Begin to Become

I started this work early. I wasn't too young.

Connected leadership development is self-development through service. Become a connected leader by beginning. 

How is it that we can give what we don’t have? Yet we can and do. Showing up for others is often the easiest way to learn how to show up for ourselves. (Why Success Circles work) And, giving what we seek can be the surest path to receiving it. 

After over a decade of training connected leaders to elevate others, I know: If seeking belief in yourself, believe in others and see what’s possible. If seeking money, help others make it and position yourself to be highly paid. If seeking love, love and become magnetic.

When we can’t for ourselves, we often can for others. My work often comes down to helping you build practices to give yourself what you're giving others. In Success Circles, peer coaches shine back the positive attention they're giving, creating uplifting community.

This week, a client came in crying. She's so discouraged at work, she can’t stop crying. Her family’s worried. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she shared that two team members had received excellent reviews. Her face, a moment ago broken, lit. Her inner own-best-coach directed her to a source of resilience.

She's giving team members what she most needs: encouragement. In our conversations, she practices giving this to herself. Seeing team members flourish, she knows encouragement fortifies. Experiencing her current frailty, she knows discouragement corrodes. She's committing to fortifying herself, including finding a therapist, continuing coaching, and connecting with friends. And she’s showing up as a connected leader through this, not despite but in part because of her pain. Her passion is deep.

I’m blessed in that my mom does this work. Since girlhood, I got to learn, witness, and eagerly partake in leadership development. Just out of undergrad, I got to start training and working as a facilitator and coach. I gave my first clients what I needed: belief in their potential. This taught me how to believe in mine. Over fifteen years later, I can confidently say I'm now my own-best-coach—my ultimate hope for each and every client.  

I now have more experience and skills to draw upon. And I see how time-under-tension’s only brought forth what was there. The work we’re meant to do, we’re born to do. Starting makes this clear. Continuing makes us sharp. We sculpt from the stone.

Most of us don't have a mother who invites us into our life’s work. Invite yourself. Have faith.

What potential do you need to believe in?

For me, it’s becoming an author. This blog is part of creating my book, “Connected Leadership.” Thank you, reader, for being part of this process. I’ve heard great writers say, “You know you’re writing if you feel like you don't know how to write.” I’ve heard that not knowing and yet trusting—a will-be flower pushing through soil—is how books happen.

Creation requires faith— whole-being investment in what we can't yet see. Nowhere is this more true than in the creative act of becoming ourselves. 

And so, Connected Leader, begin to become.

Lucia brizzi