Is Your Leadership Soul Getting Its Wings?

“Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.” A quote that warms our heart from the classic film, It's a Wonderful Life.

A commercial version is “When your sandwich is just the way you want it, ring the bell.”

This is a sign in a Subway store encouraging customers to let others know when they got what they wanted.

How often do we really get what we want?

Remember the Rolling Stones song that says:

“You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes well you might find, you get what you need.”

Ring a bell, an angel gets its wings. Ring a bell when you get what you want. But you can’t always get what you want.

Ding!

How This Relates To Change.

We wish we could just ring a bell and help someone. We wish we could ring a bell ten times a day, because we got what we wanted when we wanted. And then reality hits. We can’t always get what we want.

So what do we do? Transformation and change are not simple. Both are what we need, yet our achievement and satisfaction will vary.

What we need to do is to do the work. Not any work, but the work we feel a spark within our soul.

Not all work will deliver that spark, but the reality is there is work we need to do no matter what. To gain change in a situation, behavior, or direction, we need to work hard to make it happen.

Do The Work

So, our first step is to do the work. The next step is to understand our purpose and then activate it. Some may be lucky and just know their purpose. Many times, I am jealous of musicians. Their talent is so evident and often seems very effortless. On their work stage, a sense of joy seems to fill their every chord and interaction.

We know a musician’s life is not easy. There is a lot of work required, many hours on the road, and much more. No different than our lives, yet they do it. Musicians are using their talents fully in the bringing joy to others and to themselves. This is purpose understood and undertaken.

Right now, some may question why understanding your purpose is not the first step. The reason is simple. Many times, when we show up in different places and do the work required, we begin to understand our purpose. Work helps define our purpose, and then purpose makes our work more meaningful.

Find Your Purpose & Use Your Talents

The second step is to find our purpose and use our talents to enliven ourselves and others.

As we think about this change and transformation, we realize it isn’t just about us. There is a community that gains in what we do. More than this, our community challenges us to do more and be more.

To me, this is what the Lead Change community has been. A community that rings the bell for someone, encouraging their leadership soul to get its wings. A community that rings the bell when others get it right or a challenge to think differently about a problem or a call to stand up and do more.

Engage With A Leadership Community

The third step is to jump into a leadership community and engage with others to make each other better. More than this, engage a community to prevent becoming stale in your leadership ways. The status quo can be dangerous and slippery. Leading change requires ideation, practice, and gratitude.

Ring the Bell of Change!

Next time you hear a bell ring know that:

• A leader just found their leadership soul.
• A leader just adopted a positive change and a community rejoiced.

Be this leader of change and growth. Ring a bell for getting satisfaction in developing your leadership soul, because this is what our communities need.

Editor's Note: The Lead Change Group will be hosting a conference call on Wednesday, August 13, at 1 pm EDT. The call is open to current Lead Change Community members as well as people who just want to know what it is all about.