One of the leaders I’m working with took a year before reaching out for help.
The discomfort had to become painful enough to do something.
As a leader, it’s difficult.
It’s even more difficult to ask for help and support.
The more senior you get, the more alone you become.
You can’t ask people for advice – you’re the leader!
You’re meant to know all of the answers – right?!
It can be hard when you’re faced with a challenge you don’t have the answers to.
You lose confidence in yourself and it’s hard to ask for support and help.
If you’re really senior you also have lots of people around you who tell you what you want to hear.
So you are removed from the truth through impression management – people saving face and managing how you perceive them.
There’s a cost to this.
It’s small initially but over your career the cost is huge.
Being removed from the truth means your decisions are never going to be as accurate.
This is the value of having someone outside of the company, qualified, objective, supportive, challenging and holding you accountable to act not just talk.
Talking is easy.
Acting with awareness is more difficult.
Compassion is empathy plus action.
Without the action, you’re just listened to.
When you act on it, you’re understood and I think that feels dramatically different.
People want to help you.
It is possible to move through what’s going on for you at the moment!
And it’s possible for you.
Keep going.
Onwards.
