Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity co-facilitate leadership labs for senior managers of a prominent company along with a brilliant team of facilitators from Potentia. These leadership labs are a confluence of process work, group activities, and contemplative conversations that can uncover deep insights unique to each participant helping them discover the North Star of their leadership.
Magic of Process Work
Over the years, I’ve found process work a fascinating way to peal the layers of our consciousness to engage meaningfully with some of the fundamental questions of human existence - Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here?
The participants came from diverse business verticals, met each other as strangers and left as friends and co-travellers who shared some of their deepest joys, sorrows, and dilemmas with each other.
The vulnerability, courage, and compassion that was co-created in the space left me feeling in awe of the power of human connection that comes with being present in the here and now. Neither trying to escape into the comfort or sorrows of the past, nor into fantasies of an imagined future. Just the practice of returning to the present moment dealing with the beautiful mess of the reality as it is experienced in the here and now.
Gifts of Resonant Learning
Here are a few amongst the many gifts I received during the course of this program:
There is no one right. You can choose to be either right or heal.
Honour what brought you thus far. All of it. The beautiful and the ugly.
History need not repeat itself. Being present and presence can create new histories. What is it that you wish to seed and nurture today?
Change begins in the here and now. There is no auspicious moment to wait for. Action creates movement. Act. Now!
Discovering Your North Star
In Indian mythology, Dhruva Nakshatra (Pole Star) is a metaphor for the journey of living a life with a deep awareness of one’s potential and purpose. One who does it also becomes a guiding light for others on the path.
Yoga sūtrās talks of the qualities of shraddha (unshakeable conviction), vīrya (courage), and īśvara praṇidhāna (surrender to the divine intelligence) as three essential qualities to walk the path. As a leader, these are essential qualities one needs to nurture to lead with agility and compassion in turbulent and uncertain times.
Leaving you with this inspiring poem (composed by William Ernest Henley) from the movie, Invictus, which features Nelson Mandela in his first term as the President of the post-Apartheid South Africa, inspring the national Rugby team to the Rugby World Cup win. You don’t want to look any further to find a role model who practiced the power to change and create new histories through compassion and sensitivity.
The Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
What is your inner compass in leading your life?
Do you know the North Star of your leadership?
I would love to hear from you in the comments or DM.
I loved the note and the reflections you shared hari. I echo the same and i resonate with the magic of process work and the beauty and joy that unfolds in the peeling. Thank u ❤️