Your ability to be a great leader not only lies within you, it must come directly from within you, finding its source in the fabric of your being. This is because, ultimately, the way you lead is a reflection of who you are at your innermost level.

But sometimes we lose sight of – and connection to – who we are at our innermost level. What gets in our way includes layers of old belief systems that we adopted from others that were never ours to begin with, or emotions like jealousy and feelings of insecurity that we picked up along the way from others who are plagued with them, and strapped onto our backs. These layers of lack and negativity were not ours at our birth, we did not come here with them, and they do not reflect who we are now - on any level.

Eventually, if we want to live and lead as our True Selves, we have to let go of all of this baggage.

Life and Death
I have a friend who has an ambigram tattoo on his forearm; depending on how you look at it, it says either “Life” or “Death.” The juxtaposition of these words has a very personal meaning to him. When I look at it, I see “transformation.” I see death of the old self empowering life as the new self. And what’s fascinating to me is he is someone who helps people transform their lives in a very personal way.

So many of us today are seeking to transform ourselves as individuals and as leaders to a higher level of consciousness and effectiveness. To make a lasting difference in the world. In order to reach this goal we have to reconnect with who we truly are. We have to let go of what is no longer ours to carry, including old belief systems that hold us back, negativity from others, fears and, importantly, immersion in “lack” that takes the form of insecurity, jealousy, low expectations, false martyrdom and a glass-half-empty outlook on the world.

We have to recognize that we have everything within us, at our core, that we need to shine. We don’t need to try to be someone else or be linked to someone else to be worthy of success. We are worthy simply because of our divine nature.

This is terribly difficult to do. Oftentimes we become very comfortable in our own layers of lack or insecurity, and even comfortable with our fears because we recognize them as our own. But once we do the work – the exceptionally difficult and yet beautiful work – of letting go of these restrictive layers, of allowing what was not ours to die, we are finally free to give life to our new self.
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To our True Self. And then, to lead and change the world.

​Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

True empowerment comes from within each of us as individuals. It comes from giving power to ourselves by awakening what already lies within us.

I believe one of the most unsupportive beliefs about empowerment is that empowerment is given to us by other people; it implies we must wait for it to be given to us, or search for the right person to bestow it upon us. This mindset is actually disempowering as it places us at the mercy of others.

This has a very negative spiral effect. Most women don’t consciously see this happening, but when we wait for someone else to give us power, we then unwittingly find ourselves waiting for validation and acceptance and a sense of worthiness as well; because if we had all of this to begin with, we wouldn’t be waiting for anything.

The daunting truth is that I cannot give you power. No one can. I can give you a title or a position with implied authority, and I can give you permission to make certain decisions on my behalf. But if I give these to you then I am able to take them back, so it’s not actually power that I am giving. The power is mine all along.

To be powerful you have to choose to BE the power that already lies within you. This starts with seeing it within you, even if all you see is a tiny essence of it, and then allowing your power to awaken within you.

From there, you have to KNOW your power. This means not just seeing and acknowledging the power within you, but feeling it in every cell of your body. It shows itself in how you feel and know you are worthy of creating the life your soul desires for you, in how you are meant to make a difference in the world, in knowing that you matter just by being you – your truest self.

Because it is only through the BEing and the KNOWing that you can then ACT with power. This is when you choose to take action. This is when you choose to decide what you really want for you, and what is in the higher good of your Higher Self – the part of you that is loving, good, and kind, not angry or resentful or jealous or insecure or negative, and then you take action and go for it. This is when you choose to speak up and let your voice be heard, which is when you begin to influence and lead others.

What is it about this truth that is genuinely daunting? That it means ultimately each of us must take responsibility for our own empowerment, and this is not easy. It is so much easier to just tell ourselves we have to wait for someone else to give it to us. To take responsibility for our own empowerment means we have to go to work on what blocks us from BEing our power and KNOWing our power and ACTing our power: and that is fear.

Sometimes it’s fear of failure and sometimes it’s actually fear of success. Sometimes it’s fear about what others will say about us or do to us. Sometimes it’s just not seeing how we can possibly overcome the societal, cultural, economic and political roadblocks that are in our way globally as women.

And all of this fear is understandable. The fear within us builds up silently during the course of our lives, and the global roadblocks are real and often quite terrifying.

This is why I believe empowerment is a choice. When we choose to release the fear – to acknowledge it and work on moving through it and past it – we are taking the first step. This, alone, awakens the power within us, setting us on the path of BEing and KNOWing and ACTing the power that already lies within each of us, given to us by our Divine source.

Let’s choose to empower ourselves. I’m ready. Are you?

​Photo is Lao Tzu Quote 3 by HartwigHKD.

I remember it clearly, the moment I understood I was divinely and innately worthy, and always had been. This experience of coming to know our worth is different for everyone.

For me, it was during a religious retreat I had been invited to by the Women's Club at my church. We were nestled in the woods, staying in a retreat cabin away from the realities of everyday life. We had gathered for prayer before dinner our first evening; candles were glowing in the dimly lit room. One of the retreat leaders read the following passage from the bible, a few simple words from Jeremiah that set my soul alight:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you."

Truly, in that moment, I felt a wave of pure, unconditional love wash over me. It wasn't as if I had been devoid of unconditional love; I had received it since birth from my extraordinary parents and family. But this was different. This love was divine in nature and wholly given and present to me. It enabled me to fully understand the depths of my worthiness - just by being a child of God. 

This new sense of knowing - that I had always been seen and was sacred, holy and pure in the eyes of God - opened my own eyes and my heart to a new reality: it was not necessary to go through life trying to prove I was worthy - of love, respect, compassion, empathy, being listened to, honored, cared for - I was already worthy of it all.

Furthermore, it was clear that while I may have thought I had been working to prove this to others, in reality I had been seeking to prove it to myself. My own inner self had been holding me hostage, desperate for proof that would finally free me to live in joy. In that moment, in the midst of the wave of overwhelming divine love, the fallacy of all of that became known to me. 

I AM WORTHY of everything my heart desires. I always have been.
YOU ARE WORTHY of everything your heart desires. You always have been. 

Divinely loved, as you are,
~Lisa
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Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash