One of the hardest challenges for CEOs who take their role seriously is the need to continually shine a light, to show a destination, to create hope. And to do that whatever is happening in the world around you.
The challenge is that leaders are human too. Yes, vulnerability is a good thing, but it’s a fine line between vulnerability and victimhood. A leader who emanates a feeling of little or no control or direction rapidly influences everyone s/he leads. And it’s all too easy for it to spiral once the gates open.
But humanity is real, and emotional overwhelm is a thing. Last year, I had more deaths in close people around me than I should have reasonably expected in 5 years. The emotional toll is large. But you add to that responsibilities to family and to team, and increasingly (thankfully) to community and environment, and it can quickly seem like too much.
And it’s hard to feel like you can truly open up if you’ve always been the shoulder, always been the pillar, always embraced responsibility and accountability for what you do and its impact.
There’s no spreadsheet cell that gives a definitive answer to this. Self care, physical and mental; digging into values; prioritising and more importantly, deprioritising; embracing team; giving from your lowest point and highest self – all of these and more help depending on your context.
And so does a community of people with similar responsibilities, all on a journey leading their companies, and going through their own similar or different issues.
How's 2023 started for you? Is strategy consistently being executed? Are you not having to firefight or get involved in more deals than you should? We're looking for a group of 5 CEOs (10 to 100 employees) to join us on this workshop to talk through how to make your strategy, purpose and values happen. Join us.