Wise Wednesdays

It’s easy to see power and love as antithetical to each other. You might have an instinctive reaction to one or the other word. [Read on or try this 1 min video] Power has often been abused in human history escalating into oppression; while love can become placid and weak in relationships devolving into people-pleasing subordination. Great leaders are aware of these pitfalls.   “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.   Today, I think of power as the ability to self-define and act; and love as the capacity to be with whatever is here. PRACTISE FIERCE LOVE / COMPASSIONATE PERSISTENCE  Like MLK (Martin Luther King), I also believe that they go together at their best. Perhaps as something called fierce love or compassionate persistence . Their combi...

When you’re claiming your freedom to the career and life that you truly want (and stepping into a level of leadership and impact that is yours to create in this life), you will feel two things: fire and guilt. Why the guilt? Well, allow me to share from my experience. When I started to change my career I felt guilty for: 1) A sense that I’m disrespecting the sacrifices my family have made for me (with no guarantee of success in my new path) 2) A feeling that I’m damaging relationships and burning bridges with my professional world (and not knowing how else to manage that) 3) Breaking with norms and expectations of society (without any clear alternative of what I wanted instead – how childishly unrealistic, right?!) Essentially, claiming the change that you want can feel like a rejection of the world that nurtured you and shaped you. How could you not feel guilty? This can be particularly true if you’ve experienced some kind of ‘upward social mobility’ through your career i.e. you...

Have you noticed that being energised feels a little more challenging than usual this January? Perhaps you have great ideas but feel a little sluggish? I was talking with a client last week who, over the past three years, has transitioned from a director role in a global organisation to being an independent consultant in sustainable food policy.   Her project roster is pretty full – a blessing and a challenge - and she’s getting to the point where she needs to refine her Project Filter to prioritise opportunities and clients that are 100% aligned for her.   But there’s a sense of seriousness in going through the motions, albeit towards goals that she cares about. It doesn’t help that the pandemic and its restriction on various opportunities outside the home has narrowed the scope for new, non-work opportunities. As a result, life feels somewhat dry and devoid of spontaneity and surprise. She feels she’s become ‘too serious’. My guess is that she’s not alone. Yes, the seriousne...