How to Be an At-Rest Transformational Leader

At work and in life, we get bombarded by circumstances that we are not expecting.  A supervisee sends you a harsh email.  You get a strong letter of reprimand from your supervisor for a simple mistake.  A customer gives you a negative rating that leads to the loss of your position.  Work efforts with a colleague have been going well and then suddenly they revert back to not following-through.  Someone breaks into your car and steals your work related materials.  Your children’s activities change last minute, which impacts your schedule.   All of the above are real life examples that have happened to people I know in the last month.  You probably can relate.

One of the assessments that I often use with clients has an attribute rating called “Self-control.”  This is the ability to remain calm on the inside while storms are raging on the outside.  The ability to keep at rest on the inside is an important component to being able to lead and transform the world around us effectively.  It is also important just for our overall personal well-being.

In order to be an at-rest transformational leader, there are three areas within us that we must keep in awareness and at peace.

The Mind of a Transformational Leader

The mind is often the first place of awareness where we begin to translate information around us.  We often have very set habits with our thinking.  When a problem crosses our path, we automatically think a certain response.  For example, a colleague sends you a harsh email, and your thoughts are that what he wrote is wrong.  Why can’t he communicate better?  Can’t he see that he set me up for failure with all the overload of work I am given?  And so on.

The solution to staying at rest in your mind is to not give over your power and identity to another.  Just because someone treats you poorly or circumstances go awry, does not mean that you have to defend yourself, the core of who you are.  Instead focus on the truth.  What is true about yourself that no one else or even circumstances can change?  Maybe you need to remind yourself of your strengths, your values and your identity.

The Heart of a Transformational Leader

The heart is a deeper place within us that can be deeply impacted by outside events, but it takes more effort and time to choose to be aware at this level.  Our emotions are often connected here.  When we receive that harsh email, anger, frustration and hurt ignite within us.  This can continue to fuel the negative thoughts connected in our minds.

The solution is staying at rest at the heart level.  If you are resting in the truth, then you can relate to outside circumstances at a different level.  You have kept your own power and identity, not given it to defend yourself to another, so you remain at peace in your power and identity.  This then allows you to see the circumstances from another perspective.  Instead of putting energy into defending yourself, you put energy into curiosity.  What is causing this other person to be so harsh?  Where is the real issue or problem?  How can I begin to help solve this?

The Will of a Transformational Leader

The will is the deepest area within, and it will follow whatever direction our heart and mind take us.  If we give away our power and identity to another or to circumstances, our will follows accordingly.  We think and feel that we are defenseless, so we fall back on our typical ways of coping.  We fire a harsh email back.  We talk negatively about the person to others.  We feel like a victim and that things never go our way so we become apathetic and quit.

When the heart and mind are at rest in identity and power, then the will is truly free.   The will then gravitates towards seeing the situation clearly and acting upon possible solutions.  Curiosity may lead to even finding an opportunity in what at first seems like a storm.  Maybe the harsh email becomes an invitation to build a deeper relationship by confronting the behavior but also in a way to discover what the root problem is behind the email.

How we tend to our mind, heart and will significantly impact our effectiveness as a leader.   Are you being an at-rest transformational leader?  Please share examples.