Find Your Way 

We’re all leaders in some capacity or another. Perhaps you’re an executive in your profession, a schoolteacher training young minds, a parent leading your children through the complexities of adolescence, or an athlete leading your team to victory. Perhaps you’re a combination of these. We’re all complex individuals striving to make a difference and matter in our sphere of influence—whatever it may be. 

And it’s easy to lose ourselves in the pressures and pace of life. 

Sometimes it’s good and necessary to lose ourselves—to take the time to relax, unwind, and reset our minds and bodies from the stress of living. And finding ourselves again often requires the regeneration that comes from outside forces—the people we know and trust. 

Reliance on the people and teams around us is vital to ensuring we stay grounded, focused and innovative. Those in our inner circle who know us and can speak the truth to us are so important to our success. As I mentioned last month, one of the books I strive to live by is “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win,” and the authors, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, stress the importance of reliance on and participation in our teams. 

They champion the notion that “without a team—a group of individuals working to accomplish a mission—there can be no leadership. The only meaningful measure for a leader is whether the team succeeds or fails.” 

Apply that to your sphere of influence today. How are you leading? The most pointed measure of your success occurs when you look at the team around you. How is your group at work performing? How did the children in your classroom excel last year? What successes do you see in the growth, health, and happiness of your children? 

As this summer winds to a close and you reflect on the lessons learned and memories made over the last three months, I hope you can pinpoint the moments when you lost yourself and when you found yourself. Be a leader worth following in all aspects of your life.