When I first started sharing my thoughts on LinkedIn about leadership, work, and teams, I made a fundamental mistake. My posts were filled with tips and tricks. Hacks, even (I know, I used to write about them myself). I thought I was being helpful, offering practical solutions to common problems. I genuinely believed that if people just followed my advice, they would achieve greater success.
But as I’ve spent the past few years coaching leaders and teams, I’ve come to a profound realization: it’s exactly these well-intentioned tips and tricks that often keep my clients trapped in the same endless cycle of striving. They’re constantly searching for the next quick fix, the next magic bullet, the next external solution that will finally unlock their potential.
It’s as if everything is about finding a solution somewhere, someday. You just need to buy it, do it, complete it, achieve it, what not. There’s this pervasive sense that good things only happen in the future, never now. The next promotion, the next achievement, the next purchase – that’s what will finally make you happy.
But the truth is, it never does. Because the magic we’re all searching for isn’t out there, in some distant future. It’s already here, right now. Within you.
It sounds rather easy, and in its essence, it can be easy. But the reality is that even sitting still for five minutes without any external input can be incredibly difficult for many people. We’re so used to being constantly stimulated, constantly doing, constantly striving, that the idea of simply being can feel foreign, even frightening.
We’re afraid of what might surface if we actually quiet the noise and tune into ourselves. We’re afraid of confronting our fears, our insecurities, our limiting beliefs. We’re afraid of feeling unproductive, of wasting time.
Leadership profits from stillness
But that stillness, that quiet space, is where the real transformation begins. It’s where we reconnect with our inner wisdom, our values, our true selves. It’s where we discover that the answers we’re searching for are already within us.
That’s why I like to start with my clients in that quiet space. We begin by simply being present, without judgment, without striving. We explore what arises when we let go of the need to control, the need to fix, the need to achieve.
And it’s in those moments of stillness that the magic happens. It’s not a sudden epiphany, but a gradual awakening. A subtle shift in perspective. Even a softening of the edges.
And once a smile starts appearing on their face, a genuine smile that comes from deep within, that’s when they know it’s worth it. That’s when they realize that the journey to true success, true fulfillment, begins not with external solutions, but with internal exploration. It begins with embracing the present moment, with connecting with the magic that’s already there, within each of us.
It begins with letting go of the endless cycle of striving and discovering the power of simply being.
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