“In order to burnout a person needs to have been on fire…at one time!” ~ Ayala Pines
The path to becoming fully “alive” as a leader begins when you are aligned with your purpose – your reason for living. And as you get clarity and awareness of your own path, you are then able to help others discover and live their own path.
Leadership is about pathfinding. Author Kevin Hall breaks down the meaning of the word leader this way: lea means path, der means to find – a leader is a pathfinder.
Someone with vision who can see the big picture and helps others to discover theirs.
Your Path
Discovering your path can be like discovering God, there are many paths and many ways!
Sometimes it is with words, sometimes it is with actions, a fleeting experience, a lifelong journey. At times it is in a flurry of activity and yet other times it is in that moment of stillness when you sit and reflect on your thoughts or you stop thinking all together.
Finding your way is not necessarily easy. It requires commitment, desire, and action – It requires a fire within!
A fire that burns or at the least, one that used to burn that needs to be rekindled. It may have been reduced to a smoldering ember because for one reason or another, you seem to have stepped off your path temporarily.
Maybe you got side-tracked, maybe you gave up hope, or decided to abandon your path altogether so that you could take the path someone else chose for you, your Mom, Dad, Brother, Mentor, etc.
As author and psychologist Ayala Pines says in our opening quote, in order to burnout one needs to have been on fire at one time!
The question is how to reignite that fire.
Reignite the Fire
Have you lost your path, are you still looking, could it be in front of you but you can’t see it because your eyes may be closed? Whatever you do, do not give up!
What if you were to rediscover your path? Recapture your fire? What if you were to lean into the heat and you leaned in so far that you could not go back!
What would you do next? What could you do next?
A Suggestion?
Here is a suggestion, go and buy Strength-Based Leadership by the Gallup Folks. Take the Assessment, you will find the key inside the book. The results will give you your top 5 strengths based in 4 categories – Strategic Thinking, Executing, Relationship Building, & Influencing.
Once you have your top 5, rank each one on a scale of 1-10 on how well you are utilizing each strength in your current position (1 Low – 10 high).
Next, pick one activity you can do to utilize that strength in your daily activities to raise the score +1.
Then the next week pick 5 more activities to increase your numbers another +1. Get the picture?
Then watch what unfolds over the next few weeks!
You see, when you are operating out of your strengths, it will not feel like work. The more you can utilize your strengths, the more you are leveraging your strengths to move you closer to your purpose and calling!
I can’t wait to hear your results!
So what are you waiting for!!!
