I met Ginny Clarke when she spoke at a Southwire Leadership Luncheon and immediately felt a connection, especially when she gave me a shout out in a packed room as a fellow Kellogg grad.
When I uncovered her podcast (Fifth-Dimensional Leadership), I started listening, well, because it was Ginny. But I kept listening because it was inspiring. What particularly drew me in was her intro
“Are you ready to speak your truth and live in alignment with your highest potential?”
Now that sounds more like something my yoga teacher would ask….not a senior leader in a global tech company and host of a podcast on personal and professional development.
So, I continued to listen and learn.
Here are a few of the highlights for me:
This time we’re in right now is not business as usual. COVID 19 has created unimaginable change…to the way we work, live, eat, communicate, and socialize. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary leadership and extraordinary leaders.
The one unifying trait that all leaders have is that they heard the call, and they answered it. So whether you’re the leader of a fortune 500 company leading from your living room instead of the board room, or you are leading just by exhibiting the self-discipline to wash your hands on a regular basis (and wear a mask), lead from where you are with what you have!
We all need to step up and lead from where we are. Consciously, compassionately, fearlessly. Act intentionally and speak with intention.
She walks listeners through a meditation exercise in which we envision the Himalayan Mountain range (a sight that, by the way, has become visible from more than 100 miles away due to the reduction in air pollution caused by the country's coronavirus lockdown.) The exercise helped me identify what obscures my mountain (my greatness) from view, what is clouding my greatness, my capacity, my propensity to lead? The only thing standing in the way of greatness is the unproductive thoughts and feelings that I allow in that create the haze around my mountain (my greatness). Powerful exercise.
She offers a series of introspective questions designed to help you identify and grow your inner leader.
And the wrap-up encouraged my optimistic attitude:
“This is not business as usual – but don’t let that stop you. Instead, let “this is not business as usual” free you to what’s possible….let that empower you to try something different, to do something better, to be bold and to lead from where you are right now with what you have!”
Thanks to Ginny Clarke for her inspiring podcast – I can’t wait to listen to more.
Photo by Fahrul Azmi on Unsplash