Come with Me

I have known what it feels like to walk alone. In these moments, an internal battle ensues, a push and a pull between the work that is calling me to step forward and into unknown spaces, and the resistance that shows up as an intense desire to stay with the certainty of what I know. This tension invites unsettling questions that arrive without words or form. These wordless questions are a deep knowing and their presence is strong and palpable as they seek to silence the voice of curiosity and exploration.

This restlessness is a dance between what is and what could be. But for me, time and again, the pull is so strong and so clear that I cannot turn away from the work that I sense is ahead. To reject the journey, even if it is one that I must walk alone, would be to reject myself.
 
And while I have set out on many journeys alone, I often discover that over time others arrive to walk with me. Sometimes I invite them to “come with me” or, as is often the case, a generous soul notices that I am slightly off course, and in response, they invite me to join them as they aid in my own course correction.
 
Our journeys may begin alone, filled with empty spaces that feel heavy and void of connection, but those empty spaces are temporary place holders. The right people show up at the right time, always. This I know to be true.
 
These traveling companions then become a part of a community where relationships are built through shared experiences. There is a connection that happens when we offer or accept the invitation to “come with me,” when we walk with others, when we step into the unknown in pursuit of the unseen. This isn’t simply a physical journey—a healing of external wounds—it is much deeper than that. Our journeys are medicine for our souls as we tend to our internal wounds. Transformation happens on these communal journeys.
 
The decision to walk with someone else is to accept a front-row seat to the full arc of their story; not just the optimistic beginning or the idealistic ending, but rather all the chaos of the beautiful mess that happens along the way. The invitation to give witness to someone else’s journey: what a gift to give, what a gift to receive. This gift allows us to see things we can’t unsee. Transformation happens through the seeing.
 
And it is during these journeys that we discover our interconnectedness. It is both someone else’s journey and our own journey at the same time. The lines between us and them become blurred as we ebb and flow in and out of all of our journeys, none of which are linear but all of which are moving in the right direction. Transformation happens when we are in motion.
 
Leadership is a journey, and it is meant to be done in relationship with others. Life is best lived side by side. Being human is something we should do together. Leadership invites us to say, “come with me” as well as to accept that same invitation from others.
 
I want to surround myself with people who see when things are broken, who believe things can be better, and who desire to be a part of the solution. If that description resonates with you then I invite you to “come with me.” I’ve got some exciting journeys ahead and there is space for you, a place holder, every step of the way.
 
Transformation happens when we invite others to “come with me.”

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