Investigating Mind, Body, Heart and Soul through Thoughtful Leadership with Fiona Buckland
Fiona Buckland is an international coach, facilitator and author of Thoughtful Leadership.
In this post, Fiona delves deeper into ways that we can discover our potential to lead and lead others well. She'll take you through some of the key components to building self-awareness as a leader and finding your true purpose, allowing you to understand the difference between humility and how you free yourself from your ego in your leadership.
Do you prefer to listen? Check out the podcast episode here.
What is thoughtful leadership and why should we care about it?
Fiona: We need good leaders. We have always needed good leaders, but for whatever reason, this is the time that we're in. As we look at humanity, the world and the issues, we're at a point where many questions and issues have to be addressed now.
Leaders take responsibility for their world. They don't sit and go, "Well, somebody can deal with this." Instead, they have a moment of maturity when they realise they must take action.
I also saw a beautiful quote like this, "The next great leader is not going to be an individual like Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandela. The next leader is going to be a circle." The next leader is going to be more of us. So let's not wait to be saved by a great leader; let's all step into leadership.
Thoughtful leadership is the kind of leadership the world needs right now. It's leadership that starts with yourself. It's not just about the pay grade, the job title, or the fact that you're leading a campaign or being free of inner critics. Thoughtful leadership is being self-aware of where you need to develop, having tools that will help you do that, the ability to connect with people and how you step out into the world to create an impact.
How do you build the self-belief to show up as a leader?
Fiona: First and foremost, I want to clarify that imposter syndrome is not just an "individual problem" or even a psychological issue. It's more than that. Many people don't step into leadership because they are discouraged by what they see; other people aren't including them just because they don't fit a certain demographic.
To build self-belief as a leader:
Align yourself with your values.
Have you ever put on clothes, and no matter how good it looks, it just doesn't feel right on you? That's what it feels like when you put on fake values to impress others. Aligning yourself with your values means having integrity; showing up to do the work you said matters to you.
Recognise patterns of stress.
When you're aware of your stress patterns, you'll know what is good or bad stress and how you can deal with it so that you won't suppress it or take it out on people.
Notice how you talk to yourself.
A lot of people are really hard on themselves. Leaders especially are scared of losing that inner critic voice in case they become a bit "soft" However, there's a difference between beating yourself up and encouraging yourself to move forward.
How can leaders be more thoughtful in moments of crisis?
Fiona: I do a simple centering technique. You start by just noticing that you're a bit stressed and scattered. Next, you loosen your belly and jaw and visualise that you're inflating in a bag or ball of light around you. You can be more available and centred as you lose the tension.
Unless you start with a centering technique, it can be easy to lose yourself in the midst of a crisis. So bring yourself in, don't try and work against yourself. Only then are you ready to look at what's in front of you and around the corner as well.
Also, don't pretend you can fix everything when you can't. It might show your vulnerability by admitting you need help, but thoughtful leadership is also about getting other people in to help you.
The importance of taking the time to know your team
Fiona: Understand that people are people but also remember that there are combinations of people that they might not make for a smooth mix all the time. We're not always looking for people who will get on; we're looking for people who do great stuff together, whatever it might be.
The way I think about knowing people and adding them to my team is to think of them as elements.
Fire - Someone who has fire is very goal-oriented. It's recommended to avoid putting a bunch of people with fire elements in one team since they can pull against each other.
Water - They are very collaborative, empathetic and really thrive on listening to other team members.
Air - They are visionary and have lots of ideas. They keep things fresh and creative as they strive to do things that have never been done before.
Earth - They are very detail-oriented and thrive on precise processes.
How to create dignity and trust as a new leader
Do your work.
I always ask people why they want to be a leader, and most don't know why they want to be one. So do your work and inquire more into yourself on why you want to be a leader. Then, you can start reflecting on these questions:
Why do you think being a leader will be good for the world?
Why is it good for the people that you lead?
Have someone to talk to.
Leadership is a tough path. You are put under a lot of stress if you're alone, so find people to talk to, be it a coach or therapist (which I think is quite helpful because you need to know what's going on with you in case you're projecting it to the world).
Make sure you have space.
You'll be putting out fires all day every day on Zoom, calls, emails, etc. (possibly across different timezones too) if you don't have space. So aside from being under stress and pressure, you won't be able to do the big picture thinking you need to do as a leader.
So block out a time to respond to other people and once that time is up, give space for yourself to get away or take a simple walk to come back to what leaders do best: big-picture thinking.
Are you ready to build better self-awareness, self-leadership and well-being at work? Head to the link to learn more about our Be Happy First Well-being Programme.