Today, as we watch a total solar eclipse, we’re seeing our corner of the solar system in perfect alignment, right in front of our eyes. This celestial phenomenon is called syzygy. It may be tricky to say, but it’s not a difficult concept to understand. “Syzygy is when the Earth, moon and sun line-up,” according to NASA Ambassador Eddie Mahoney, the director of astronomy. He goes on to share, “Although there’s no measurable gravitational effect, there is certainly an effect — it’s inspirational.”

This is because it’s not just Earth, moon and sun lining-up — it’s you, it’s me – it is all of us, in perfect alignment. Syzygy is both miraculous and wonderful in a world where many so many things serve as distractions to a powerful truth – we all seek alignment, it is a natural and perfect state, and while we desire it greatly, we are often our greatest obstacle to its achievement. In her book, The Opposite of Burnout: 5 Career Strategies to Make You Feel Valued, Be Heard and Make a Difference, Liz Garrett (2016) uses the metaphor of a log set on a dying fire, its embers glowing brilliant and bright. It is fuel, it has served to feed the flames of the fire and has benefited many with heat (cooking), with warmth, with light – serving as a defense against the cold and darkness. She goes on to note this log could have had many futures – it could have served to build a house, a child’s toy, a plank on a pier leading to a still lake. She offers that with early engagement the log could have remained a tree, serving as protection from storm wind or shade from a tormenting sun. In this scenario, each of us is the log and as a log we must determine what it is our best use and what is it we truly want. The great tragedy is that so many believe they must throw themselves on the fire for communal benefit and have not considered the other possibilities to be of service, to benefit and enhance the lives of others. Leaders, especially, tend to make this mistake.

Leaders struggle with the dilemma of whose interests to serve –their organization, their clients, their colleagues, their team, and oftentimes, their own self-interests, compete for the leader’s priority and loyalty. Leaders can win in goal achievement, strategy, organizational design and other key areas – all while staying authentically grounded and in alignment with their personal beliefs and values. It starts with deciding what is of greatest value and making that your personal foundation. The simplest way to describe a foundation is to think of a building’s foundation—the foundation is used to support the structure. If a building’s foundation is faulty or compromised, the building is not safe and will not function as designed. A personal foundation is much the same. Your personal foundation is a combination of your core values and those attributes that keep you strong, focused and effective.

The work of leadership involves working without a script. As a result, each leader must eventually define for themselves what type of leader they will be. They must define their own values and use that as their compass. In a survey taken of leaders, many shared that their best leadership day was when they created a vision of what they wanted their leadership to be (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Hultman (2002) adds that each leader has values which are deeply engrained in their being and are readily reflected in how they respond to their roles in life. For the leader, their values perform the three key actions of: 1) preventing exposure to perceived threats 2) orienting to society and 3) spurring growth.

In ‘right versus right’ decisions, where ‘wrong’ isn’t a factor, we grapple with questions of “Who am I?” and adopt several different perspectives from which to view complex and chaotic situations. Badaracco (1997) advises that we not only consider, ‘How does this align with my values?’, but we must also ask, “How does this align with how I define myself?’

I often find myself asking “How does this action/ decision align with how I define myself as a Christian… an African-American… a woman… a wife… a veteran… a scholar – who I am has great depth, no one is only one thing.  Those are my examples. Everyone shares varying perspectives based on background, upbringing and the way they have experienced the world. When you make challenging decisions in your life, what values do you align with and which definitions of yourself do you most often consider?

Today, as you and the entire planet stand in perfect alignment, relish and really check in to what that feels like and keep it going!!

References:

Badaracco Jr., Joseph L. (1997). Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose Between Right and Right. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Garrett, L. (2016). The Opposite of Burnout: 5 Career Strategies to Make You Feel Valued, Be Heard and Make a Difference. Kindle.

Hultman, K. (2002). Balancing Individual and Organizational Values: Walking the tightrope to success. San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2012). The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary   Things Happen in Organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 5th edition.