In exploring beyond boundaries, boundless, there have been many experiences of letting go. To explore a life in Australia, I left my culture, community and family behind in Canada. I let go of the known to seek out the new.
A leadership mindset for exploration
Boundless Leadership has at its core the premise of expansion and growth. It has the energy of seeking, of evolution.
Within that concept there lies another one: expansion is not uni-directional. It has movement backwards and forwards. Boundless Leadership is an oscillation between limitless possibilities, and returning to the core of who you are, and the fabric of your being.
Nature reveals the essence of being Boundless. In living plants there is a stretching for growth. I look out to my garden and I see the almond tree push out new branches to the sky, I see weeds squeeze life from the tiniest of cracks. Everywhere nature hums the song of life, for growth. It has an expansive quality that is intoxicating!
And yet there is another experience too.
My chicken Xena died today. I watched the slow letting go of consciousness and the empty cells left behind. Everywhere around her there was the thriving energy of spring and newness. And with her, a letting go, a passing.
So too in Boundless Leadership: as we grow, explore, we let go: of who we were, of people and experiences left behind. And yet there is a return to centre when we visit with our origin story, the people and places that are woven in to the tapestry of our life.
Spending time with my parents, we reminisce, a return to beginnings. And we share what’s next: new plans and new adventures for each of us. This oscillation from the leading edge of growth back to the origin is a boundless swing. Old stories are surfaced, explored, and seen in a new light. Like mushrooms growing in the dark, there is new life from decay.
So too trees grow and let go - of leaves, branches, bark, seeds, and eventually of life itself. The death of a tree is an expansive moment - a return to source.
Returning to centre is part of the leadership journey
Boundless Leadership is about the fullness of experience: the elixir of the new and the tang of loss.
I can’t help but think of our modern-day extreme adventurers: those who seek to be the first to live on Mars, buying a one-way ticket to that distant red dot.
Boundless Leadership is not a one-way ticket. These new Martians will experience the true nature of being Boundless: literally leaving everything physical they know behind: their friends, family, and planet. This will need a strong oscillation to the core of who they are: what is most important, their values, their resilience, their very sense of humanity and service to the future of human-kind.
The farther you go, the stronger your return to centre needs to be.
How strong is your centre? How often do you oscillate to the core of you are? What boundaries are you exploring? What shores are you leaving?
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Related Articles:
How to survive making the hard decisions
What's on your horizon? Is it time to explore?
Boundless Leadership: Courage to Leave the Shore
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About the author, Canberra leadership expert Zoë Routh:
Canberra based leadership expert, Zoë Routh, shares a leadership mindset for exploration.
Zoë Routh is one of Australia’s leading experts on people stuff - the stuff that gets in our way of producing results, and the stuff that lights us up. She works with the growers, makers, builders to make people stuff fun and practical.
Zoë is the author of four books: Composure - How centered leaders make the biggest impact, Moments - Leadership when it matters most, Loyalty - Stop unwanted staff turnover, boost engagement, and build lifelong advocates, and People Stuff - Beyond Personalities: An advanced handbook for leadership. People Stuff was awarded Book of the Year 2020 by the Smart WFM Australian Business Book Awards.
Zoë is also the producer of The Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast.