#MondayInsight:

Expert VS Explorer Leadership

How do you share a vision? 

You share a vision by putting words to what you see…

And the funny thing is that you will never see the whole picture!

We are interdependent, and as way-showers, this requires us to share our pictures with each other so that we see a larger perspective of what the grand picture actually is. 

Sometimes we’re reluctant to share the visions we see until we’ve got the whole picture put together. But that’s just not the way it works – not with the kind of visions that we’re here to share. 

Instead, we get a bit of the vision and then we put words to that and we share that. And once we share it we start to see the next thing, and then we put words to that. And that inspires somebody else who shares what they see, which inspires the next thing you see and share.

That’s not expert leadership… It’s explorer leadership.

The expert is the one that has all the answers, and so we’re often told to market ourselves as an expert. And of course, there are times and places for expertise…

But then there are also times and places to have an explorer. And that’s when we are going into territory that is new – territory we haven’t walked upon – territory we have not yet explored.

That kind of territory requires trail blazers to go ahead, pave a path, and share what they discover.

What does the visionary explorer have that the expert doesn’t have? What’s the distinction between the expert and the explorer? 

The explorer is someone who has developed the courage to put words to what they see, and the trust in themselves and the Universe to take action on it.

We usually think of explorers in historical references – they went and explored, mapped out a territory, then came back after they had it all mapped out and presented the map of this new territory. 

But that is not the kind of exploration we are talking about. It’s not separating yourself from society, exploring, building a map, then coming back and sharing it. This is about being an explorer in real-time, reporting from the field as you discover what you learn.

As an explorer leader, you lead with faith…

And faith is a thing that so many people crave, especially in times of great instability. 

Faith is the ability to follow truth without having any tangible evidence that it’s true. Often, the only evidence of truth is that it feels correct or that we get an internal nudge to go in a particular direction. 

Explorer leaders are those who have developed enough faith to do this without a predetermined map that shows them where it’s all going or what it’s going to look like when they get there. 

It often sounds like this: I’m meant to put this together… I’m meant to bring this to the world… I’m meant to talk about this. Why? I don’t even know yet. I just know that I’m meant to. Where’s it going to lead? I’m not sure yet, but I know it’ll lead me in the right direction. 

When we put words to our visions, even as we are still exploring the very visions we’re putting words to, we are demonstrating our ability to live by faith, in faith, and from faith.

And part of what the new paradigm leader is doing is demonstrating the ability to live and lead by faith. 

Why is that necessary? Because the solutions that we require at this time in history are not the solutions that can be found from the same perspective or paradigms in which we currently live. 

We need to leave our known pathways and explore with no tangible evidence that we should explore other than an internal knowing that we are called to do so. 

So here’s this week’s invitation: find a place in your life where you can lead with vision more overtly, more publicly, and where you can share what’s cooking as it’s on the stove. Know that part of what you’re doing is demonstrating this form of leadership while also granting permission to others to lead in this way, and building a community of people that lead as explorers.