True Leadership

When we think of leadership, our attention goes to the obvious: a person who directs a group or organization towards a certain goal of that institution. What we fail to see are the ‘True Leaders’ who quietly go to work day in and day out. While the obvious leader is just that and often recognized for their accomplishments; the not so obvious is the person who stands in the background, allowing his team to thrive and grow…essentially cultivating future leaders.

The pilgrim once thought he had to lead troops into battle but now, on the path of Warrior, merely allows them to shine. As a young pilgrim he lied, manipulated, and often asked the unimaginable of his team. As Warrior he knows a true leader is one who trusts in his team, allowing them to use their own creative gifts and giving praise where deserved.

When I began writing of the Pilgrim and Warrior, I saw two sides to every human: one being a Pilgrim Lost and in search of truth; the other being the Warrior who has found truth, allowing others to go ahead of him remaining in peace. At the beginning of our Pilgrim versus Warrior theme I wrote about the Pilgrim being a He; the Warrior being a She. This was purely a self-reflection of who I was and where I wanted to be. The He representing the Masculine side and the She representing the Feminine side. We spend most of our lives as man or woman, but at a turning point in our lives we reflect where we are going in the future and, hopefully, reconnect with our opposing self. If being a man, we are to find our sacred feminine within. Being a woman, we are to find the masculine. When we learn that we are not whole without the other, we learn our truest identity…we are one. While the Pilgrim is able to lead others, it is the Warrior who stands firmly in what he believes but allows others to pass him by. Knowing what I know, I see true leaders all around me…

Our mothers quietly maintained a certain order of things, graciously cultivating environments of growth. Selflessly giving everyday and making sacrifices without ever getting anything in return. Some see the rewards immediate, some never receive, but continue to give of themselves wholeheartedly. Think back into history…even the great leaders of our past, had silent leaders backing them. The wives who stood behind them, while their partners shared their vision with the world.It is the silent Warrior who has true leadership. A true leader is one who knows The Way, but allows others to lead.

Stepping into the Canvas we allow ourselves to be who we came here to be. Afraid no longer, we step with care but with authority. Not looking for praise, but what is right. Mindfully…we are aware.

The Lost Decoder Ring

When the Warrior was a young pilgrim, he had a “secret decoder” ring. This ring allowed him to discover secret messages not be seen by naked eye, further allowing him to leave secret messages for others who use this “secret” technology of the decoder ring.

With other pilgrims joined the “secret” decoder ring club, they left messages for other pilgrims only they could decode. This activity raised vibrations of the pilgrims, allowing them for that moment to feel good about themselves and their purpose of leaving messages for other pilgrims. What were these secret messages? Mostly it was nonsense, but in these moments of decoding…they felt good.

The concept of discovering something élite in their secret group is no different from modern-day discovery. We all seek the discovery of truth and try various groups in search of  truth. While as pilgrims we discovered, to many viewed as nonsense, the secret to something far greater than we once imagined.

As adult pilgrims we continue our quest, until ultimately find our truth. “The seekers shall find their answers.” Whether it is in one group or another, we eventually come to the common thread binding us all together…that is Love. As young pilgrims, whether we realized it or not, we found that love in our made up secret messages. As adult pilgrims we seemed to have lost that commonality…thus the journey for peace continues.

The Warrior is familiar with this concept of truth and lives a virtuous path. No longer subscribing to one way as The Way, he adopts THE WAY. This truth spoken by many masters before: Lao Tzu wrote of it as The Way or familiarly known as The Tao; Christ spoke of it more boldly, stating He was The Way; Martin Luther King Jr. Spoke of Brotherly Love as The Way.

When the Warrior asked another  young Warrior what it meant to him, this lad spoke, “so many groups say their way is the only way, condemning others who do not subscribe to their groups. The Way does not condemn anyone, only encourages new growth within the self. Often The Way gets twisted into allowing killing in the name of our Father…do they not know we all have the same Father? An example of this is two children, born of the same parents but killing because they think their father is superior…when they were born into this world by the same flesh. Same mother, same father but harm another to gain favor of their own flesh and blood. On the spiritual level of the Heart, we are all God’s children.”

The Warrior smiles as he knows this to be truth and further asks, “why do we continue to divide?”

The lad responds, “simple Law of Nature. It is our nature to do divide. Every cell in our body divides, every plant divides and produces more offspring furthering the division through offspring, we humans do the same thing. What we fail to realize is that we are all one. Oneness begets behavior of togetherness and eliminates the further division. Having oneness does not mean we will not divide, as it is written in the laws that we will naturally divide. What it fails to explain is that we can continue to divide, but adopt the concept of coming together as one. Failing to see oneness, we fall to another Law…that of decay. Everything decays in life and we are not immune to this, but what we further forget is through our own death new life is born…completing the circle of life.”

So what are we to do? “We are to allow natural progression of life continue, but remain in harmony as nature will surely take its course. We enter into this world with nothing, leave this world with nothing. In between those two points we are to make everything of nothing. Live life to the fullest and encourage others to live in harmonious fashion, eliminating all hate or the burning need of finding truth. Instead of division, we all live in harmony abiding by The Way. The sad truth is that the leaders of our countries fall to disbelief that we are to divide and conquer.”

While the pilgrim lives in fear continuing the terrible divide and conquer mentality, the Warrior merely follows The Way. The Way is truth, it is the beginning and the end, it is the Law of Nature.

Stepping into the Canvas, the Warrior abandons the belief of killing in the name of our Father. Instead adopting truth…Love in the name of our Father. When we live in the name of Love, the necessity for a decoder ring ceases to exist.