More on Leadership and Loss

Eckhart Tolle writes in his book The New Earth, "What is lost on the level of form is gained on the level of essence."

I had to go back and read that over several times and then sit with it awhile before really appreciating the layers of meaning contained in that sentence. One meaning certainly speaks to leadership because we so often strive for the trappings of authority that can be seen and acknowledged on the outside: titles, awards, position, money, stuff.  This is one of the places where the rubber meets the road in acting as an ethical leader. Sometimes being ethical, taking the high road, is the hard thing to do and we hesitate because of the possibility of "negative" consequences: being fired, losing a position of authority, losing a friend, embarrassment, shame or ridicule and we go along with something we know in our gut is wrong. There are times when we need to admit, publicly, that we've been wrong or misled someone.

The idea of losing credibility or "face" can often hold us back from doing or saying what we know is right. But if we are truly committed to leadership and prepared to lose those outward signs of power then the real gains start to become apparent. Perhaps we need to think about the gain in "essence" that we create by doing the right thing.