How to Become a Great Leader: Work on Your Inner Health
We all have roles and relationships that matter to us. We want to show up well in them. We want to serve with integrity and lead with strength. We want our contribution to make a difference.
So, how can we be the strong and healthy leaders we want to be? It is the unseen parts of our lives that matter most.
Being a healthy leader is an overflow from a healthy inner self.
It doesn’t matter what you achieve, how much you accomplish or how many people see you as successful. If your inner self is unhealthy, the rest of your life will eventually come apart. Your world will not hold together.
Having an inner life that is strong and healthy is what makes the different between leaders who survive the ups and downs of life and those who don’t.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
The formation and development of a healthy inner life is slow, intentional work. It cannot be rushed or outsourced. In fact, it is a lifelong journey. It grows in the small choices you make each day to build your character, values and emotional health.
The Tree of Your Life
The metaphor I like to use is to see myself as a tree that’s growing with healthy roots, trunk and branches.
Imagine yourself right now as a tree with strong roots of nourishing and grounding practices. See how your trunk is your healthy sense of self and development. And picture that from your strong trunk grows all your branches that are your relationships and roles and work. In those healthy branches you’ll grow flowers and fruit of flourishing and multiplication.
A healthy leader is someone who has healthy roots and trunk first and foremost. Their branches of relationships, roles and work are all an overflow of their inner health.
Problems come if you give all your energy to the branches of your life. You’ll find that they grow beyond what your roots can carry. Without inner health, some branches will not flower and some branches will snap off. And sometimes the inordinate weight of the branches cause the entire tree to uproot and tip over.
This is especially true for women. We often carry an extra load from extended family connections and community commitments. The branches of many women’s lives are numerous and complex. Without the intentional cultivation of inner health, women struggle to meet all the demands which then causes even less time and energy to invest in themselves.
Your Inner Health Matters
Oh, friend, I know it is really difficult to focus on yourself. It might even feel selfish. It might feel impossible. But you deserve a life that is genuinely flourishing. And your people deserve that too.
Your health will transform your family and community. The ripples of you choosing to be a healthy leader are truly world changing.
The cost of not cultivating your inner health is a big gamble. Just look at the news and you will see story after story of high level leaders failing morally and ethically. And tragically, it can cost them everything. Some even lose their lives.
The weight of our branches is a real concern but the solution is within reach! Choose to invest in your inner health and intentionally care for your own formation. There are many incredible tools, resources and wise guides who can help you.
You don’t have to do it alone!
But you do have to initiate and make it happen for yourself. Make the choice today to tend to your own healthy formation. You won’t regret it.
With you in the journey,
Justine
Reflection:
Do you have practices that ground and nourish you? Do you have a healthy sense of self and intentional plan for personal growth? Do you feel your relationships and roles are an overflow or do you feel they are weighing too heavily? Start reflecting on your inner health and consider how you can take steps towards greater health.