I want to start Lesson #6 by saying this: Telling someone to lighten up is probably the least effective way to get her to lighten up.
There. Now that we’ve got that settled. 🙂
One of my favorite activities to teach in workshops and to help coaching clients with involves discerning what I call your Leadership Legacy. Through a brief series of exercises, I help you land on a key word or phrase that will best describe you as a leader. This can simplify the often complex world of leadership and serve as a reminder, guide, and decision-making tool.
One of my Leadership Legacy words is meaningful. This word holds incredible value to me for a number of reasons; a few years ago, however, I realized it also began to hold a different definition: serious. I had gotten to a point where everything felt serious, important, heavy. That’s not how I wanted to define “meaningful,” nor how I wanted to be defined or remembered.
So I started a project I called 42 Days of Yes. For 42 days, I committed to saying “yes” to a daily opportunity that I’d normally turn down out of fear, lack of time, seemed too silly, or one of the myriad other excuses I had generated. That 42-day experiment changed my whole perspective.
“Lighten Up” now serves as one of my 6 Guiding Principles for my work, leadership, and life. Not in an accusatory tone (“Gees, you need to lighten up!”) but as a reminder to embrace playfulness, silliness, and lightheartedness. My Guiding Principles are prominently posted in my office as a reminder, and fortunately I’ve also surrounded myself with human reminders of this as well (such as the lovely ladies pictured here who helped so much with Spark last year!). I’m thrilled to know that “meaningful” and “goofy” can exist in the same space. 🙂
Where do you need to lighten up in your work, leadership, or life? How might you do that in a fun and purposeful way?
As I celebrate 14 years in business this month, I’m sharing 14 lessons – one per post – that I’ve learned (many the hard way) over the years. I hope they help you work with meaning and live with purpose!