The Things You Carry

The exotic camel caravan.

A fortunate few have seen it in real life. Most of us depend on National Geographic specials. Nomadic desert peoples learned what the essentials were for living and ensured those were packed on camels or other animals and replenished when necessary.

As your leadership navigates the landscape of an ever-changing world, you are much like those nomadic peoples. You have to think carefully about what you take with you on the trip. So, what are the things you carry on your leadership sojourn?


1. We Carry Our Past

Tim O’Brien’s’ book: “The Things They Carried”, set in wartime Vietnam chronicles a number of characters and the physical, emotional and psychological things they carried into battle. A fascinating read, based in real life war experience but crafted as fiction. This story reminded me that we all carry things INTO our leadership & vocations that originate in our past and affect our lives today. Our culture typically uses the word “baggage” to describe this concept. We tend to apply the term negatively, however not all baggage is negative. But baggage has influence.

When is the last time you opened the “backpack” of things you carry? Have you ever taken the time to think about your past and how it influences your leadership? Our history has an influence on our future and we should pay attention to it. In some cases you are carrying things that make your leadership great or unique. In other cases, you may have heavy rocks in that backpack that need to be removed because they are hampering your effectiveness.

How has your leadership effectiveness and character been shaped by things such as:

• Family of origin
• Socio-cultural context
• Significant people, places and events in your formative years
• Things people have spoken into your life that have inspired or deflated you

Do not discount these influences on your life. Celebrate the things that have made you unique and strong. Address the issues that have left you with a limp. You can do this in a number of ways:

• Take a personal retreat to reflect on your life
• Go through a “life mapping” exercise. This is NOT goal setting. These are retreats or documents that guide you to systematically walk through your life from infancy to the present, identifying the key people, places, events and circumstances you have experienced and the lessons/impact they bring. You build your life story. Those who go through these exercises are often awakened to the patterns and lessons from their histories that have shaped their lives. A significant by-product is greater clarity on your life direction. If you want further information, email me at: info@visiontracks.ca
• Employ the services of a life coach. Coaches work with your agenda, so if you ask a coach to help you understand your past and how it connects to your future, they will work with that. Feel free to visit my website for information on coaching: www.visiontracks.ca


2. We Carry Too Many Things Alone

It’s far too easy to keep carrying character qualities or skills that don’t work. If you are largely a loner in leadership, you won’t see these things. You may look at yourself in the proverbial mirror and think “I’m OK”, but isolated self reflection does not provide a fully accurate picture of who you are.

The rise of the 360 review is an excellent way to gain more balanced feedback. However typically these instruments relate primarily to work-related skills and qualities. I challenge you to go deeper and create a circle of peers who can give you feedback at a deeper level. Let’s face it; it is a rare work context that will care about these kinds of issues:

• Personal character development
• The quality of your relationships with family, friends
• The things you think about that impact your leadership effectiveness

Think about inviting 3 or 4 others whom you trust to be your circle of confidants. Invite them into a relationship where you will challenge each other to not only be great leaders in your chosen fields, but also great men/women of character. Character is the foundation for success.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
-John Wooden-

I was a loner for many years. A nomadic leader, I was largely self-sufficient as I worked my way through Canada, Indonesia, Cambodia and then back to Canada. Over the years I had many great acquaintances and colleagues. Lots of shop-talk and camaraderie. But the deeper issues of character development were left unexposed. I carried them alone. At one point I was challenged to stop the independence streak and include others at a deeper level. Once I chose to open this area of my life up to further scrutiny, my quality of life improved both on the professional and relational fronts.

Who’s got your back? Who will fight for you? Who cares for you as a person, not just as a leader?


3. We Carry Old TechnologyAt a time when I was feeling somewhat over-satisfied with myself, I was challenged by John Maxwell with his statement: “Are you in danger of becoming a ‘mundane man’”? I was. Looking in the mirror I thought I had all that was needed for the rest of my life. If I kept on that track, I’d forever be feeding the future from my past – and at some point I’d find myself in a deficit position, unable to rise to new opportunities and challenges. I would end up, well, MUNDANE. His challenge was to become a lifelong learner.

The nomadic leader is continually packing and repacking – taking what is essential for the trip, looking ahead at the coming conditions and preparing appropriately. Lifelong learning not only adds to your repertoire of things to carry, but also helps you to know what things to jettison. Not every skill or knowledge-ware you possess has applicability in all situations.

If you learn nothing today, you'll have nothing to give tomorrow. Stay sharp.

Regularly check your leadership supplies. The things you carry today will influence the measure to which you are prepared for tomorrow.

Harvey Matchullis