations, expectations, and as time passes our memory filters out most of what does not align with our story.
And so it happens that often a version is correct for the person narrating it, and wrong for those listening.
Something worth accepting.
How much information do we consume daily? And out of that, how much information do we understand, evaluate, put into our daily practice, and eventually use to improve?
We have never been more exposed to facts, theories, news, practices, frameworks.
We have never been more superficial.
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