Whether we want to find our life purpose, identify our priorities for the day, or simply remain calm and focused as we work to achieve those things, our first step must always be to centre and ground.
In times of churning, when so much around us is changing, this can be difficult. As we face changing demands and hear of unexpected events in the news, we can feel as if we are in a small boat, buffeted by the waves.
I had an experience of this when I was 19. I took my youngest brother boating for the first time, on a nearby pleasure lake. He was only six years old and as I rowed across the shallow water he became quite scared. I stopped and explained that although the rocking of the boat was different from what he had been used to in his life so far, there was no real danger. The boat wasn’t tipping over as he was afraid it might. And even if it did, the water was very shallow and we could easily walk to shore, dry off, and start again. Once he got used to it, the rocking of the boat could even be fun!
These times of churning can often seem like this: the changes we face are different from what we have been used to, but usually there is no real danger. If there is, the tools later in the book will show us how to identify that and what to do about it. But the first step, the first essential skill for leadership in times of change, is always to centre and ground.
Then, as we shall learn by the end of the book, with a new attitude and new frameworks, the churning can also become fun.
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