The Soul of Leadership
by: Jim Howard, LPC, Director of MOLAP
Without a doubt, lawyers are very intelligent professionals.You are well-educated and trained to understand the legal complexities of a case, and to know how to represent the interests of your clients in our complex legal system.
Lawyers, like other helping professionals, use their "Heads" to figure things out. While useful and important, some professionals, including some lawyers, tend to intellectualize, approaching virtually everything in their personal lives, as well, from the "Head." They become disconnected from their feelings and their spirit, their "Heart" and "Soul."
It seems that the only way that we can see this is when it no longer works for us, either in our professional or personal lives. The symptoms might be relationship difficulties, depression, anxiety, stress or burnout. Interestingly, sometimes burnout is a clue that we are wandering around without a clear mission or purpose in life. Developing a mission tends to reconnect us to our spirit. A mission, incidentally, is not the same as a goal. The former is a calling, whereas the latter is the means to support the mission.
While no doubt some individuals derive their calling from their higher power, through meditation, inspiration or modeling, more often than not it comes from a number of sources, including one's past experiences. For example, my life mission is to value others by leading, blessing and mentoring. This calling has its source primarily from my experience of not being valued adequately in my family of origin, primarily by my father. By identifying this wound, it has become important to me that I value others. The means to do this, that is to say, leading, blessing and mentoring, relate to my skills. My profession, counseling, supports my mission and, as a recovering alcoholic, utilizes my personal experience with past depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and addictions, to help others.
Without a clear mission it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, and in my judgment, spend an inordinate amount of time and energy reacting to crises.
So what’s a lawyer to do? First of all, I suggest that you recognize that the fully mature, highly functioning professional is one who accepts and integrates all of his or her parts, including the Body, Mind (Head), Heart (Feelings) and Spirit (Soul) into the service of his or her mission.
Secondly, some of us find that something may be blocking this full acceptance and integration. The block could be any one of a number of possible issues or experiences, including but not limited to:
- Childhood trauma
- Stress and anxiety
- Unresolved grief
- Unrecognized anger
- Depression
- Substance abuse
- Underdeveloped sense of self-worth
- Ineffective communication style
The dilemma for many professionals is that they need help with removing the block, yet are often reluctant to ask for that help from another professional. Many of us seem to have a core belief, albeit inaccurate, that to REALLY be a successful professional, we can’t let anyone know that we can’t solve this ourselves. I would invite you to discover a more effective image and criteria for a successful lawyer.
In summary, ask yourself if you have an integrated balance of your Head, Heart, and Soul. If not, I encourage you to make this happen. If you cannot accomplish this alone, call the Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Program (MOLAP) at 1-800-688-7859 for professional, confidential help in removing the blocks.