This picture was taken new Grand Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park about a year after the East Troublesome Fire took place. The immense heat and pressure that took place that day is evident.
A once thriving forest has been transformed.
Trees that once were thriving now stand blackened and burnt from the fire.
Many trees no longer stand upright, some are bent, some broke, and some trees were completely up rooted. These trees no longer are growing and thriving like they once were due to the heat and pressure they faced that day.
Do you think these trees are a picture, a metaphor, of leaders today amidst the many new challenges facing us and our organizations today?
There is hope! If you look at the picture closely, you will see new growth. Leaders can also recover from the heat and pressure we have been enduring. Some ideas:
- Find intentional time for rest and renewal
- Surround yourself with trust mentors to help you process the challenges you are facing
- Identify your passion and calling and find ways to live that out as you lead daily
- Create capacity to break the cycle of reaction to move to proactivity
- Realize that courage is a choice and when you lead courageously, you’re leading well
- Invite others, your peers and the people you lead, into the challenge you’re facing
- Seek an accurate perspective of yourself and focus on serving others
- Question that status-quo and celebrate when others do the same
