New Leaves

I’ve decided to call my summer off from work a sabbatical. For those unaware, a sabbatical is typically a period of leave from work for personal or professional development. The truth is, I’m not exactly sure what my next move will be, but for conversation’s sake, telling people I am taking time off for personal reasons seems to be a good explanation.

One of my goals for the summer is to read more. I enjoy reading, but I wouldn’t consider it a hobby of mine. When I am working, I don’t make reading a priority. Sadly, this has resulted in my not reading an entire book in a long time. I follow author Robert Greene on Instagram, so I decided to read his book, The Daily Laws. The book is actually a book of daily meditations based upon Robert’s bestselling book called, The 48 Laws of Power. The meditation book centers each month on different themes like: power, seduction, self-control, leadership, adversity, and human nature.

I chose this book because I have followed Robert’s Instagram account for a while and like what he has to say. I also have the attention span of a flea, and I thought reading a page a day would be a good place to kick of my summer reading. For the last month I have read a daily meditation. I usually do so first thing in the morning, so I have time to reflect on the message for the day.

A few days ago, I came across a meditation that stayed with me. When I read if or the first time, I swear I saw a “flash” rush across the sky, because the message from the meditation appeared to be written specifically for me. The title of the daily meditation was called, Renew Your Aura of Authority. The passage refers to how authority grows with each action which leads to trust and respect. This is how I viewed my career as an educational leader. I accomplished things that made me feel powerful and valued. For years, I was seen as someone who could be counted on to get the job done and felt great pride in my work.

However, during my last leadership role something had shifted. The meditation message refers to how as we age our authority can become rigid and stodgy. It shares how people may see an older person as a parental figure who appears oppressive, no matter how much you were admired in the past. This was the shift I had experienced. There was a time in my career that my title was enough to make people respect or admire me, but it was no longer the case.

Robert shares how a new, younger generation may not be dazzled by your experience and wisdom. They could view your ways of doing things as repetitive or old fashioned. A new generation looks for different ways to do things, not repeating what has been done before. Often, they are willing to take risks, something older people do less of, for improvements.

As I read the meditation, I realized I expected people to follow my lead because I was experienced. As a matter of fact, I felt insulted when younger, less experienced people were telling me that we should do things differently. I couldn’t imagine why we needed to do things in a new way because the old ways had always been successful for me.

The meditation passage stated, “Without being aware, you start to feel entitled, and people sense this.” Entitled? Was I acting in ways that were entitled in my last role? Reading this made think. I could recall several times I would roll my eyes when someone made a suggestion thinking it would never work. I also remembered not being flexible to try something different because I didn’t like the idea.

The meditations passage goes on to share how to avoid this type of thinking. Age offers great wisdom, but wisdom is wasted if no one wants to hear what you have to say. It focused on being sensitive to others, and empathetic to their contributions. The passage reminds people as they age to be willing to alter your style to appeal to a younger age group. This doesn’t mean change who you are, but mix things up and be willing to step outside your comfort zone.

Flexibility is the key to remaining relevant to a younger age group. I once enjoyed being valued for what I offered and I hope to experience that again. But now I will take a “new” approach toward connecting with others by making it less about me and more about them. The old ways are good, but sometimes new ways can be even better.