I was working with a client in a leadership program for 8 months. We coached around 5 bridges of leadership: identity, family, growth, leadership and blessing. As we settled into our last session, we began a reflective process of identifying what she had discovered about herself and her leadership in the last 8 months.
Her discovery unfolded over the last eight months.
Her discovery wasn’t always loud or sudden, often it was a whisper in her spirit.
Her discovery came in moments of stillness that revealed when she was striving and not trusting her leadership values, beliefs and intuition that reflected her character.
Her discovery of how she wanted to show up as a leader, meant she had to look at what was interfering with her leadership values, things like, honesty, integrity and empathy, and when she showed up frustrated, angry or dismissive she discovered a better way.
Leadership of any kind invites us into constant discovery of ourselves, our motivations and discovering what motivates others, what builds trust, what cultivates unity, but more importantly, what kind of leader are we becoming.
Discovery helps us to see and know our limits—employing grace for ourselves and others as we grow beyond those limits.
Discovery helps us see that as leaders we have influence. That doesn’t mean influence allows us to control everything.
Discovery helps us learn that as leaders we are serving others in humility and that it is not always about us.
My client discovered that the journey of leadership is never finished.
Each day brought her new beginnings, new insight, new challenges and new reasons to keep discovering and reflecting. She was proud of the work she did in those 8 months and looking ahead to her leadership – knowing she didn’t always have to have all the answers, nor do it all herself she had discovered her potential, her purpose as a leader and new possibilities that motivated her and that ultimately would motivate those she leads.
Discovery is how we grow—and growth is never wasted.