'Why leadership matters to you'

By Heart Blog

What counts to you - counts

I'll come out and say it – I fairly stumbled into the specialism of Leadership Coaching. I had not started out feeling particularly expert about the topic of leadership, or particularly interested. I was in there by chance. Or so I thought.

Perhaps you already are crystal-clear about the role that leadership plays in human lives. Perhaps you've accepted as received wisdom that it has a role to play, and left it at that. Or you may be one of many who simply have not had cause to give it much thought.

Wherever on that continuum you currently find yourself, since you are here, I have an invitation for you:

Make it personal.

I've been asking people to jot down what they associate with leadership. Here is an example, a mind-map by my friend Caroline:

Rather than recounting for you other people's reasons to care about leadership, I am now inviting you to discover yours.

Grab a piece of paper, put 'leadership' in the middle, and summon up what you have about it.

It'll start out looking like this (that's all I gave to Caroline to get her going):

My experience is that, through doing this exercise, people discover that they have a lot more about leadership than they estimate. They get into memories that are hugely significant to them. They mention teachers and public figures they'd found inspiring. They include concerns about abuse of power, the shadow side of leadership, alongside qualities and accomplishments they admire.

If you want a further prompt, try a grown-up version of 5W questions they use in schools:

Who?
E.g., Who do you think of when you think of leadership?
Who is meant to lead?
Who is involved or affected?
What?
E.g., What has leadership brought about for you?
What would you change if you could?
Where?
E.g., Where does leadership belong?
Where are the secrets to leadership kept?
When?
E.g., When has leadership played a part in your life?
When is it needed most?
How?
E.g., How have you seen people lead?
How do you go about leading?

As a coach, my interest is in helping people know their own mind. While coaching, I share what's on my mind only when I estimate that it will be of use to my clients.

And so here:

What did you find?

Why does leadership matter to you?

How can what you now know serve you?

My map revealed one thing: that my whole life had prepared me for this work. I just hadn't spotted the signs until I put it down in black and white, on a piece of paper in front of me.

If you'd like to see my map of leadership, drop me a line. It is a fluid thing, and grows as I learn, every day.

And of course, if you want company for discovering your power to lead, and the delight of following skillfully, it would be my pleasure to act as your guide and companion.

Photo by Sophia Baboolal on Unsplash

Your best thinking has taken you this far.
To go further, you need to expand your horizons, reach out into the as-yet-unknown.

ByHeart Coaching uses proven coaching methodologies to support you in achieving your goals. We add Psychosynthesis psychology and expertise in leadership into the mix, both of which allow you to resolve long-standing tangles, take fuller ownership of your potential and your destiny, and venture ahead unhindered.

Margarita Steinberg ByHeart coaching introduction

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Margarita Steinberg

I am a Leadership Coach with a specialism in Psychosynthesis psychology. I am the founder of ByHeart Coaching, and this blog grows out of my coaching work. I am also a qualified and experienced teacher, and draw on training in counselling skills.

I work with individuals and couples, as private clients; I also work with organisations through running leadership coaching programmes and group workshops.

PUBLICATIONS
A chapter on my innovative learning format using embodied learning appears in the book 'Disrupting traditional pedagogy: Active Learning in Practice' published by University of Sussex Press in June 2019.

In preparation: my first book 'One step at a time: how to thrive in a dynamic world'

Find out more about my work

Coaching with Psychosynthesis | ByHeart Coaching

Coaching with Psychosynthesis psychology is a powerful path to your goals | ByHeart Coaching with Margarita Steinberg

Coaching with Psychosynthesis | ByHeart Coaching

Coaching with Psychosynthesis psychology is a powerful path to your goals | ByHeart Coaching with Margarita Steinberg

How It Works | ByHeart Coaching

ByHeart's Six-Step Process for individuals and couples

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