The Nature of Leadership and Career

read time 5 minutes

The Nature of Leadership and Career, is a weekly newsletter where I provide 1 illustration and ~3 ideas to help you connect to your career, leadership, or work journey in a more natural way.

Today at a glance

• Illustration of the week

  - Reframing shitty situations

• The Nature of Career

  - 5 inspirations from nature to re-wild your career

• Career Product, Person, Process of the week!

  • Resume Revamp!

Illustration of the Week

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The Nature of Career

1. Being in nature brings you closer to nature, and your own inner nature

One of the biggest challenges in career transitions is the sense of self-identity. To my fellow corporate hippies, there is an undeniable calm that nature exudes based on its rhythm, smells, and sounds. It is the reason that concepts like “forest bathing” exist. 

Time in nature is a mindfulness immersion that enables you to soften and listen to the core of who you are. It enables you to answer “Who am I” in a sensed way rather than a search for concrete answers. 

2. The magnificence of matriarchies

For most women in tech, we exist in patriarchies.

We need examples of successful and inspirational matriarchies. One of the strongest and boldest examples?

 Elephant herds!

In the captivating world of elephant matriarchs, leadership takes center stage. These wise and experienced leaders guide their herds not just by virtue of their age and time in the role, allowing them to sense and avoid potential threats, but also by the unique personalities unveiled in recent research conducted by Moss and Phyllis Lee from Scotland’s University of Stirling has identified 26 distinct personality traits in elephants.

Recent research suggests that being a female professional comes with the challenge of "no good age" – a perception that we're either too young or too old to excel.

I believe that the wisdom and examples we can glean from elephant matriarchs might just hold the key to overcoming these challenges and paving the way for successful female leadership at any age.

3. Scarcity and survival can lead good people to bad behaviors

The illicit trade in rhinoceros horns for keratin and elephant tusks for ivory is driven by a toxic mix of ego and greed among buyers, while suppliers, including poachers and brokers, are often motivated by either greed or the need for survival.

In many cases, individuals in compromised positions, grappling with poverty and scarcity, provide tips to poachers regarding the whereabouts of these animals. This information is exchanged for compensation to meet basic needs for themselves and their families.

This broken system mirrors challenges found in various work and HR systems, where scarcity and survival instincts can lead to compromising actions.

💡 When confronted with compromising situations driven by feelings of scarcity and survival, it's crucial to creatively explore multiple options. This approach counteracts the negative impact scarcity thinking can have on decision-making, increasing the likelihood of better outcomes.

4. Knowing when to retract into your shell is lifesaving

The leopard tortoise retracts its head into its shell for protection and makes a hissing sound when disturbed.

I am saddened by the number of people, women in tech specifically, whom I’ve spoken to or coached that have been disturbed by bad leaders and toxic workplaces, especially in the last few years. 

Often these women stayed in their role “well passed its use-by date” because they wanted to prove to themselves “they could hack it”, or because they were victims of gaslighting and believed they were the problem.

Know what retracting into your shelf for protection looks like for you. This might be taking time out, reducing your hours, quitting, or something else.

Most importantly remember to hiss like the leopard tortoise. Often when people retract they silence themselves due to pain and/or fear. Using crucial for self-advocacy and supporting others in challenging situations.

5. Oh shit! moments are enlightening

If you have been, or when you go on safari you will never be more interested in different types of shit.

From the signals that fresh animal poo gives you to track the animal, to knowing that you can touch poo from plant-eating animals because it has no bacteria, to tortoises eating hyena poo because it’s full of calcium and helps them harden their shells.  

💩 Shit on safari really lights up the path ahead. 

💩 Shit in the career context can be just as illuminating. 

When we look at the metaphorical “oh shit!”  moments in our careers: we freak out. As Harvard Medical School psychologist, Susan David says, emotions are signals. 

So are the Oh shit! moments. 

The key lies in taking the time to search for signals in the shitty situation so that you can use the insights to reframe or redesign a similar situation in the future. 

🌲 Go into nature and ponder what your shitty situation is telling you about your next steps. 

If you need help with re-wilidng your career, let’s chat. I would love to help you.

Product / Person / Process of the Week!

A new weekly segment where I highlight a product, person, or process that is in service to your career. I only recommend people, products, and processes I know or have experienced without any monetary affiliate benefit.

The job search is hard! My friend and amazing coach Beckie Thain-Bloink specializes in resumes and how to take the friction and “uurgh!” out of the job search process.

Follow her and importantly attend her upcoming free webinar Stop Getting Ghosted: 3 Strategies to Convert Your Resume to an Interview.

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