Lately, I have been hearing a lot about how people realize things cannot continue the way they are, that they are looking for change, or to make a change in their life. There are so many people who are feeling discontent with the current state of their lives or the world, and some of these people are starting to lose hope. Hope is an indistinguishable flame. It is something that is always there, even when we can’t see or feel it. When we feel despair or hopeless, we need to find and connect with people to help guide us back to get in touch with our hope and faith that there can be something better – that change is possible.

Essence of Leadership

Leaders exist in in every area, organization, group, and structure in our society. Anyone who continues to hold onto the vision of hope and take action towards making that vision a reality are leaders. These are the forward thinkers that we need to look towards to start creating our new future and reality. This means that leaders come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. They do not need to be in ‘typical’ leadership positions or profiles to be effective, and often aren’t.

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

All of us have the capacity to be a leader, in our homes, circles we run in, organizations, communities, and if we wish, at a larger level. The point is that leaders stoke the flames of hope, not distinguish them. They believe, inspire, and help find or build a way through the actions they take to make their vision a reality. 

Importance of Hope in Driving Change

Hope, dreams, and a vision for a better future are some of the best tools we have to make changes in our lives and in our world.

(Hope + Dreams + Vision) * (Plan + Action) = Change 

It’s hard to dream without hope. And it’s hard to have a clear vision without being able to dream. Hope is foundational in driving change as it is the catalyst and inspiration that is required to allow ourselves to dream. Without dreaming, we cannot clearly visualize what we want to create. And without a clear vision, we aren’t able to put a plan in place and take action to drive change.

If all change starts with hope, and a leader is a ‘dealer’ in hope, then we need to look for and be leaders that are able to instill hope in others because without hope, there isn’t much else.

How to be a Change Leader

We all have the capacity for leadership. Each and every one of us has the unique skills and abilities to be leaders in our own right. Whether you are a leader of your family, community, organization, group of friends, or a leader at a larger scale. All of us have the potential to be a leader every day in our lives.

Being a leader and being a change leader is different. We can all lead others, however, change leaders are those who are leading towards a specific vision or direction. Change leaders have the ability to inspire, influence, and insight action in others. To be a change leader, you need to be able to not only take action on an individual-basis, but work with others to take action on behalf of that vision.Successful change leaders not only act on a micro scale, but form structures and teams to amplify their reach and actions.

Managing the Dip

One principle we talk about in change management is the ‘performance dip.’ Essentially, anytime there is a change that takes place there is a ‘performance dip’ immediately afterwards that people go through. This ‘dip’ is usually made up of some struggle, confusion, learning curve, or new way of being. This ‘dip’ exists because change is hard. Even though change is the only constant in this world, we as humans continue to struggle with implementing it in our own lives because it requires us to be or act differently than before (or where we are comfortable).

In order to get outside our comfort zones and truly make change, we need to have a personal stake or key reason for acting differently every day – we need to be different in order to do different. This is why all change leadership starts with ourselves.

Self-Leadership as the Foundation

“Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.” ~Carol Burnett

All good leadership starts with self-leadership. It is the foundation to being a leader of others because every change starts with changing ourselves. If we as leaders do not go through and pave the way (experiencing the struggles, emotions, difficulties, and pain) we cannot effectively lead others. Leadership requires inspiration, and inspiration requires empathy. Therefore, effective leadership requires empathy. It doesn’t require perfection, rather an acknowledgement that you have been there and a willingness to help others through their own change journey to be able to join you. 

While there is usually a rough patch after any change that takes place, a clear vision, hope, empathy, discipline, and action can get us through to the other side.

Tools to Help

While there are many ways to improve your ability to be an effective change leader, the most important is to start developing yourself. If all good leadership starts with self-leadership, then we must first look to making changes within ourselves to be able to effectively lead others. While there are lots of ways to do this, some of the things that I have found to have provided the biggest impact on my personal journey were the Life Activation, Empower Thyself and Universal Kabbalah Classes.

• The Life Activation works with your individual chemistry (DNA) to help you ignite or light up the unique characteristics and gifts that you already have inside of you so that you are able to bring them forward in the world more easily. If we are unaware of our unique abilities and gifts, how are we supposed to lead others in an authentic and meaningful way? This tool can really help us to tap into our own authenticity to be a more effective leader of ourselves and others.
• The Empower Thyself class is the next thing that gives you a greater understanding of yourself and the universe, more positive energy, as well as tools to use to help you amplify your ability to make changes and reach your goals.
• Universal Kabbalah is an intensive 10-month personal journey that provides you with a system for deep introspection, healing, as well as a practical formula and tools to help you reach your goals and see tangible measurable results in your life.

These are just a few things (out of many) that can help to build a solid foundation for both self-leadership and the ability to be effective change leaders for others. We all have the potential inside of us. We all are already leaders in our own right. In order to drive change in our lives and in the world, we sometimes need a little bit of guidance and help to continue to stoke our own flame of hope so that we are able to fan that flame of hope in others.