Practice over Perfection

What makes a good leader?

One could say it depends on what you’re trying to lead. For example, a yoga teacher needs far different skills than a CEO leading a board meeting. Or do they?

I think the one common denominator is leading by example. It is this factor that gives me pause in feeling prepared to make any sort of influence as a yoga teacher. Yoga isn’t just about a sweaty work out, it’s not even about being zen and spiritual. The true essence of yoga is gaining self awareness and the embodiment of self care; energetically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically. It is through this awareness and care that one can hope to reach Atman, our true essence and only then can we hope to meet Brahman, the spiritual essence of the universe.

So here I am, fumbling along through life, trying to keep up my Asana practice, the physical aspect of yoga that most people recognize as the whole. Trying to eat clean and meditate, read more to understand the tenets of this practice as a whole. But consistency is elusive. Consistency in any area of life has always been my struggle.

I feel like to lead in this realm, or any I suppose, one must possess a certain amount of expertise. A certain amount of credibility. Expertise and credibility I don’t feel I have gained or earned with my inconsistency. How can you preach something you are not practicing without feeling a fraud?

So I come back to leading by example. What I’m trying to remember is that it is called a yoga practice not yoga perfect. Even the great yoga masters will tell you they have mastered nothing. So perhaps to lead, one must simply be authentic. And perhaps to have the confidence to be led in any particular direction, people just need to know that the expectation is not perfection. And perhaps if you are honest about your imperfections, it gives them permission to have their own. And maybe, just maybe, if we all had permission to be imperfect, it might give us the courage to strive toward bigger and better ideas, behaviors, habits, goals- Little Victories.

So with that, it seems leadership is not about command, or expertise or even magnetism. Maybe in a board room these things are required, but in a yoga studio, with one of the main goals being self awareness; simply being authentic and encouraging others to do the same is real leadership. I wonder what results a CEO might get by doing the same?