Three Leadership Lessons to Take into 2023

Happy New Year!

As we move into 2023, I am providing you with three key lessons that I took away from 2022.

My hope in sharing these with you, is that you can speed your way to success, without the pains I went through to discover these lessons.

So here they are:

Lesson #1: There is freedom in acceptance.

In change management, I talk a lot about resistance because it’s what keeps us stuck. But we simply don’t realize how much it sneaks into our daily lives. We resist our past behavior when telling ourselves we shouldn’t have gained that weight last year or should have acted a different way in a meeting. We resist our environment for admonishing the fact our entryway is littered with backpacks and sports equipment or our home office features piles of paper. We resist others when we think our kids or team members should have learned to act differently by now. We resist our emotions when we decide we shouldn’t feel them. Resistance is everywhere. If you feel anything less than expansive, it’s a great time to ask yourself what you might be resisting.

Lesson #2: Success is about decreasing your cycle time.

We go through constant cycles of transformation on everything from facing challenges at home to advancing in our career. In areas we are comfortable, this cycle happens quickly like a race car on a smooth track. In areas of discomfort, it can be like driving a 4 wheeler through muddy and ruddy terrain. As you drive the difficult terrain, it’s not about getting rid of experiencing failure, inadequacy or frustration. It’s about increasing your speed through the cycle of awareness, acceptance and realignment. Many of us try to get rid of the cycle, but it doesn’t work that way. See lesson #1. Acceptance is not only freedom, it’s necessary.

Lesson #3: Your body will keep score, even if you forget.

Our body tells us so much. Our digestive tract will tell us when we are holding in or suppressing emotion. Our joints will tell us whether we are moving enough or too much. Our heart will tell us when our emotions require rest. Don’t wait for it to scream before you do something about it. Take the time to listen daily. Better yet, train it daily. Two underrated activities that I feel strongly all women should undertake are strength training (lifting weights and no, you won’t get bulky) and mobility training. Even I learned this the hard way this year. I told myself I didn’t have the time until I had no other option but to make the time with twice a week Physical Therapy sessions. Trust me, that quick 30 minute workout every morning from the warmth of your own home is a lot more convenient.

These are three lessons I learned the hard way, by staying stuck and falling down. Some of them, I had to learn more than once and I’m sure as the challenges increase in future, I will be reminded of them again.

My hope is that the wisdom I created by falling down will help you stay up or recover faster after a fall.

Now here’s to an amazing 2023!