The holidays can amplify everything: joy, stress, reflection and different emotions. For leaders, this season often feels like both a gift and a weight.
In this episode, Gayle Lantz explores an often-overlooked quality that strengthens leadership: lightness. Not frivolity, but the kind of lightness that comes from clarity, perspective, and the ability to not take everything so seriously.
After navigating an especially disruptive year, from a tree crashing through her home to navigating hospice care for a loved one, Gayle reflects on what it actually takes to keep leading when life feels heavy. As she shares, “Leadership requires strength and discipline and resilience, but it also requires lightness.”
Gayle discusses light in two ways: as illumination shining clarity on what matters and showing others the way, and as the opposite of heaviness, the ability to feel less burdened even when carrying a lot.
She offers questions to help leaders reflect as they close out the year:
- What needs to be illuminated in the year ahead?
- How can you lighten up and not take things so seriously?
- How can you keep the light and lightness going throughout the year?
If you’ve been feeling weighed down, this episode is a gentle reset. It’s about tending to your own light so you can continue bringing clarity and hope to others.
This episode covers:
- The dual meaning of light in leadership: illumination and lightness
- Navigating disruption while maintaining steadiness
- Questions to help you reflect and refocus heading into the new year
- The importance of not taking everything so seriously
- How to keep your light steady over time for yourself and those you lead
LINKS
Previous CEO On The Go Episodes:
Finally Get the Real Rest You Need #285
Voice Your Vision – Steering Conversations to Achieve Your Biggest Goals #284