Courage.
Care.
Connection.
Three things that make us great leaders and three of my core values.
Not that this means I have them all nailed,
Not in the least,
But because I recognize that they are so deeply important to me,
I work on honoring them continuously.
I know the value of them and I know the impact when I live by them.
Courage has been described as fear walking as it is about doing things,
Showing up and living with integrity when that is scary or when doing so will cost us.
It may cost us something less important than what we will gain or are standing up for,
But it can be a cost all the same.
I often imagine taking my fear,
A smaller vulnerable part of me,
By the hand and striding forwards,
Feeling the fear but doing it anyway and acknowledging that fear and holding it with love and care.
Care has always been a biggie for me.
In fact,
As a young adult,
I was a care assistant.
I chose not to train as a nurse because I loved care work so much.
People have often commented throughout life with something like surprise on how much I do care and it is something I need to look after in myself because I can literally find myself holding the world's pain.
I don't mean for people,
But connecting,
Empathizing and being with it.
To do this is important to me,
But it requires boundaries and being able to bring myself back to my own route so that I don't get engulfed by it and debilitated.
In coaching,
As in the rest of life,
If I don't hold this boundary,
I am not much use to anyone.
I hold a deeply caring space as I coach,
But I need to stay objective for the benefit of the people I work with and this is absolutely true as a mother too.
Though I do find this harder to hold boundaries,
As my children get older,
They need me to step back more and more as they grow,
So the role of my caring for them evolves and I am continuously finding my way.
Connection,
Of course,
Is so much of who we are as animals.
As humans,
We are pack animals.
We need connection.
We need to be connected to ourselves,
To be connected with others,
As well as being connected with the rest of nature.
And we need to be surrounded by other human connections.
It nourishes us,
Upholds us and gives us access to courage and care.
This has all got so much to do with the work I do,
Working with people to access their courage,
To show care towards themselves and to nurture their connection with themselves and to be in more choice about how they show up in their relationships and in life.
As well as having so much to do with how I grow as human,
How I show up in life,
How I find my way.
Living by my framework of root deep,
Stand strong and branch out.
Working with the way we are built rather than against it.
This is the journey and our core values are part of our root system.
So I wonder,
What keeps you rooted in who you are?
So that you grow and flourish in the way that you want to and that is in alignment with yourself.
