• A B O U T
  • B L O G
    • W E L L B E I N G
    • H O M E
    • F A M I L Y
    • S T Y L E
    • W O R K
    • S E R I E S
  • S H O P
  • F A V O R I T E S
  • S E A R C H
Menu

M A K E S H I F T

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number

Your Custom Text Here

M A K E S H I F T

  • A B O U T
  • B L O G
  • T O P I C S
    • W E L L B E I N G
    • H O M E
    • F A M I L Y
    • S T Y L E
    • W O R K
    • S E R I E S
  • S H O P
  • F A V O R I T E S
  • S E A R C H
IMG_3484.jpg

B L O G

Willing Leadership

May 3, 2017 cord

Maddie just wrote a post about Reluctant Leadership and it got me thinking about similar feelings I've had about my own leadership. Here is my version:

I have always thought of myself as a leader. Probably because our parents often said the choice was to lead or to follow. While I've done my fair share of following my friends, I often said no to many things my friends were doing because, yes mom, I am a leader.

I say I am a willing leader because I am. I am willing to do the service that is required when being a leader. I am willing to "eat last" as Simon Sinek would say. I am willing to lead even when the path is dark and I feel incapable. Because that is what it's about right? Being brave even when I feel fear? That is why I loved Maddie's post, because even though she is talking about being a mother, she is talking about a feeling ALL humans have, fear.

_____________

When I started co-facilitating Urban Empowerment, a 200 hour teacher training at Urban Body Yoga this past January, I was met head on with a rush of no way, you aren't capable of leading 28 other people, no way you know anything about anything, you might as well read them a book and then hide in a corner, you are a fraud. Really. Those thoughts really happened. But alas, my name was on the website, I was committed and this baby, so to speak, needed it's leader.

As a leader I lead willingly, I willingly listened to the feedback of my co-leaders and community, I willingly prepared more and willingly I tried again. Somewhere in the willingness to be brave, I discovered something; I am capable!

_____________

In all the definitions of facilitator/leader/teacher/mother I've seen, none of them say "must know everything." The power of I DON'T KNOW has been amazing. While I am guiding a group, if something comes up and I feel inadequate to answer, I can say, I don't know, let me do some digging and get back to you with an answer. Of course there is a fine line between needing to know and being free to say I don't know. I need to know my material, I am claiming to be able to lead them through and I don't have to know EVERYTHING. Do you see the distinction? It's important.

Here is the other important distinction, no where in the definition of leader is there the word perfect. I once told my mom I didn't understand how people could be mad at a pastor for cheating on his wife. He was human after all, weren't Christians supposed to be forgiving? She made her response clear, yes, leaders are humans, they do make mistakes and they deserve to be forgiven. They are also choosing to be leaders, choosing to take the high road, choosing to set an example. So yes, their actions have bigger consequences because they took on a bigger role.

As a willing leader, I am willing to be human, I am willing to make mistakes. That is different than letting myself off the hook. I say I am willing to lead because I am willing to be imperfect AND to be an example. I am willing to make mistakes AND to always consider how my actions effect others. I am willing to be criticized. I am willing to have thick skin because as a leader, my imperfections are often the most judged parts of me.

_____________

Being willing to lead also means I am willing to follow. I imagine life like one, never ending, assembly line. When I receive my parts to assemble, I do my work, when I am done, I pass it to the next person and wait for my hands to be filled again. I am before the people in the line behind me and I am behind the people in the line before me. Just like leading. I have a place and I have a task. When I give what I have, naturally I am open to take what I need.

As a leader I am willing to stay in the work, to keep replenishing my stock, to do and be what I am asking my students to do and be.

I won't say leadership is hard, I am removing 'hard' from my vocabulary. I will say leadership is a choice. It takes willingness and work. It takes time and effort. It might come naturally and it might not. It is not perfection or omnipresence. It's a blessing and it's what I pick over and over even though it can be uncomfortable. I am willing to lead and that means I am willing to serve.


In W E L L B E I N G Tags Lessons, Year One Favorites
← Doing it Alone: a Practical ApproachMethods: Cast Iron Pans →
 

IMG_3484.jpg

Hi. We're
Maddie + Cord.

Friends turned co-authors. We tell true stories about our lives-in-progress. Playing with food and essential oils, teaching yoga, mom-ing, styling and designing. Making and trying things, because we can't help it, not because we know what we're doing. We're here for the connections. 

About Cord
About Maddie

EO-ebookbanner-01.png

Screen Shot 2018-12-20 at 1.44.27 PM.png
FREE 2019 Calendar

fashionABLE+bags.jpeg

SHOP WITH US

//our favorite brands//

Favicon-04.png

get new posts sent to your email.

Done! You're on the list.

F O L L O W   U S

Current motto: ‘If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.’ - Wayne Dyer
A tidy corner in my office. Well nearly, the radiator is covered in dust bunnies still.
And 10 years later here we are... .
.
Top left: our first official photo together.
Bottom left: our most recent photo together. 
Top right: our first summer together 
Bottom right: our past summer together.
.
.
#10yearschallenge #happydatinganniversary
Facts: Freddie’s head is huge because her brain is awesome, also she holds her weight in her cheeks #wellfed Her eyes are still light blue, she’s turning me onto pink, and her little fists are hardcore af. She couldn’t get here soon enough. Like where has she been my whole life? #freddieanne
I like how life shapes these rooms. I decorate them, and then gifts and rituals and time and personality and lots of mess morphs them to better serve the souls that rest here. #nurserynooks
Dressed appropriately for bacon at the Friendly Fox. #phoenixwashburn

2016 Makeshift Blog. All Rights Reserved.  All content and photos are  owned by Madeline Fisher & Cordelia McClintock unless otherwise noted. Please use with permission only. All sponsored content and links are noted.