Exploring the Connection Between Personal Empowerment and Effective Leadership
Leaders striving to make a meaningful impact in their organizations and communities can deepen their work through a commitment to personal growth and presence. By embracing skills like active engagement and deep listening that can be lacking in corporate environments, leaders can encourage innovation, connection, and creativity in their teams.
In a recent KOAN Conversation on “The Power of Presence,” Integrated Work CEO Jennifer Lyn Simpson and Sarah McArthur, the CEO of Power of XYZ, shared how their journeys of learning and healing have helped them become more effective leaders. Their discussion is one in a series of conversations exploring concepts in Jen’s book, the KOAN method: Breakthrough Leadership for a Divided World, which makes the case for a new and better way of leading to help leaders and organizations shift to connection and innovation.
At Power of XYZ Inc., a media and production consultation agency, Sarah and her team help changemakers tell their stories through media and production services. Over the past three years, Power of XYZ has worked to amplify the voices of those striving to make a positive difference in the world.
Sarah said she guides the team at Power of XYZ by tapping into the crucial connection between personal empowerment and effective leadership. “Leadership starts with self-awareness and empowerment,” Sarah noted. It’s about understanding your strengths and weaknesses and continuously striving to grow and improve.”
‘Creating a Supportive Environment Where Everyone Feels Seen and Heard’
Sarah’s path to leadership was shaped by overcoming personal challenges, including a childhood marked by trauma and a trying transition into adulthood. She said therapy was instrumental in her healing process, helping her to understand and address her needs.
A pivotal moment in Sarah’s journey was her involvement in empowerment self-defense, which provided her with skills for physical protection as well as mental and emotional empowerment. “Empowerment self-defense was a game-changer for me,” Sarah said. “It helped me understand my needs, become more self-aware, and ultimately, it led to a complete shift in my career and personal life.”
Sarah highlighted the connection between trauma awareness and more compassionate and adaptable leadership. By understanding trauma, leaders can create environments that balance workplace needs with individual needs and offer flexibility and support. “Trauma-informed leadership is about being compassionate and adaptable,” Sarah emphasized. “It’s about creating a supportive environment where everyone feels seen and heard.”
Leaders who embrace self-awareness demonstrate the importance of shaping human-centric organizations that incorporate principles of the KOAN method that Jen explores in her book and in her everyday work. “A lot of where I have my attention today is asking, ‘How do I need to continue to grow and evolve?’ … If what you’re up to as a leader is leading transformational change, then you’ve got to be up for that ride yourself,” Jen said. “It’s not the easy way to be an executive or be a leader, but it’s a pretty powerful and meaningful way.”
It’s also important to give team members opportunities to learn and develop new skills, which Sarah has done at Power of XYZ. “We give people the opportunity to expand,” she said. “I had a lot of people that encouraged me and my ability to learn and grow. So when I hired, I hired for the ability to grow, the ability to learn.”
Aligning Actions with Values and Purpose for Learning and Growth
Sarah’s frequent moving experiences during her childhood taught her adaptability and resilience. These experiences shaped her leadership style, helping her embrace change and flow with life’s challenges. “Adaptability is a key trait for any leader,” Sarah noted. Embracing change and being able to let go are essential for maintaining presence and effectiveness in a constantly evolving environment.”
As Jen explores in the KOAN method, the ability to be adaptive can hold powerful potential for individual and collective change. By developing resilient systems that foster and encourage flexibility, leaders create human-centric organizations that fuel connection and innovation.
Of course, leaders themselves must be adaptive and commit to their own learning and healing, Jen said. “Any transformation that has happened in our leadership has always begun with recognizing that there was something in us that we needed to go to work on, that we needed to look on in a different way that was getting in our way of being the fullest expression of ourselves, or having the impact in the world that we wanted to have.”
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