Reveal, and Heal

“You are becoming what you were meant to become…”

So Chet wrote in his last blog post, or something close to that. This is the truth within BUILT TO LEAD. What a weird gig BTL is…and brought to us by such a weird guy.

BUILT TO LEAD is “weird” because it specifically stands against the idea that we must become someone else in order to lead. Most other “leadership development” stuff begins with the premise that we are unworthy to lead until we adopt the author’s latest enlightened secrets, pathways, steps, or (God help us) formula away from who we are, and to the form or type of leader the author has decided is the ideal. Once all that is accomplished, that distorted path calls us to do the same thing to the teams we would “lead”–make them into something different, more acceptable, more worthy.

Crap.

Oh sure, BTL recognizes that there is a journey involved in becoming built. But that journey is not away from ourselves, it is towards our true selves. At the core of everyone lies the leader we were meant to be. That leader awaits us on our hero’s journey towards…ourselves.

If you take all the Essentials Chet has assembled and distill them to their essence, BUILT TO LEAD is “reveal, and heal.” The central tenet, and first step of the BTL process is one of discovery of our core. That is all about revealing our true selves–our signature strengths, our personality preferences, what we believe as the truth about ourselves as human beings, and about other human beings, our values, our vision, our calling, our purpose, and our process for living true to all of who we really, uniquely are at the core. This reality at our core is what is attractive to others. It is authenticity personified. It is rare, so when we see it in others we are often startled as we are attracted to it. When we discover it in ourselves, it is often startling in its power and majesty.

AND of course, BTL recognizes that on the hero’s journey, we will encounter those painful falsities, distortions, and confused parts of our lives that stand as barriers to our true selves. With the help of others, we must simultaneously  summon courage and humility to reveal each distortion. In the simultaneously humble and courageous action of revealing our integrity gaps, we gain a mastery over them. With the help of others, we decide to act productively to heal the distorted, false, and confused parts of our lives. We then grow in integrity–becoming one, whole, more completely…us.

Everything else is practice.

Through my own sometimes painful and mostly joyful journey, I have come to discover that the action of examining my own hypocrisy, and revealing my own gaps in integrity and knowledge, is the most essential leadership skill there is.

Reveal, and heal.

Are you buying in to this?

Are you on the hero’s journey towards your true self?

I hope so.

I am your traveling partner, looking forward to meeting you along the way.