Good evening from YVR, as I head out for a session with a client in the Okanagan valley. This week is all about leadership development. And I’ve been reflecting on a series of questions that I’ve been using as a discipline each night for the last 4 months or so. And I’ve found the discipline of answering them to be quite strengthening, profound and paradigm changing. These kinds of questions figure prominently in Wisdom traditions, and I believe are integral to successful leadership.
I use a journal to record my answers, and assuming you’d like to use the same or similar practice, journalling might work for you, but you can also simply sit quietly and answer the questions in your own mind. As the evening draws to a close for you, find a quiet place, where you can be undisturbed for 15 minutes or so, and take the time to answer the following four questions:
1. What am I thankful for today? (It is clear that gratitude in our lives increases our life expectantly, and gives us a clear sense of humility)
2. What went well today? (All too often we focus on our mistakes, but to acknolwedge our successes provides strength and builds confidence)
3. Where did I mess up today? (By humbly acknowledging that we have messed up, we might find patterns of behaviour, and identify triggers that we can work towards mitigating)
4. Where can I make amends for my mistakes? (Recognizing that amends may not be possible right now, we can though identify how we might work towards repairing and enhancing relationships)
My experience in building this discipline into my daily practice as a leader has been that I recognize how much each of us depends on teams and relationships; I am more confident in what I do well; and more aware of the mistakes, especially recurring ones, and am starting to build strategies to mitigate the risks associated with these patterns. I am, in short, building on my self awareness, and that is fundamental to my ability to lead.
May each of us find a way of increasing our own sefl awareness!