Running Headlong Into Darkness to Shine My Light

Was I scared?

Was I complacent?

Was I bored?

Maybe all of those things.

Mostly, I lost a piece of myself. My light was losing some of its luminescence.

During COVID, I was inundated with clients who needed my help navigating these uncharted waters of leadership. I jumped in with both feet. I immersed myself in behind-the-scenes corporate work. No more keynote speeches. No more teaching thousands of people. No more social media.

And guess what?

I unconsciously started playing it safe.

I went from founding and running our Executive Coaching University, teaching thousands of people, to playing almost exclusively behind the scenes with C Suite folks. I went from serving thousands of amazing folks to a much smaller number of business and non-profit leaders. It was incredibly rewarding, but I now realize it wasn’t enough.

Know what I learned?

I learned that I have more to give. I learned that it wasn’t about me and my needs. It was about serving others. While I had founded the Rescue Institute in 2000 with a mission to help people save themselves from the lives they’ve created, I lost sight of that mission in the larger context. I was serving folks more 1-1 than 1-to-many. Had I lost sight of my initial mission?

While I firmly believe in the “work on one, work on all” philosophy, I knew that I needed to do more. Luckily, I was surrounded by many great friends who kept lovingly poking me in the ribs about thinking in a broader context. About serving more again.

So here I am, running headlong into darkness, looking to shine my light.

I had to rethink so many things. I had to take over 26 years of my writing, blog posts, newsletter, videos, courses, books, and other content that I had created, and find one central place to serve. My work was spread out in so many places that I truly had no idea where everything was. So my “taking inventory” journey began. It started with taking inventory of my heart.

Thus, here I am on Substack. This is where my running into darkness leads me. This is where I choose to shine my light.

I kept having flashbacks to my very first newsletter, which we started publishing in 2002. It’s called The Leadership Lantern, lighting the path of leaders. This visual still resonates with me. I believe that we are all leaders. We are in charge of our own lives. We are all personal leaders. It has nothing to do with your job and everything to do with your life’s trajectory. It is about choosing to truly lead your life.

Am I scared?

My ego side says, probably yes. On some level, I’m a bit worried that I will be accepted. That my messages will still resonate with folks. That my thoughts and words still matter. That my way of serving will reflect my deep desire to help people by sharing what I’ve learned.

And…

• While this may matter to me, it probably doesn’t to you.

• You have your own darkness you are running into.

Here’s where our paths might intersect:

• We can share this part of our journey.

• We can support each other.

• We can serve ourselves while serving others.

You see, you have so much to give. On the deepest level, I know this to be true. Yep, without even knowing you. You see, we all have gifts to share. There is richness in each of our journeys that can provide hope and inspiration to others.

• This is a knowing I have.

• Do you?

I made the decision to run into my darkness by being here and writing these words. I hope my light reaches and helps you in some way.

How might you choose to run into your own darkness in order to shine your light?

I want to know. I hope you do too.

With love,

Drayton