Alicia proclaimed that transformation comes when we have the courage to try. I learned during our experience with Gonzaga’s Leadership and Hardiness capstone climb on Mt. Adams that each person had their own personal summit experience. Prior to that course I thought that getting to the top of the mountain was the only version of success that was acceptable, but there are so many different versions of success and so many diverse summits for us along our own personal climbs. Alicia is great at teaching the people she works with to think deeply about their core values and to ask themselves what defines success to them. Asking ourselves what success looks like, is a question that will help us find the Summit that is of most value to us.
Another great truth that I learned during my time at Gonzaga that helped me reframe my journey is that when we stay at a job too long or in a situation that we know is wrong for us, we hold the people around us hostage because we often stop giving our best and they have to pick up our slack. Sometimes the courageous thing to do is to keep giving our best even though we know we aren’t a right fit, but to do it for the people around us until we can move on. This can help us have the confidence to take a profound leap in a new direction or find a new opportunity. This requires a profound level of self-discipline and self-leadership that will propel us to greater summits.
Alicia talks about the value of self-leadership and how it really looks like loving ourselves more, silencing the limiting voices in our live, and allowing our core values to challenge us. We have to let go of the limiting voice of comparison because other people’s version of success and their summits are not ours. Just as each mountain is different and has many different routes, each of us are different and it is our uniqueness that makes so valuable to our teams and organizations. Embrace the courage inside of you by taking that first step towards your own personal summit and then let the confidence inside you swell!
Listen to more great content from Alicia on Google Podcasts at That ALL Might Be Edified: Discussions on Servant Leadership – Servant Leadership Creates Limitless Possibilities (google.com)
