Little Packages

Leadership opportunities sometimes come in the smallest packages. And those packages are often not wrapped up nice and neat.  

Perhaps that little box with no bow is the way we respond to our child when faced with an issue we just don't want to deal with at that moment.  Maybe it's a must-have discussion with our spouse, or a work situation or encounter with a friend that feels awkward or off for some reason. Or maybe there is no box: the issue seems too small to need one at all... until you consider it closer and realize the opportunity this little issue presents is massive.  

Sometimes, the package is a creative thought or inspiring quote - something that, at the time it hits you, is simply too powerful to fit inside any box.

With a new year upon us, and wishes for health, happiness and prosperity coming to our family from friends around the world, a quote by Seth Godin struck me, and stuck with me, after I read it last night. Perhaps it stuck because the last year for us was all about embracing discomfort (leaving an institution I love and selling a business that have clothed and fed our family for 18 years, moving to a new town, helping open a new school, writing a bit more, following my passion and launching Q3 (!), sending Luji off to kindergarten)...and the opportunities that have and are developing as a result.  It's been an uncomfortable journey on many levels, but the leadership lessons - at home, in work and in my relationships - make it absolutely worth it.

In his book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, Godin writes, "Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable...It's uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.  It's uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.  It's uncomfortable to challenge the status quo. It's uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.  When you identify the discomfort, you've found the place where a leader is needed.  If you're not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it's almost certain you're not reaching your potential as a leader."

Absorbing this message made me wonder: why do some of us choose to embrace the discomfort of leadership every day, while others choose to avoid it all together?  Do some intentionally (though perhaps unconsciously) seek out uncomfortable situations for their inherent leadership potential as we proceed down our personal leadership paths?  If we do, why?  For the hope of making things better and the rush we get when we do? Is it always healthy to embrace discomfort?  Does opportunity and growth follow the majority of the time?  Why do those who choose to embark on journeys of personal growth and change embrace the discomfort of doing so?  Why is 'resisting the urge to settle' such a  'comfortable' thing for some to do?

What are the implications of the answers to these questions for our families, communities, schools?  What about global economies, our environment and health? 

A new year is all about hope, and change, and growth. It is my hope that leadership will become a bit less scarce. That more of us will be willing to actively embrace the discomfort of challenging the status quo and resisting the urge to settle. That we will each continue our work towards reaching our fullest potential as inspiring leaders and forge a path to making things better. 

It's true that this will require vulnerability and risk, but they are two little packages absolutely worth opening.