"The longest journey a leader will ever take is the one from the head, to the heart, and back again."
Noted scholar and spiritual leader, Dr. Henrietta Mann (1), offers this wisdom, drawn from the Lakota Indian Tribe, during her opening invocation to the Leadership Montana program participants each year. In her remarks, Dr. Mann suggests a gentle warning about the personal work required to prepare for personal transformation.
In thinking about the difference between change and transformation, Dr. Mann's wisdom helps us to recognize that while change can be viewed as an event, transformation is a process. It involves a journey in which leaders must hold the tension of the opposites between doing and being, thinking and feeling, knowing and uncertainty, steadfastness and letting go.
While change may, or may not, ultimately lead to transformation, transformation always requires significant change on both the emotional and intellectual levels. While change may be forced upon us, or entered into with reluctance, transformation requires a willingness to make the journey.
The process of transformation challenges us to address, and indeed heal, those aspects of our being which we may be hesitant to acknowledge but which can prevent us from moving forward. Transformation involves change at the core of our being, change that is implemented in a thoughtful and intentional manner. Thus the process is rarely swift but rather involves slowing down long enough to truthfully examine and discern the deeper meaning in our lives.
In this process we have to consider the ways in which the events of our lives and our actions have led us to our present reality. The result of such assessment can be increased clarity leading to a deeper integration between who we are and what we do. Such alignment is a key element in transformation.
Assess the Past:
To begin moving toward a new future, it's necessary to begin with the past. We develop a deeper understanding of our true self by reviewing the past through a lens that moves beyond chronicling the events, experiences and people who influenced our lives toward culling a deeper understanding of the patterns, rhythms, and unseen forces that actually wove together the story of our being.
This includes taking time to recall our earliest experiences of being held in trust by others and the impact of such relationships in shaping our values and beliefs. Also, in noting those times where we stretched beyond our own limitations, soared to new accomplishments, and the times when we fell in utter failure, we begin to sense our capacity for managing uncertainty and exercising our talents. Through this assessment we may begin to reveal the patterns and behaviors that support or detract from the attainment of our goals and dreams.
As a result of such deep work we discern not only what happened, but also why it happened, and more importantly, we clarify our own responsibility in defining the outcomes. As we begin to recognize how our actions, or inaction placed us in our current state we take the important steps along the journey of transformation.
Read Reality Truthfully:
While our history reminds us of who we are, and what is sacred to our being, reading the current reality truthfully helps us discern where there is alignment, or possibly misalignment, between our stated values and current actions. To read reality truthfully we need what Robert Greenleaf (2), refers to as the capacity to see things whole. This stage often necessitates a period of silence, time in which we still our thoughts long enough for the quiet voice within to emerge.
Here the deeper work of shifting from head awareness to heart understanding is essential. Often in the process of change we are able to navigate clear steps, as we go from point “A” to point “B”. However, in transformation there is often a space where “A” does not lead naturally to “B”, leading us instead to a place where we have to suspend our desire to navigate or define the course.
This moment of letting go, is what I believe the poet Ranier Maria Rilke recognized as essential if we are to “build the great arch of unimagined bridges.” The magic of true transformation comes about in our willingness to suspend our desire for movement and action long enough for the integration between our head and heart to happen and so that deeper sense of clarity and vision can emerge.
Embrace the Gap:
In his book A Hidden Wholeness (3), Parker Palmer describes this moment of standing in the tragic gap between reality and possibility as critical for us to endure. In this place of tension between the opposites of doing and simply being Parker suggests we often experience heartbreaking awareness such that our hearts are literally broken open in order that a new capacity for seeing more clearly emerges.
Through this experience of conversion we are able to discern the initial steps required for the future to unfold. In the gap we begin to decipher the often-subtle actions necessary to evoke a new reality and thus we can begin the journey of moving from the heart back to the head as our intellect is guided by our heart's wisdom. At this point we engage our resources, power, and courage to make the radical changes that will evoke a new future. Transformation requires that we ultimately walk confidently into the void which holds the promise of the future while not fully knowing the final destination.
This season of winter is the ideal time to contemplate transformation. While the earth rests and cocoons it may be easier to still one's heart, and listen for the subtle signals of potentiality beckoning for our attention. As we unconsciously listen for the snow gently falling from branches, give our attention over to fires crackling in the hearth, or ponder the deep silence of a winter's star-filled night, we may begin to align our thoughts to the cadence of our own inner voice inviting us on a journey to the heart.
Resources:
(1) Dr. Henrietta Mann is currently a special assistant to the President of Montana State University. She is also an elder of the Southern Cheyenne tribe, a spiritual leader, professor, author and one of the country's most respected indigenous educators.
(2) The Servant as Leader, Robert K. Greenleaf (June 1982)
(3) A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life, Parker J. Palmer, Jossey Bass, 2004
Joanna is a founding partner with Ki ThoughtBridge and brings over 25 years experience in leadership development and formation in the nonprofit corporate and education sectors to her work with our clients. Read here to learn more about Joanna.