Becoming a leader is not a sprint. And yet, too often, we treat it as though it should be — constant motion, constant output, constant presence.
Renewal invites us back to a different truth: that all living systems require cycles of rest, restoration, and replenishment.
How we tend to our own renewal is important — and how we design cultures that allow others to renew may be one of our most radical acts as leaders.
In this Conversation, we’ll explore Renewal as an act of stewardship — for ourselves, and for those we lead.
Last time, we stopped along the path to identify why reflection is necessary for building resistance to extra stress and reactive loops.
What’s your energy cycle? Have you ever thought about it? Do you have a regular cycle of sleep? What’s keeping you from having one, especially when every day has the same number of hours?
It’s difficult to keep focus on anything when we are tired. We are no good to anyone if we are exhausted and distracted. Our creativity becomes non-existent. And if you don’t think you need a creative streak, think again! Leadership is all about innovation and creativity.
If we care for our own energy by understanding when we need a break, a stretch, a nap, or cup of tea, we are more apt to recognize when someone else needs those things as well. Understanding our authentic selves helps us become someone who leads in ways that honor human limits and rhythms — our own as well as the limits and rhythms of our colleagues.
When we are able to think about our own thinking (also called “metacognition” if you’d like to dig a bit into the concept), we can be more focused on why we act and react the way(s).
And change our path when needed.
We can also guide the paths of others to build cultures that normalize renewal over that “grind and grind more” mentality that does less good than harm.
But the grind is how individuals and organizations get ahead?
It is, sort of. The “grind” is typically how people get ahead financially. And while that might make some of them happy in the short-term, it doesn’t last. Financial “success” wears off. There are only so many things a person can buy in a lifetime. Sure, it’s great to look out for our families, friends, and community, but there is no guarantee or definition for what is enough.
There is a saying that people live up to the lifestyle they become accustomed to. If we work to earn a certain amount, chances are we’ll spend up to that figure — we’ll buy a larger home or a new car, or maybe we start taking those trips we talked about.
But wait: we’re working so hard and for so many hours that we don’t have time to spend in the rooms of the larger house or to drive the new car and certainly can’t have fun on the trips because we’re checking our texts and emails.
Doesn’t sound like a great way to live, year in and year out, does it?
The better question is: What am I grinding for?
This is not to suggest the grind is all bad! It’s important to take care of our obligations, to give to the community, and so on. But if we are forgetting to center ourselves, to focus on the people and the land and the air and the beautiful things around us, we are missing out.
And being a good leader is encouraging those around you to extend grace to themselves.
Just like you extend grace to yourself.
As we honor cycles of Renewal within ourselves, we begin to notice subtle patterns — energies that echo through our ways of being, and that shape how we engage with others.
In the next Conversation, we’ll explore this idea of Resonance — and how tuning to our deeper Echoes can shape the presence we carry into the world.
Your Journey Sentinel, Andree