Are you new to leadership this year?
Perhaps you have had an internal promotion.
Or maybe you came to the position from another context.

Whatever your circumstance, there is one crunchy-bit that can cause some angst…navigating the terrain when your working relationship changes.

Leading is hard.

It is a space where you are courageously putting yourself and your ideas out there, as well as leading the development of innovation, pushing boundaries, and keeping one-step ahead of current-state, whilst balancing that with a sense of groundedness.

This week, I wanted to invite you to turn the lens inward. In our lives as leaders, we are constantly looking outward in support of those we lead. We seek to ensure these principles are lived in our organisations. But, this week I want to support you to consider what the principles of Partnership, Participation and Protection mean for you personally.

As a young person new to leadership, I soon found that I could do the paperwork, think and plan strategically, balance the books, and coordinate across multiple agencies.

But what I soon learned was that this was only one part of leadership, and not even the most challenging part.

This past couple of weeks we have witnessed the rise of a new dawn. The rise of what I see as a new consciousness, and potentially a new world.
This week I want to share someone else’s words.
Incredible words, grounded in utter conviction from Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first-ever youth poet laureate. She read the following poem, “The Hill We Climb”, during the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20:

New vocab arises constantly. It does however seem that in the past 12 or so months, we have experienced an influx of words and phrases that were once unheard of in mainstream circles.

One phrase that has arisen recently is “Cancel Culture”.