In the last month, our worlds – as we knew them – have shifted and changed and we are all making sense in our ‘own’ way. To quote a friend: “The challenge is to find a balance between being pollyannaish and alarmist”. As I participate in conversations with different groups – coaching community, executives, leaders – global and local, friends and others – the one aspect that gets underlined in each conversation is our very individual ‘meaning making ability’: how do we see the world?
As we struggle to find vision, understanding, clarity and agility and seek ways to continue to being effective and deliver ‘more’ that the present is asking of us; engage with our teams, friends and family with expansion/ease and communicate with care and intent – an understanding of our ownselves will help us manage in a manner that is authentic and true to who we are and what we want others to aspire to. This moment is also asking us to be compassionate and give ourselves more grace. In other words cut others and most
importantly, ourselves, some slack.
Purpose, Safety and Intelligences
Now, like never before, is this need to manage the polarity between our purpose and personal safety. We’ve all heard of the ‘flight, fight, fright’ syndrome – our instinctive response to any situation that ‘threatens’ us or our way of being and doing. In this time we are seeking refuge and drawing further into our own ways of protecting ourselves. Some of us need more distance, some are craving more connection while some are getting rooted in passivity. As I write this, I am finding that my sense of worth and security is causing me to be driven – I need to do something to feel worthwhile. We all are seeking succor and strength through mindfulness, breathing exercises, virtual connection (Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp – as they enable us to ‘see’ each other!) and/or conversations that are intentional.
The certainty and control that is habitual for us is not there. At best of times we do not have the language to express how we feel (Google the mood meter and you’ll get a flavor!) and all this reflects in how we present ourselves – languid, listless to loud – anywhere on the continuum. Normally crisp, the other day I found my response so scattered to an innocuous ‘how are you doing’? Had to consciously gather and focus.
We have multiple – six – intelligences in us that all come together when we are faced with any situation. A couple – cognitive and emotional – most of us are familiar with. All these intelligences contribute to and determine how we behave and what is visible to others and how we are seen in the world. It is like a dance: and we undulate to the music that is singularly our own. This inner play impacts our outer game!
(Curious? You can learn more here: https://www.newventureswest.com/what-is-integral-coaching/)
The Invitation: Personal Mastery
Leadership is more necessary than ever and it starts with self.
At the corporate level – matrix organizations are making ‘leaders at all levels’ even more of a reality in today’s world.
Leaders are defined by not only ‘what they do’ and ‘how they do it’. What sets them apart is a belief that inspires them and a cause that drives them: they help people find the power to do what matters to them and show others how to reach their full potential. Inherent in leadership are management competencies and working in the business. What sets us apart as a leader is our ability to manage relationships and work on the business.
VUCA in the present pandemic impacted situation, has developed an additional layer of complexity – a temporary state that will create an everlasting impact on us, our relationships, our organizations, our economy, our environment. The interconnectedness is being experienced and illustrated even more clearly than ever before. And we have no means of knowing what that new world will look like. Hey, we can’t even time travel to our next holiday with any certainty yet!
The ‘ask’ has become bigger than ever for our leaders and we will see a whole new set of them emerging. Always, for me, the situation defines what that leadership should look like? I thus do not ascribe to any particular style of leadership. However, what will serve us as a leader – across all situations – will be our Creative competencies of Self-Awareness, Relating, Authenticity, Systems Awareness and of course, Achieving. But then, we all have self-limiting Reactive tendencies and behaviors – the inner beliefs and assumptions that limit effectiveness, authentic expression and empowering leadership.
Free Assessment
To get a sense of ‘where am I’ on my creative and reactive inner game, as a member of an exclusive community, I can direct you to the Leadership Circle Profile for a free assessment. The report is in graph form and shows your Creative strengths and Reactive tendencies in an ‘above and below the line’ format. It helps uncover the some of our blind spots and explain the stories we tell about ourselves. Please remember, that BOTH contribute to your success as a leader and are our innate gifts!
https://leadershipcircle.com/en/home/
If you wish for a deeper debrief into your profile, you can share your profile and schedule time with me. Yes, there is a
discounted rate associated with that.

Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riturohatgi/
Senior Executive Coach: https://aiirconsulting.com/profile/ritu-rohatgi/
Credit: Photo by Mark Olsen on Unsplash