The winter solstice took place in the northern hemisphere on Tuesday, December 21. Although many people simply think of this as the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, it is a day that is celebrated in different cultures.
Psychologically, some believe that this is a time to release anything that doesn’t align with our highest purpose. Although presented somewhat differently, last week’s column discussed using year-end as a time to identify what you want to keep, what you want to add and what you want to eliminate from your life. Sounds similar, doesn’t it?
As you ruminate about alignment, think in terms of how your leadership style can better align with your work. Less experienced leaders often think that they need to put on a different persona when it comes to leading others.
While you may want to finetune your style to be more or less formal, more or less studied, or more or less structured, the best leaders allow themselves to emerge. That is the foundation of authentic leadership.
If you feel that you need to keep your true self hidden as a leader, you may be working in the wrong place. Any situation that calls for a personality shift probably isn’t the best place to work long term. Plus, it’s simply exhausting to put on a different face every day.
I’m not suggesting that you leave your job if it seems misaligned. Rather, for now identify aspects of your personality that you’d like to reveal and start to show those sides of you.
If you feel you need to leave on a leadership mask and keep yourself hidden, this is as good time as any to start to objectively evaluate if this is the appropriate professional fit for you.
If you discover a big disconnect, it may be time to explore different options. In many cases, however, this simply involves a little tweaking, so experiment to see what works best for you.
Header image by David Pennington/Unsplash.
