What is Liberated Leadership?

Embodying the invitation into Liberated Leadership within a relationship

Are there people that you have difficulty remaining centered around? Do you find certain people, topics, or contexts bring you into impulsive reactivity? In these situations, what often happens to the quality of the human connection?

What would it feel like to be able to remain connected to yourself, and still communicate your truth, while simultaneously respecting the differences that emerge in the relational space? 

At the macro-scale, the aggregate result of a collective of individuals who are disconnected, reactive, and residing in states of trauma produce patterns of polarized politics that work against each other, yet paradoxically uphold each other through such resistance. Embedded within political poles, we can disentangle all sorts of views that relate to aspects of our identity that are expressed in ways such as clinging to ideas, self-righteousness, and immediate defensiveness. As the adage goes, “what you resist, persists,” this type of paradigm creates cycles of repetitive and predictable human dynamics. 

Additionally, at the macro-scale, the aggregate results of a collective of individuals who are connected, responsive, and residing in a state of self-acceptance produce patterns of generative politics. When we disentangle the nuances within the political polarities in this context, we find humans who are open to the unknown, celebrating their differences, and responding to each other with curiosity and care. The differences that manifest in polarities remain, but our relationship to them is different.

The micro-scale, which when we continue to scale back leads us right to our own self, is the place where we have the agency to create the inspiration that invites others into generative ways of being. If we are struggling with anger, perpetual blame, resentment, and general victimized states – and this is impacting our relationships, then it’s likely we’re inviting people into more defensive polarization.

To embody the invitation into Liberated Leadership within a relationship, it can include:

1. Returning to the presence in the immediate moment. Leveraging real-time practices to stay connected to our bodily experiences. This entails simple, yet potent, tools such as focusing on the breath, noticing sensations, feeling instead of resisting, and bringing self-compassion to our immediate experience. This might also mean harmonizing our mind and our heart. Balancing out the power of our thoughts with the feeling in our heart and gut.

2. Dedication to shadow work as a continual practice. Our judgments of others often reflect exact parts of ourselves that have been rejected and unloved by us. Leveraging our heightened emotional triggers, such as anger and rage, emotions that when resisted or repressed often bring us into the temptation to blame others can serve as a guidepost for what shadow parts we might need to lean into loving. This does not allow others to get away with harmful behaviors, rather it brings us back to our centeredness so we can respond in ways that offer care, love, and boundaries to attune best to the situation. 

How does the world, and each unique relationship we encounter, offer us a mirror for our own growth? How does growth lead to feeling liberated? How does inner liberation, which includes the capacity to feel rather than resist, become reflected as liberated cultures at the collective scale? 

At Let’s See Labs, we believe that when teams and communities trust each other people are free to love, trust, and imagine. As a byproduct, team cultures become perpetually curious, empathetic, and innovative.

Learn more about how our Liberated Leadership programs can ignite nonpolarizing cultures amidst your team: https://www.letsseelabs.com/

New book release January 2023: You Are Us: How to Build Bridges in a Polarized World – stay tuned: https://www.letsseelabs.com/you-are-us