We are born complete. We are born authentic. We are born free.
Yet, along the life journey we are taught that we have to fit in. We are instructed to comply with the expectations of our world in order to gain approval. We suppress our authenticity in order to belong to our world.
Regardless of the fact that we recognise a strange paradox – where our world seeks for creativity and innovation but condemns and judges originality and uniqueness – we do not claim our authentic self. We do not dare. Instead, we slowly put ourselves in an invisible cage and start telling a story that is expected to be heard by our world. By putting ourselves in the cage we move away from our authentic self to a self which constantly seeks approval from others.
We move from 'WE' to 'I' where we work very hard to have more, to be more, to compete more, and to demonstrate that we are more than others. It is the most difficult job in the world that we have to do. It is not only the weight of our mask that we have to wear every day, we also have to hide and constantly fight and negotiate with the strongest wrestlers in the world, like fear, shame, resentment, and guilt.
The question: 'what if I lose what I have, what I do, or what other people think of me— who am I then?' is the worst warrior that we fight with. So, we decide to control, protect, fix, and comply in order to avoid losing what we have. We play the game of the outside in.
Regardless of how successful we are in getting more, we slowly become exhausted and start feeling that something went wrong in the bargaining process. We feel empty and that we should make a meaningful difference in our world.
We usually start to contemplate these feelings and questions after we reach 40 or 50 or when we experience a difficult situation that calls us to move from the ego-directed self into the afternoon of our life where everything is primarily influenced by purpose and meaning. We start feeling that
'We cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning; for what in the morning was true will in the evening become a lie'. (Carl Gustav Jung)
It seems that COVID-19 challenges each of us to find a new truth in the new reality, irrespective of the life span each of us is in. It motivates us to make a U-turn – back to our authentic self, to move from outer chaos to inner purpose.
Some people respond to this call and make a U-turn by embarking on an Heroic journey to rediscover their innate intelligence that holds numerous gifts and uniqueness; other people continue to stay in a cage constantly balancing the fear with the yearning to make a meaningful difference in their world.
The ones who decide to respond to this call experience many challenges and setbacks on the journey back to their authentic self. It is neither an easy journey nor a short one. Not at all. It requires a lot of bargaining and negotiation while navigating, but the feeling of doing something purposeful usually prevails.
While making these shifts, one fundamental shift is happening on a deeper level. The ones who responded to the call make a shift from the outer world to the inner world and recall their innate intelligence that holds numerous gifts and uniqueness, which patiently waited for them to be shared with their world. They rediscover their authentic self. They re-experience their freedom. They become complete. Again.
Once they rediscover their authentic self and reinvent their purpose, there is no will nor desire to go back. They start living their lives and leading their organisations from the inside out—from purpose and authenticity. They become the leaders they were meant to be.
By being true to themselves and earning the trust of others they inspire others to make a U-turn and to live a life without regretting they had the courage to live a life true to themselves
… and this is the ultimate result and the absolute truth of Authentic Leadership.
Now that you know that you have to go back to your authentic self in order to breakthrough to higher levels of creativity and leadership effectiveness, are you ready to make a U-turn by yourself?
Be The Leader You Were Meant To Be!
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