Learning to Lead with Love
Are you ever curious why things turn out the way they do in your life or in your business?
There is a saying that goes, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will do.” I find this to be true. I would even go further to say, “If you don’t know who you are, anybody will do.” How much are you really aware of your own motives and how they manifest in the inner landscape (mind/emotions) of your body and even in the world around you?
When it comes to the big picture, I think we all imagine we are largely motivated to be good citizens of the world. But upon closer examination, can we really say that we fully know what lies behind or motivates the millions of rapid-fire choices we make every day?
There is a theory that at every moment we are motivated by one of two primal forces: fear or love. Love is a source that fuels or amplifies our vitality, and fear acts to drain or minimize our vitality. These influences can ultimately be the difference between happiness and depression. In every moment we are motivated by one or the other, regardless of whether it is a conscious decision or a function of automatic pilot.
Often, the choices we make from fear-based motives have a way of multiplying that same negative energy back towards us. These include influences such as control, lack, insecurity, anger, resentment, jealousy, victim mentality, separation from others, ego competition, trying to “get” something, or a belief we are more than or less than others.
How Can We “See” the Intangible?
There are many faiths and philosophies that believe that whatever energy you put out you get back, often in a greater amount. That might simply mean the amplification of our own internal negative energy and/or an external physical manifestation of it. The truth is, we may never fully grasp how, when or where our energy creates influence or impact. It can infest our hearts, minds, bodies, or spirit. We may also fail to grasp the influence we have on people, nature or situations within the world in general. We are often not able to tangibly “see” or “track” the interrelatedness of our energy. Therefore, it may feel easy to image that we simply have no true responsibility or accountability in the grand scheme of things. We can live our life focused on ourselves.
For many, the most important thing we can do each day is to internally align ourselves with the motive of “love” and interact with people and the world from that stance. But perhaps I had better demystify what I mean by the overused term “Love.” Used here, love is simply a state of being that is in alignment with your authentic self which is absent of fear. The state of love is inclusive of traits like sameness, compassion, wholeness, accountability, connection, trust, giving, kindness and abundance. Some people say that the state of love means that we view our wellbeing and the wellbeing of others with equal consideration. Coming from a place of love doesn’t mean we will always have power to attract or “manifest” the external “things, people or situations” that are out of our control, but that we often feel we “need to make us happy.”
A Cruel Illusion
It is a cruel illusion to imagine that others have a greater influence on the choice of our inner state than we do ourselves. It’s so easy to put ourselves in a position of “fear” where we feel hostage to something outside of ourselves, when the reality is that we hold our own key that sets us free. Our power lies in our ability to choose our own inner landscape, motives and mindset, regardless of the circumstances of the outer world, people or situations within in.
To foster your own leadership traits, we encourage you pause for one full day. Be more mindful of what truly motivates what and how you manifest. This will help you to better illuminate and choose your interactions with your life, family, business or the world. Opportunity lies within these moments. Identifying, and ultimately choosing your source of motivation (fear or love) can better poise us all to bring the best out of every situation, including our own experience of it. Every day offers you the chance to further develop the leadership traits that better equip us to deal with life’s challenges. Having objective support to further help you uncover your motives can be a revealing exercise. Remember, small changes can have big impact! Let us know if we can help…
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