True Power Requires the Ego to Have Been Humbled
In certain tribes in Africa, when an individual is being assessed by the elders as to whether they are destined to become a shaman, they are first asked to show their scars.
They must be able to demonstrate that they have known the fierceness of life, and that they still stand present, empowered, connected and open.
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One truth of our being is that in the core of our souls, we are the eternal, invincible Self, vibrating and knowing itself in the exhilaration of the One through everything. It is a fire that cannot be touched, harmed, or extinguished.
Another truth of our being is that we are intimately, inevitably vulnerable. In the flesh and folds of our animal bodies and human hearts, we all feel, suffer, cry, laugh, and grieve. All of our bodies move through sickness and health as do those of the people we love. All of us will die. We have lost and/or will lose those we love. On a somatic level, we know life is temporary, finite, and conditional, each moment totally unique, precious, and never to be repeated. In honest vulnerability the amour of our separation is taken off and we feel how connected we are in all the glory and heartbreak of this fragile human journey.
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The leaders our global crisis is calling forth today must have moved through both of these initiations to access True Power. Their egos must have been humbled by both the invincibility of their spirit and the vulnerability of their embodied self.
They must have been dedicated enough to penetrate into the Truth of who they are, to have gone beyond ego and to have taken their stand there as the One Self come to serve and roar through its kingdom of all creation.
They must have been vulnerable enough to take off the mask of personality, and reveal the tenderness and clarity of the human soul underneath. They must lead from a place that recognises our fragile and sacred interdependence and interconnection with the web of life. And their hearts must have been broken and purified enough to resonate in empathy for the struggles, joys and heartbreaks of all those they seek to serve.
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Deeper than both our vulnerability and our indestructible soul, is the electric current of pure Being - the Void where there is no self and no other. This is the wild, dark source of True Power.
True Power requires the ego to have been humbled. It requires its agendas to have been broken and purified in order for us to be trustable – by our community, those we are to lead, and by Life itself.
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If you’re interested to cultivate this form of leadership in yourself, check out my approach to leadership coaching on this website and contact me at jonathan@synergyforum.org if you’d like to arrange a free 30-minute consultation.
Additionally, this depth of accountability and integrity are our focus in our annual True Power retreats.