Good afternoon from a chilly but lovely Prince Rupert, BC. I hope this finds each of you engaged in changing your world for the better.
A wonderful blog from Harvard Business Review today titled “Why Inspiration Matters” by Scott Barry Kaufman. The piece begins with a wonderful quote from Rudyard Kipling, “when your demon is in charge, do not try to think consciously. Drift, wait, and obey.” I am a big fan of Rudyard Kipling who wrote, amoung other pieces, “The Jungle Book” and the amazing poem, “If”. I urge you to read Kaufman’s piece at www.hbr.com .
In the meantime, for our short reflection this afternoon, after reading Kipling’s line, I was reminded of a conversation with a friend the other day who said that she was “making decisions from fear.” Wonderfully for her, she was able to see that she was making fear based decisions, and that was therefore the first step changing her behaviour. When we make decisions from fear, we are ‘possessed’ in some ways by Kipling’s ‘demon’. It is not our best selves making the decision.
And that got me thinking, short of finding Max von Sydow of “Exorcist” fame to help us, how we might really move away from ‘demons’ like fear based decisions. First, Mr. Kipling is correct; ‘drift, wait and obey’ is very good advice. Go for a walk, a run, do some exercise, do something completely unrelated to the issue at hand, and more than likely clarity will regain control. Another possibility; find a confidante, someone with whom you can be completely yourself, and in doing so, your stronger, better, more authentic self will more likely emerge. Or thirdly, write in a journal, or send an email to yourself about what’s going on, byt focusing on the activity of writing, you’ll likely free space in your mind to allow your better self to speak up.
We all find ourselves in situations where our fears and egos can take over, and we make mistakes. Being conscious of when such ‘demons’ have control is an important step in conscious leadership, and thus far more powerful and effective leadership.
May we each find sometime this week to “drift, wait and obey.”