When I first became aware of Nick Williams a couple of years ago, I remember reading that he was running a six-month leadership programme. I was intrigued but thought to myself, “It’s not for the likes of me – I’m not a leader.”
At the time I was happy to stay in the background, dipping my toe in the Inspired Entrepreneur waters by attending evening events, then scuttling away again.
But when Nick launched the Inspired Entrepreneur Community in April 2012, I was one of the first in line, because I knew that being among like-minded people would help me get out of my comfort zone and climb up to the next level.
When I found out that one of the regular community sessions was called The Leadership Circle, again I wondered if I was in the right place, or perhaps fooling myself that I might have any leadership qualities at all.
But after two years’ worth of Nick’s gentle wisdom and support, I now accept that I have something to offer as a thought-leader and, as his brand-new website is about to proclaim, that we are all Born to Lead.
I have had to examine the stories I’ve been telling myself about leadership, and realised that I’ve done a very good job of talking myself out of stepping to the front.
It was a decision I made many years ago, after a spell in charge of a magazine landed me in the doctor’s surgery with a diagnosis of nervous exhaustion.
Reaching burnout had convinced me I was not leadership material and far better off as a deputy – when I had been happier and enjoyed more freedom.
From that point on, I hid in the shadows and ran a mile from any job that might put me in danger of becoming exhausted again.
I become a happy Backroom Bev, oiling the wheels of the newspaper production machine – I liked to think of myself as an invisible mender.
It was only when I decided to re-train as a life coach and start my own practice that I understood the importance of becoming visible.
As Nick has so often said, there is no value in playing small, and not showing up is an act of grandiosity every bit as false as showing off.
As I’ve developed my ideas about the power of story, I have come to understand how vital it is to examine your narrative around leadership, and to re-story what kind of leader you want to be and why.
Do you believe you are a leader-in-waiting? Or do you resist the call to visibility as a leader-in-hiding?
Now that I’m rewriting my stories about leadership I’d love to help you rewrite yours.
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