Month: September 2023

We recently returned from our annual retreat–this time it was in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, one of the most beautiful places in the world and a place that’s been incredibly meaningful and healing for me.

The connection and vulnerability we all shared has me processing a lot, and I’m sure that’s true for everyone who attended. 

Something that’s been coming up for me lately, and was reinforced in Mexico, is around the stories we all carry about leadership.

The first–and perhaps most fundamental story–is that we must be “in charge” of people to be a leader. We have this idea that if we don’t supervise people or take on some other traditional leadership role, we’re not really leaders.

In Dare to Lead, Brenè Brown says “I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes.” 

During our retreat, I identified leadership in every single participant and staff member. The ways we all lead are different–thankfully! No one needs the generic version of us.  Some of us are quiet leaders–when we speak, people know it means something and they listen. Some of us bring the energy to the room and lead by example. Some of us like to be front and center, and others like to support from the background.

What’s important is showing up as our truest, most authentic selves and leading from the heart. When we embrace who we are and get out of the comparison game, everything we do becomes more effective.

I’ve been a stay-at-home mom, worked traditional 8-5 jobs, and owned my own businesses. And I’ve always been a leader.

When we deny our innate ability and responsibility to be leaders in our own lives, we miss out on amazing opportunities for personal growth and connection with others. 

To deny that you’re a leader is often a desire to hide your true self and to avoid the (weighty) responsibility of being a good human in the world. That’s understandable–wouldn’t it be easier to believe that we don’t really affect others all that much? That if we hide in the background and keep ourselves small, we’ll stay safe?

Here’s the thing–you’re leading others all the time, whether you realize it or not. You don’t get a pass on leadership, because you’re a human in the world with connections and responsibilities. 

My challenge to you is to do leadership in a conscious way. Bring awareness to how you show up in the world. You’ll be amazed at the opportunities that come your way when you lead with intention! 

♥️, 

Jen

An inch is such a tiny measurement, isn’t it? 

I know you all understand what an inch looks like, but for the purposes of this blog, here’s a visual:  ___________

I was reading an article published by the National Ocean Service (NOS) about the impact of one inch of water for cargo ships.

A ship needs a certain amount of water to float and not touch bottom; the water depth is called the ship’s “draft.” The more cargo a ship carries, the more it will weigh, and the more it will sink and need more draft. 

Even a slight decrease in the depth of a waterway will require a ship to carry less cargo. And conversely, one more inch of water means larger ships with millions of dollars more cargo. It also means fewer total trips to carry all that cargo, which translates to less environmental impact and cheaper goods. 

The NOS states that one more inch of water depth in a port means that a cargo ship can carry 57 more tractors.

Let me say that again. ONE MORE INCH of water depth means a cargo ship can carry 57 MORE TRACTORS. 

Isn’t that wild?

When I think about that huge cargo ship carrying all those tractors, I imagine the water underneath–how the water cradles and holds the ship upright, how it cushions the impact of all that heaviness, and how even one more tiny inch makes such a huge impact in that ship’s ability to carry the load and do what needs to be done.

And then I consider how a healthy community functions. How each of us alone is one little inch of water, but together we can move even the heaviest load across an ocean. 

What we can achieve alone pales in comparison to what we can do together.