“When the Pupil is ready the teacher appears”, is a popular proverb for most people familiar with Zen Buddhism. I have been trying to get out of it, don’t want to do it, don’t even believe I have the ability to do it but and it is a big but it seems that God, The Universe, Good Old Co-incidence depending on your philosophical orientation has conspired for me to take up the mantle of leadership.
TACT (The Akabusi Charitable Trust) www.akabusitrust.org is a fledgling charity founded by myself in 2006, designed to partner with other good causes in alleviating poverty and inequalities in the rural environs of Nigeria. The next stage requires a more hands on CEO/COO to drive the objectives of the organisation, provide guidance to the administrator and encourage/support the Trustees in their decision making process. Only one problem… we can’t afford to hire one… “Simple!”
I’m a typical charismatic visionary, I talk a great deal, am super at dreaming, loving energising a group to do their bit to make things happen, but I have never been one for day to day hands on management attention to detail or robust planning. The fear of this then has stopped me volunteering for a role that is begging to be fulfilled.
The self help Guru Susan Jeffers say’s, “Feel the Fear and do it anyway” and I add because the other side of Fear is an aspect of you waiting to come out. I love free-wheeling and doing stuff I’m good at. It makes me feel good, look good and yes by golly it does me good (my ego any way) to achieve stuff every day, but one lesson I learnt from my time as a track and field athlete is that if you want to get to the next level, you have to step outside your comfort zone, try something different and at times even do some work with you weaknesses. In contradiction of what I have already written I’m sure I can do detail, that I can work to a plan and communicate on a regular basis with my team members if I want to, I suspect that outside of determination, desire, commitment and a can do attitude, what I will need is a helping hand, the trusted mentor coach.
“Asking for help is a strength and not a weakness”, steady on I venture to add a quote of my own J As I look around me I see www.footdown.com a group dedicated to the mentoring, support and encouragement of successful as well as aspiring Senior Management Team (SMT) members. I see my trustees who despite their busy lives have donated a considerable period of time to the investment of my dream, we have a dedicated consultant in Liz who is much more than the title administrator that she bears, recently Janet Hipkiss of www.corporateangels.net has come on board and is driving our presence on social networking and internet marketing and yes we even have an offer from somebody to be a project manager around planning and operational issues on an adhoc basis. All I need then is to ask for help and the teachers are all around me. So what am I waiting for you may ask?
That’s a good question and one you might ask yourself, what are you waiting for? What teachers are waiting for you to ask for help? What areas of your authentic self are begging for exposure but fear of getting things wrong, not being good, being made to look like an amateur are stopping you reaching you higher self or making that contribution to you community or network. You see the Nazarene who walked some 2000 years ago asked “why do you take the splinter from your friend’s eye and miss the beam in yours”. Join me in stepping into the wild side it could be fun as well as educational
Kriss
I found your thoughts on ‘fears’ really inspiring. I think you are right!
I do think this is a most incredible website for proclaiming great wonders of Our God!