Leading from A Healthy Soul

It’s no news that great expectations trail leadership roles. Whether big or small, people expect a leader to lead effectively and deliver results no matter the capacity of the task. In the course of our lives, we will somehow fill one leadership role or another. These could be within social enhancing roles as parents and peers, or organization building roles as business owners and career professionals, or system building roles as political or religious leaders. 

Ever needed to catch your breath because you were thrust into a leadership role and didn’t seem to have a clue on how to go about it? Your uneasiness might have come from an unforeseen resignation from a leader directly above you, causing the urgent need for you to fill the vacuum. It may even be an expected promotion that leaves you feeling unworthy to lead a phenomenal team across multiple departments. The way you feel is understandable.

No two persons can lead in the same way. This is as a result of differences which could range from personality types to educational exposures, environmental and cultural influences, and a host of other subtle differences such as personal experiences and an individual’s appetite for self-development. A leader is expected to manage people in a way that is congenial and goal oriented. However, this isn’t always the case as problems created by poor leadership are rife within small units, as well as large systems.

In career settings, an individual’s rise to leadership as a result of brilliance may not necessarily translate to an ability to manage and lead people effectively. A guidance-based leadership role can spiral out of control if a leader fails to bridle excessive human impulses. No one wants to work in toxic communities or workplaces led by someone who harbors tendencies such as narcissism, manipulative tendencies, high-handedness, and the proliferation of unethical standards and attitudes.

The State of the American Manager report revealed that one in two employees forfeit their jobs to avoid a terrible managerial leader. This is in spite of organizational leadership gulping $358 billion globally in 2020, with the United States accounting for $165 billion, according to data from Training Industry.

The importance of leaders in moving every sphere of the human existence forward, one decision, one direction, and one task at a time cannot be overstated. As each one of us will play leadership roles at various stages of our lives, understanding who a leader is is imperative. However, much more imperative is becoming a leader with great leadership qualities, with a goal to leading from a healthy soul.

While a person can possess stellar leadership qualities such as foresight, intelligence and focus, these skills don’t necessarily translate to one’s capacity to lead from a healthy soul. Leading from a healthy soul is uncommon leadership, one not articulated within school texts on leadership, but one delivered through the mastery of one’s deepest self. How do you then ensure you’re leading from a healthy soul as a leader? To encapsulate this concept, soaking in the essential words is critical.

FIRST, WHO IS A LEADER?

A leader is someone saddled with the responsibility of delivering on a mission or set of goals with the help of enlisted subordinates (these subordinates may or may not have been enlisted by the leader).

SECOND, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HEALTHY?

To understand what it means to be healthy, we must first understand what health means; according to Merriam-Webster, it is “the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit especially freedom from physical disease or pain.” It could also mean “a condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well.” By extension, being healthy can mean to continue in a good physical or mental condition, free from uneasiness or pain.

NEXT, WHAT IS A SOUL? 

According to Collins Dictionary, it is “the spirit or immaterial part of man, the seat of human personality, intellect, will, and emotions, regarded as an entity that survives the body after death.” It is the essential part or fundamental nature of anything. Your soul is the part of you that consists of your mind, character, thoughts, and feelings. 

WHAT THEN DOES IT MEAN TO LEAD FROM A HEALTHY SOUL?

It means guiding followers, a team or subordinates to deliver on a mission or set of goals from a place of personality, intellectual, mental, emotional and spiritual soundness or balance. However, when you consider that no one human is perfect, how then can a leader function from a place of well-rounded balance?

Research by The Healthy Leader® revealed that who you are determines your worldview and the values you place as priority. Your values unconsciously impact the actions you take, and these actions determine your leadership effectiveness and the overall performance of your organization, small business or family. 

As such, you can actualize the possibility of leading with a healthy soul in the following ways:

• Understand your value system isn’t perfect but a work in progress just like those of everyone else. Hence, you need to stay on the path of growth, refining it to create a better you every day.
• Be self-aware of your personality type, strengths and flaws to understand your leadership style and how to effectively utilize it to positively influence your followers or subordinates.

• Create a plan of action for consistent development of your inner self through timely separation for spiritual, emotional and mental programs such as retreats, study, meditation and communion to build a better you.
• Be in constant communication with yourself, by using mental and written assessments to track progress in different aspects of your life that contribute to the improvement of your total wellbeing and value system.

You will then blossom into a leader who leads from a healthy soul because the following values will begin to flow through you:

• Empathy: You are thoughtful and considerate about those you lead, constantly putting yourself in their shoes, if possible, to understand how they feel on the job or on specific issues that affect their effectiveness. A study by State of the Workplace Empathy showed that most employees are willing to work longer for a leader who embodies empathy.
• Selflessness: You are a selfless, people-first leader in the discharge of your obligations. One who is willing to share wins with the team.
• Humility: You are humble about your achievements, knowing there are greater accomplishments ahead.
• Endearing: You take care of everyone through timely check-ups, carry everyone along and are far removed from encumbrances such as malice, envy, jealousy, backbiting etc. that can affect team progress.
• Supportiveness: You give others room to thrive by creating and/or genuinely supporting opportunities for growth and trust others to deliver results.
• Peacefulness: You exude peace. This enables you to command unity among teammates even in times of conflict by fostering initiatives that build peace.
• Two-way communicator: You communicate clearly about goals and expectations without assumptions, while giving appreciation where necessary. However, you aren’t scared to communicate your most sincere thoughts, dishing out criticisms constructively.
• Feedback oriented: You’re open to feedback from anyone, receiving unbiased feedback in good faith and addressing areas that need clarity or immediate attention.
• Learning oriented: In a world facing a knowledge spiral, you know you can’t learn everything so you’re eager and unafraid to keep fresh, young minds around you to fast-track learning and enable the realization of goals.
• Inspirational: Your team members see you as one to be mirrored, drawing inspiration from your influence and leadership style, and learning to treat themselves the way you treat them.

Leading with a healthy soul takes grit and focus to achieve. It’s a lifelong commitment to spiritual, emotional and mental development, bringing yourself to a place of self-awareness, self-love, and inner peace that’s translated to the world around you. As the terminology goes, garbage in, garbage out (GIGO). You can only give what you have. If you don’t have a healthy soul, you can’t lead with a healthy soul. Hence, think about this: what will it cost you to do what it takes to become a better you, so you can lead from a healthy soul in whatever capacity of leadership you find yourself?

This article was first published on the Iridescent Women platform.

https://iridescentwomen.com/2022/10/31/leading-from-a-healthy-soul/