The Blog

It’s been a number of years since I’ve shared a list of my favourite books. Since my last edition – which I think was five years ago – I’ve certainly read a LOT! Which means that there are some new books on this list – and some of the old ones have been knocked off the list! Reading is one of those things that brings me immense joy, even if it’s only a short story – or a book I’ve read before (because I do that – novelty isn’t always necessary for me, when it comes to books!).

There’s something for everybody here, I think. Take a look, and see what catches your fancy.

When looking at the world of leadership, one of the things that’s apparent is the value of independence. Truly remarkable leaders have an independent streak about them.

They think independently.

They’re not afraid to break away from the crowd.

They’re certainly not followers.

As a result, the story we tell ourselves is that leadership and independence go hand-in-hand.

Perhaps they do.

Where it goes wonky, however, is in the practical application of what it means to be independent. Too often, we take the term “independent” and use it to mean “isolation”. As in standing alone. Flying solo. Away from the masses.

Here’s the thing folks: independence and isolation are not the same thing.

Leadership and grief. It feels unusual that I would write an article that links these two – seemingly diverse – topics together. This past week, however, has afforded me the opportunity to consider how we as leaders are with grief.

What do we do when we experience loss or failure? How do we be with those around us when they are in a space of grieving? What’s the example we set, the message we send, the invitation we offer?

We’ve all been told about the importance of knowing our values. When we know our values we can live in alignment with who we are. When we know our values, we can choose what matters to us both as individuals and collectively. To paraphrase the words of Roy Disney, knowing our values helps us to make sound decisions.

Values-work is often at the heart of my work with leaders. Whatever challenge my clients bring forward, somehow we work our way to the question of what value is being honoured or not, what values are being lived out or not, what values are being named, or  not.

You see, knowing and understanding your values is a critical piece to you being able to DO YOU. It’s at the heart of authenticity. It’s the essence of what makes you thrive.

That being said, identifying values isn’t always easy.

Love.

I know that’s what many of you are thinking I’m going to use to fill in the blank in the above title. After all, that’s how the song goes, right?

Up until last week, in fact, I may well have said that love is all we need. On some level, I think there’s a nugget of truth to that idea. I do believe that using love as a guiding, grounding force can solve so many of the world’s challenges. Standing in a place of love – not the sappy kind, but the genuine, open-heart kind – helps us to be in discussion and dialogue, it helps us to draw meaningful boundaries, even as we build connections. It helps us to relate to one another without becoming doormats OR bullies.

As much as it pains me to say it, however, I don’t think we as a species are quite ready to stand, sit or otherwise operate simply from love. We haven’t figured out collectively how that looks.