I Did the Ugly Cry in Front of 150 Inspiring Leaders
Today's SPARK asks: What part of yourself are you hiding when you show up to your work? Know that your greater calling needs ALL of you.
Each person I work with is hiding some part of who they are. Whether it's hiding their talents, hiding their fears, hiding their value, hiding something embarrassing, hiding their power, hiding their spirituality, hiding their money, hiding a past failure, or hiding their truth ... there is always something hiding that has to come out in order for these courageous individuals to show up fully to the work they're called to do.
If you're a soulful entrepreneur in the "Business of Being You," you can only be successful if you're willing to let others visibly see and experience who you really are. This is when your ideal clients feel an authentic connection and can trust you enough to invest in what you offer.
If you are hiding something, people can sense that. Although they might not be able to express why, they won't feel safe or inspired to say Yes to your services. If you want your 'good parts' to be visible and your 'bad parts' to stay invisible, it sends out mixed messages. I'm open and closed. I'm honest and lying. I'm showing up and hiding. Look at me, don't look at me. I'm the real deal, I'm a fraud.
When there is a part of you that you don't want others to know, you will never be fully comfortable in your own skin, much less the spotlight. When you're hiding a part of yourself, you will always play small, fearing that someone might see that hidden part.
With every Coming Out moment in my entrepreneurial journey since 2008, I have expanded my leadership capacity to show up & connect with those I'm meant to serve. With every Hiding moment on my entrepreneurial path, I have limited my leadership capacity and disconnected with those I'm meant to serve.
At the recent Leadership Event I attended in LA, I realized that there was a part of me still hidden in my shadowlands that I had been too ashamed to reveal in the context of my work. As I connected with this 'helpless victim dependent baby part of me' through an inner journey exercise, I suddenly felt all the shame I carried about that 'Bad' part of me. As a talented Coach and empowered Woman, I felt embarrassed of that aspect of myself that seemed so incongruent with the rest of me. For years I had been doing what many Leaders do ... I hid this 'Bad' part of me while over-projecting all the shiny empowered 'Goodness' I had to offer the world.
The lasting transformation of this 'Ugly Cry' moment was only possible because I released the shame and let my whole self be seen. The helpless victim part of me transformed into powerful Vulnerability. The dependent baby part of me moved into my heart and turned its trust completely to God.
Of all my Coming Out moments, this one feels the most pivotal. I am operating from a new state of being--one in which God is guiding me and ALL of me is showing up to say Yes to my Calling. At the end of the Leadership Event, I asked God "What is my best next step on this path of saying Yes to my calling?" God simply said, "Go home and share yourself visibly and vulnerably. That's all you need to do. The rest will simply happen."
So here I am, with nothing to hide. This is the path of visibility and vulnerability that I am committed to walking as a human and as a leader.
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If my vulnerable sharing resonated in any way with you, hit reply and let me know how. And if you get the feeling that you're ready to come out of hiding and step into your soul-satisfying work, I'd love to connect further. Here are 2 ways we can do that today:
#1 Unleash the Work You're Designed to Do.
Spend the next 5 days unleashing the work you're designed to do through my free Mini-Course. (You can sign up on the top of my Home Page). It's a hearty program, power-packed into 5 liberating experiences. I have plans to turn it into a paid coaching program shortly. If you want to participate while it's free, now's your chance. And then we can really feel interconnected this week, as you move beyond fears to say Yes to your greater calling.
#2. Private Coaching
If you know that you're ready to come out of hiding and create the business that sets you free to make your greatest contribution, I'd love to support you. Right now I'm enrolling Private Clients who want my highest level of support each step of the way. Imagine the next year of your life as a peak experience of inner & outer transformation as you move beyond all that holds you back to become the fully-expressed, liberated leader of your unique business. With my full support throughout the year, you will be completely guided as you discover and create the business that you are called to lead. If this matches your true desire, I offer you a complimentary one-one-one Visioning Session.
