Storyweaving Article Published: On Purpose Woman Magazine
My article, Owning Your Leadership Purpose: Move Beyond Your Brand, has been published by the Maryland magazine, On Purpose Woman Magazine! (pages 78-81).
I explore the idea that our lived story can be lived deeply or shallowly — and that it depends on the context which one we might choose as leaders, entrepreneurs and creatives:
“There are two layers to living this story well and fully. The top layer is our public persona, our performance of the branding version of our purpose. This layer is helpful for entrepreneurs, and when performed with integrity, can support a healthy business. But there’s a seduction in this layer, which is the temptation to perform a role perfectly, so that we start to live and work our purpose from the outside in.
If we get stuck in this layer, we lose track of the soul’s story, because we shrink into economic and ego-driven leaders. Certainly, entrepreneurship-with-integrity is a powerful tool for personal and social change. But sustainable leadership is a soul’s calling. Great innovators integrate both layers. Great leaders align with their soul’s purpose, and are willing to be stretched, surprised, and strong.
Our roles will change as we grow our stories, but as part of our lived purpose, the soul’s story expands our choices with authenticity and clarity. Setbacks and victories, discoveries and accidents, all of these contribute to wisdom, and wisdom is all about change. Claiming the soul’s story makes change meaningful, connected with a resilient purpose that will carry you through all the leadership opportunities you are called to create.”
Living creatively and resiliently means connecting with our core values, our heartfelt purpose, and our calling in the world. That’s what I mean when I talk about our “soul’s story.” We may express it differently in different settings, but that lived story is the source of authenticity, satisfaction and, as Gandhi said, the courage to “be the change we want to see in the world.”
Wishing you courage and joy today as you lead with spirit and vision!