Being a leader requires a great deal of self-knowledge, creativity, and confidence. Part of the leader’s journey is to better understand themselves so as to lead with clarity, confidence, and compassion. We offer these videos as a way to explore the interior dimension of leadership. All videos in this series are created and produced by Len Sroka at seescapes.com.
One of the most important things a leader does is set a vision. To create a vision, leaders need to be aware of their gifts and limitations, desires and dreams, and be attentive to the needs of the world. A leader’s vision gives a team direction, a common purpose for shared work, and motivates the team. Equally important, the leader must communicate this vision in such a way that it inspires others to participate in making this vision a reality.
To create and communicate a compelling vision, leaders need to possess self-awareness. They need to make the journey to the depths of who they are, discovering the light and shadow within themselves. They need to understand their gifts and limitations, fears and unfreedoms, hurts and insecurities so as not to project them outwardly on others. This deep work leads to deep living, which enables deep satisfaction.
As leaders make the inner journey, they have greater self-knowledge and clarity. They understand their strengths and biases around decisions. They recognize personal patterns that can cloud their judgment, and distort their decision-making capacities. Wise leaders are humble and open enough to listen and seek council from others. Furthermore, they are secure enough with themselves to create the space for others to flourish. They recognize others gifts, talents, ideas, and foster a culture of collaboration.
Being attentive to one’s inner life is an important dimension for leaders. The more adept they are in this regard the more at ease they are with others.
Inner freedom is having the self-awareness of one’s biases, fears, and attachments. With such self-knowledge, leaders are in a better position to have clarity and sound judgment.
Wisdom is the combination of knowledge and understanding. Such a confidence comes with time and patience. Being humble to learn from others and flexible to change course as needed are traits crucial in a fast paced environment leaders often find themselves.
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