How Language Helps or Hurts Leadership
With the learning I am engaged as a leadership coach, mom, founder of a youth organization, as well as CEO, I am becoming increasingly aware of certain missing conversations that linger in the background. They come up in individual conversations and in the observations I hear from people of all ages. It will most likely be one you have witnessed, too.
As a culture, there are external pressures to earn more, learn more, acquire more. The story that comes with that is “I am not enough”. We are expected to do more to become enough, or earn more, or look a certain way to be “enough”. Yet, anxiety, depression and drug use is increasing. The missing conversation has a question: What is enough? Enough is how each of us defines it, yet that is not a part of our learning.
We are not taught to take the time to design what success is by our definition. We see that more stuff and bigger things is synonymous with success. Yet people are depressed or feel anxious and disconnected somehow.
That is not how I see success. I see success as serving others, learning what my value is so I can help create value in others, speaking to people from my heart, rather than having all the answers in my head.
I seek to bring integrity, goodness and heart to the community I impact.
I seek to increase visibility to change the narrative of success, value and leadership.
I want to do this so my kids and their peers see new possibilities for a higher quality of life and relationship with themselves and with others.
For several years, I have been interested in increasing DESCO’s visibility. My definition of visibility and my concerns about increasing visibility have evolved in the recent past. Visibility by my standards today has to do with bringing more good into the world. The recognition will be for the culture DESCO has built: collaborative, we are building on trust and transparency, a place where each team member is engaged in learning and trying new things, helping one another. There will always be ways to improve upon how we do this, but this is coming into existence more and more every day. I am a firm believer in stepping into discomfort for the sake of growth, learning and development. That is where transformation happens, that is where new learning unfolds.
Why do I care about visibility?
1. To Collaborate with Like-Minded Organizations to Bring Goodness and Integrity to Healthcare
2. Job security and Employee Development
3. Being Seen and Valued as Relevant
4. Flexibility and Growth
I see growth a key part of ensuring that what I offer and what my team offers is relevant and of value in the eyes of our partners that we deliver service to. This tells me that we are adaptive and are aware of changing market needs and are able to respond and flourish as a result of our practices to listen to partner challenges and develop new offers to stay relevant. There exists a cut throat and highly slanderous tendency to put down competition within our industry. But I see greatness, too. I see possibilities for us to partner with good-hearted, good-spirited organizations who care about service and people. We have found many of those and are creating partnerships to expand more. We help them grow, they help us. It helps the good guys get bigger. I am all about more good in the world.
This past week, I took a lunch break and headed to the Quabbin Reservoir. I was in reflection and shot a video. This video is about language and how it can hurt or help us. This is just a part of what I am looking to put out in the world:How Language Helps or Hurts our Future
A part of my path is helping others create new standards and new interpretations for the sake of more effective outcomes both as leaders and as mentors to kids.
If we bring certain conversations to the forefront, we will change the narrative of leadership, teamwork and value – both in individuals and in organizations, school systems communities…. This will bring a new awareness and engagement in life for our future leaders. That is my goal.
There is vulnerability and discomfort in bringing what is important to the forefront. I invite each of you to step a little bit into discomfort and move into it to see what shows up. We have internal narratives in our head constantly assessing our every move and idea. Being able to silence the critic in our heads and move anyway can be the most courageous thing we ever do.
Take care, Andrea
Andrea Bordenca is a mother of 3 boys, the CEO of a DESCO Medical Service, the founder of Lead Yourself Youth and a Leadership Coach. All leadership is a form of service, yet many leaders fall into sacrifice.It is a matter of the narrative you live in and how you wish to shape your life. As a CEO and a Leadership Coach, I can help. Message me for more information.