With the restrictions of Covid-19 meaning that more time is being spent at home, I have found myself scrolling through the TV trying to find something inspirational to watch. When that fails, I try to just find something that will hold my attention long enough to forget how much I miss hanging out with people.
While perusing Netflix I found a series called 100. It is a sci-fi drama series about people returning to the planet earth almost 100 years after a nuclear war destroyed it. It focuses on how the teenagers who were sent down to see if the planet was inhabitable deal with the fact that there are people still alive on the planet.
What makes me think about this, as I was deciding what to blog about this week, is the struggles that the leaders go through in trying to make the tough decisions. Decisions that could save or end the lives of 100's if not 1000's of people. Then I think on the leadership decisions that we have to make on a daily basis. Could I be the leader of 1000's of people? Could I know that the decisions that I am making are right or wrong? Am I actually leading myself?
Now that is a question to ponder. Leadership is a skill, like any other, that can be mastered., But the truth is that in order to be able to lead anyone else, you need to be able to master leadership of yourself. So what does that look like? Well the truth is that it can look like any number of things for any number of people.
Are you mastering your thoughts, or are you letting your thoughts control you? Are you mastering your emotions, or are they controlling you? Are you mastering your time, or is it controlling you? These are just some of the questions that we need to ask ourselves.
I always remember having my grandmother teaching me about working hard, and I always remember her saying that you should never expect anyone to do something that you yourself aren't willing to do, and also that no matter what job you had, do it to 100% of your ability. Whether it was scrubbing toilets or being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, always give your all.
So maybe we need to spend some time looking at how we are leading ourselves. Are we better leaders to others than we are to ourselves. What areas do you feel that you are providing yourself enough leadership in? How can you change that? Who can you learn from, or who can you ask for help?
We may not be in post apocalyptic earth (even though some days it feels like it), but we do need to learn to be the best leaders in our own lives that we can be, because our lives do depend on it.
Comments