Leadership isn't an exact science and is uniquely carried out by each individual leader according to the leader's own style, ethics, background and the situation.

This week while taking a walk in the snow and watching my horses in the fog I couldn't help but think how often we feel lost in the fog with no clear idea of what to do next for our business or team. Just like my horse April, we sometimes feel like hanging our head and doing nothing..staying deep in the fog.

So today when in my quiet time the writer used (Psalms 46:10) "Be still, and know" it made sense to me. To get out of our fog we need to be still. We can't hear the answers to our leadership and business problems unless we slow down and be still.

When April looked up from her field of fog and saw me, I thought, we also need to look up, out of our own fog of self absorption. When we only focus on ourselves and our needs it's difficult to know what our followers need from us. We need to look up and be observant to understand what we need to do as a leader.

April wanted to be with me so she began to trudge through the snow towards me. Just like April we need to be in action. As we are in action and moving we'll begin to move out of our fog and into resolution. But it's necessary to be moving. We must be Taking the Reins of our own lives and looking toward our team to know what they need from us as leaders and our business to know our next steps!

Leadership is about action but this action may be in small steps and small chunks. It is a mistake to think that your actions have to be huge and overwhelming. Small chunks and small steps will take you there in a more realistic consistent fashion.

Being a successful leader is as much about whom you are as what you do. It's necessary to look deeply into yourself and evaluate what you find there. Ask yourself the why questions that lead to personal growth.

Think of yourself as having three levels:

The conscious - where we process facts, analyze problems, recognize our feelings, and show ourselves to the world. At this level we're aware of our experiences while we are experiencing them.

The subconscious - is where we store information and what makes us react to a given set of circumstances, while sometimes unaware why. In our subconscious we may remember information we read, the mood of a piece of music, or how it felt to do a flying lead change.

In order to get out of our fog to inspire others to follow us or to know the right business direction for our business, it's necessary to balance these two levels. Your subconscious and conscious minds need to be in inner harmony. Our mind and spirit govern our body.

Lastly our Spirit where we are driven to improve ourselves; to love, trust, and make commitments. It includes the attitudes that lead us to act as we do. In our spirit is where we're touched by the beauty of a horse running in the field or standing grazing in the pasture. Our Spirit is where we are inspired to grow and become. It's in our spirit that we learn from horses how to be a more effective leader and person.

Leaders lift your head, look forward, and taking the reins, began your journey out of the fog and into your future.

Copyright (c) 2008 Jean Starling