Are you finding it hard to maintain your balance?
That’s a multi level question isn’t it! Last year I totally lost my balance. I couldn’t sit up or stand up. The symptoms lasted over 6 months and are still here a little today. So I was forced to find the cause. To triage for the cause through western medicine and to eliminate anything that was scary.
I then turned to eastern medicine with Chinese medicine and energy healing. Through this journey I understood so much more about what happens when our bodies say No! I started to pay attention to what I was doing. How I was being. The patterns and structures that I had built around me to enable me to be a success in my work and life.
I love my work. Love being in service to other people, helping them to find their balance. Its what leaders do isn’t. If you work in the NHS you will know that before you can help others you need to put your own oxygen mask on first. Its something that is easily forgotten.
Balance as a leader in complex times requires intentional practices that ground us amidst uncertainty. I’m on my last day in Sri Lanka, about to return home after a Return to Nature Retreat that has been a deep immersion in spiritual healing. A lot of Sri Lankans are walking barefoot, connecting directly with nature. So I have been doing that too and feeling the warm earth beneath my feet does give a sense of greater connection and being present to the moment. It’s a powerful metaphor for leadership—reminding me to stay present, rooted, and in tune with our environment.
In my role as a CEO for my business and in the type of work I do there is a need to operate from the mind—analysing, strategising, and constantly solving problems. However, there is also a need to balance this with being rather than doing.
I am left wondering what makes the Sri Lankans content. It’s a poor country. Many have nothing, and they smile, say “hello”, offer help without asking for anything or having any expectations. Everywhere they gather in small communities, connecting, supporting each other with such a wonderful flow of energy between them.
I am going to take a few things away with me as my lessons from Sri Lanka. My top two Re Thinking Leadership lessons are.
1. Grounding Ourselves First – Just as walking barefoot connects us to the earth, leaders must find ways to ground themselves amid chaos. This could be through mindful walking outside, between meetings, anywhere, for a few steps/ minutes / many times a day, where you are totally present to just walking/ Take your shoes off if you can and feel the ground beneath your feet. Yes, I know it can feel weird in Western Cultures, in the office. If you have a need to find balance then take the irsk and just do it!
2. Balance is an Internal State – It’s easy to believe balance is achieved by managing external demands, but true balance is internal. Find that inner stillness where your mind is not racing. Create some inner space so that you can navigate external chaos effectively.
These lessons from Sri Lanka show that leadership, at its core, is about being connected—connected to oneself, to others, and to the world in a way that fosters harmony rather than disconnection. Balance isn’t about perfect equilibrium, but about knowing when to pause, when to act, and how to lead with both strength and softness.
How can you bring this sense of grounded balance into your daily leadership?
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