Will my Life be Rich? By Larry Ackerman

By Larry Ackerman on December 11th, 2011

The allure of wealth is intoxicating. The possibility of having as much money as you need to do what you want, when you want is a potent aphrodisiac. When I talk about a “rich life,” however, that’s not what I’m talking about. At least, not exclusively. But you already knew that, because you are, or aspire to be, a conscious leader.

So far in this blog series, we’ve looked at the first 7 attributes of personal identity strength and how they influence conscious leadership – autonomy, differentiation, change, stewardship, potential, alignment and brand. This post addresses the eighth and final attribute, sustainability – a leader’s ability to shape an organization that not only positively affects others today, but that lays the groundwork for shaping a legacy that survives his or her tenure – in short, your ability make a difference that endures.

So, who’s the lucky soul who exemplifies a “rich” life? For me, one of the characteristics of all conscious leaders is their ability to teach, not just tell. Call it leader-as-coach. With that thought in mind, my candidate is Sharon Daniels, CEO of AchieveGlobal, the worldwide training concern. I ran across Sharon in a New York Times column recently that featured her life and how she’d achieved (!) her current position. (A Passion for Coaching: http://nyti.ms/uwmysK) What moved me to make her the poster child for this posting were two things: first, how, along with her CEO responsibilities, she volunteers in crisis counseling and pregnancy counseling and, second, how she has applied her coaching and mentoring talents to raising her family (with apparently positive outcomes). Certainly, Sharon Daniels is making money, but she’s also making a difference in many significant ways.

What are the measures of a rich life? Based on Sharon’s story, they certainly include income. But they also include recognition, a powerful sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, even love. Not a bad ROI; Return On Identity, that is!

How do you create such a life? You surrender to the pull of your identity. I’m not referring to giving up; I’m talking about taking hold; taking hold of the most powerful force you have as a human being, the part of you that fuels your capacity to make important things happen. As a leader, surrendering to the pull of your identity is what it takes to do right by yourself and, in turn, by others.

Conscious leadership is a way of life, not just a way of management. It calls for courage, for humility, for vision, for vulnerability. It calls for humanness. In that spirit, the 8 building blocks of identity strength that we’ve surveyed over the past several months offer a useful framework for becoming a conscious leader.