Courageous leaders bounce back

What a day of mixed fortunes it has been and it has provoked me to think about the need to bounce back - how quickly do you need to bounce back and how long can you dwell on the things that you wanted to happen and they didn't?

I think it is is important to acknowledge your emotions and allow yourself to "feel them" - courageous leaders need to allow themselves time to be real and feel. However it is important not to allow these emotions to take you into one of the common roles we fulfil when "feeling" - victim, persecutor or rescuer. Interestingly I found myself feeling like a bit of a victim when some disapppointing news came our way - great I caught myself and returned to just "feeling" - being present with it and allowing it to percolate into my mind and body. The hardest part is to acknowledge that I "created the whole of my reality" - and sometimes this takes time to accept and acknowledge - why would I do this? Why would I create this? So it means I need to slow down and reflect on what I know, what I did and what has happened and importantly how I feel.

So in answer to my question I think and feel that it is important to allow enough time to be present with your feelings before deciding to "bounce back".

And bouncing back means owning your feelings and determining how you want to use them constructively to take yourself forward - no blame, no justification, no defensiveness - ready to accept the news and create personal action.

And since starting this blog I have certainly been tested on "just how courageous" are we talking about.....this is what I have created and now I am learning from it. So, courageous leaders allow themselves time to be present with their feelings before "bouncing back". It is OK to feel disappointed, to feel sad, to feel mad........and it is what you do with these feelings that is so important for the courageous leader!