He who stands on tiptoe
doesn’t stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn’t go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can’t know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can’t empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures. 

If you want to accord with the Tao,
just do your job, then let go. 

This passage is such fertile ground for reflection that it may take me a few days to finish this post! For this reflection, I want to go line by line and tease out the insights therein.

“He who stands on tiptoe
doesn’t stand firm”

Attaining a leadership can entice one into a dangerous game. The feeling of validation one gets from being elevated to a higher position based on the excellence of their past work, can become addicting. A new leader can fall into the trap of imaging their next position, and reaching for that next position before they have really started their new one. We stand on our tiptoes in order to get at something that is out of reach. But this makes us unbalanced, and easier to push over. By reaching for the next position before one has built a foundation for the current one, a leader can find that they are not in fact doing the job that they are currently being asked to do. They become ‘ladder climbers’ and lose the trust and faith of the team that they are leading.

“He who rushes ahead
doesn’t go far.”

When I showed up for my first day of work in my new leadership position my head was buzzing with all the actions I wanted to take and programs I wanted to put into place. I had big dreams of sweeping change. I soon realized, however, that I had no sense of this community yet. And what if the changes I wanted to make created friction within the community? I needed to reset myself. I kept my ideas on a running doc, but I laid them away, revisiting them only occasionally. I need to listen first to my “Community of Learner”. What were they saying? What were they really saying? I needed to observe. What are the natural patterns of movement? What is the body language in our space… and why? The moment for action will present itself in time.

“He who tries to shine,
dims his own light”

As a leader, it’s not about you. Shine the light on your team, always. As Simon Sinek says “leaders eat last”.

“He who defines himself
Can’t know who he really is.”

I recently read a leadership book called Touch Points. It was an interesting read and provided excellent food for thought in terms of being mindful of the way I interact with my faculty. However, it did promote the idea that in order to gain mastery over the ‘Touch Point” process a leader needed to clearly define their leadership model. Upon completing the book I dove right in to this task. I soon found, however, that it was an impossible task. There was no way I could codify my preferred leadership model, because different contexts call for different approaches. And with myriad problems surfacing on a daily basis, there was no way to prepare enough “if/then” models to make this an effective strategy. I was relieved when I opened the Tao Te Ching this morning to read this passage. I don’t need to define my style, and if I did then I would be acting in bad faith towards myself. By remaining ‘undefined’ and can more honestly attune myself and my leadership to the Tao.

“He who has power over others
can’t empower himself.”

 

Take Aways

Keep your feet (and your mind) firmly grounded on the work that is ‘right now’. By remaining present and aligning with the Tao a leader will eventually build themselves up, so that the

Remain ‘undefined’ and you can more honestly attune yourself and your leadership to the Tao.