Do you remember being a child and stomping through mud puddles? Do you remember jumping on the playground swings and pumping your legs so hard you thought you could flip yourself over the top of the swing set? Do you remember climbing to the highest limb possible in a tree and then trying to figure out how you would get back down?
When do we stop doing that? When do we become so fearful of dying (or failing) that we stop living full out? The Colonel told me, “Look, we’re all going to die at some point, kid. That’s not a choice. How you choose to live… that is your call. Choose to live full out.” Every time in life or in my career that I felt timid or tried to put on my proverbial “invisibility cloak,” it was usually Dad who shook me out of it. He’d say, “You’re not living full out, kiddo.” Dad would remind me that I couldn’t make an impact on my coworkers, my staff, my coaching clients, or anyone if I was living invisibly – or hiding in plain sight, as he liked to say. “Furthermore,” he would ask, “What example are you setting for your kids?” Are they going to live life full out, if they see you hiding in plain sight?”
It wasn’t until I started speaking for a living that I really let go of the invisibility cloak and stopped hiding in plain sight. I had a passion for my message, which gave me the courage to be both powerful and vulnerable. “There ya go, kid,” Dad said. “Now the world can see you.”
We can’t have an impact on anyone or anything while wearing a cloak of invisibility. Don’t hide in plain sight. Choose to live full out. Choose to lead full out.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.