Playing in the ruins...when the perfect leader falls apart.

Remember all those years of filling out your school performance plan?  Or detailing your goals within the twelve point rubric?

Remember the realization that within each goal was embedded no fewer than 50 subset goals?

Remember how the teachers or members of your team wanted you to say the right thing and keep your cool and make everyone feel good?

And do you remember the moment when the thought, “I can’t do it all,” washed over you?

Perhaps you felt relief.

Perhaps fear.

Writer Sasha Chapin defined success as becoming a novelist on par with David Foster Wallace.  That’s what it would take to win at life.  But the worst happened.  He failed to become that novilet on par with David Foster Wallace.

After that?  

He writes, “ When this happens – when an expectation breaks down, and you are living in a shipwreck of your expectations – a precious state of being can dawn, if you’re lucky. This is the state of Playing In The Ruins.”

I can’t help but wonder if as leaders we wouldn't feel more alive and free if we let any internalized perfectionism die.

Perhaps our leadership would flourish in new, unexpected ways.

Perhaps we’d feel better and breathe more deeply.

Perhaps something new would be born as we played in ruins of the belief that we had to do it all, be it all, and never falter.

Perhaps when we loosen our grip on trying to be the perfect leader who does it all we find that we get loads of energy back and can then be the leader we’ve longed dreamed of becoming.

What do you think?

Wherever you land, I’m committed to more play and less perfection so I’ve set up a day for just that!  Join me on Saturday, October 5th for a day-long retreat.  

We’re going to move our bodies in a yoga practice, learn a new meditation, and talk, A LOT, with each other so that we can find our most soulful leadership yet.

All the details are HERE.

This week, enjoy playing in the ruins!