With the mountain as your teacher, what might you learn?
After a whole winter away, it’s good to be back in the mountains.
Standing here in this meadow, contemplating the mountain beyond, all urgency evaporates. As if there’s nothing to do but stand here, in this place, breathing in and out.
As I look straight at the mountain, the mountain is looking straight back at me. Purposeless. Impartial. Patient.
And in this sacred space I hear the question I’ve been avoiding…
What are you holding onto that you need to let go?
Control.
With control comes resistance. With resistance there can be no flow.
I’m in my own way.
I sit. Resting my gaze on the mountain, I hear my own voice reminding me that my best work comes not from holding on, but from loosening my grip.
The nature of life is perpetual change. Let it happen. Not give up, no. Nor withdraw. Nor resign yourself to a life less lived. But get very clear on what really matters and stay true to it.
You can’t hold it all. No-one can. So don’t try to.
Instead, be like the mountain.
Stable yet flowing, grounded yet adaptable, solid yet ever changing, welcoming the sun, snow, rain, and ice. The mountain weathers it all, unperturbed.
And so can I.
With the mountain as your teacher, dear leader, what might you learn?
To step back; embrace contradictions; welcome the unexpected; see things as they are; stay true to yourself.
To build enough inner stability to weather the storms and adapt as needed to stay on track.
To listen with your whole self; and hold space for others to answer their own questions.
To stay present, grounded, and able to stand calmly for what matters in the face of all the uncertainty, volatility, and chaos.
And to be the impartial observer of it all.
The only person in the way of all this is you.
In leadership, there are times when you need to step back from what’s happening and become the observer of your experience: enlarge your view; examine perspectives other than your own; and recognise the story you’re telling yourself.
When you do, what do you notice? What are you seeing and hearing now that you’d missed? And what will you do about it?
What matters most is that you create the space to see clearly, act decisively, and focus your effort where it’s most needed - for the people you lead and love.
With love from the mountain,
Sally-Anne