Leadership & The Breeze

June 23, 2015 — 12 Comments

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” and so Rumi aptly advises us.

But, who is this breeze?
What if the breeze could be you?

Leadership can take the form of the breeze in Rumi's quote (i.e. Being the Messenger)

If you had the chance to be the breeze in someone’s dawn, would you take it?
Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the garden,

a lone unusual flower blossomed at the end of a branch.

Snapping a shot, I tweeted:

“TakeThisMoment #Leadership #Thought:
Go ahead, go out on a limb. Something good will blossom.”

This tweet about leadership resonated and was retweeted, but held a secret. Photo credit: Jackie Yun | JackieYun.com

This tweet about leadership resonated and was retweeted, but held a secret.
Photo credit: Jackie Yun | JackieYun.com

Then a breeze blew in

from @szark_1 , not a follower of mine but a follower of @ghani_b who follows me and I him.  Quietly responding to me and @ghani_b, @szark_1 tweeted:

what looks so beautifully is a strong poison ‘Datura’“.

Some time ago, the breeze fluttered in the air

as an ex-colleague tentatively asked: “Did you know there’s a job opening posted that sounds just like your job?  A friend asked me about it. I wasn’t sure if I should call you …”.

Years before that, I felt the breeze

as I was saying goodbye to my boss who was retiring, as he uncomfortably relayed: “I think you should know that HR doesn’t think you are senior management material.  You’re too detailed oriented. They will block any promotion request.”

Each breeze is different, yet shares core values and a vision. 

I have seen breezes who are matter-of-fact and gentle, unsure and shaky or slightly stiff.

The striking commonality is their gust of courage, assuming personal risk to deliver a message that can help you. They are willing to suffer the possibility of your disbelief, defensiveness, anger or even the ending of a relationship in the hopes you will be prepared and better equipped for the road ahead.

Breezes are powered by Leadership, Responsibility and plain-old Caring.

Ask yourself … 

Am I a breeze gone still 

or 

Am I willing to be the “breeze at dawn that has secrets to tell”?

Leadership can take the form of the breeze in Rumi's quote. (i.e. Be the breeze = be the messenger)

Be the breeze and say what needs to be said.
Photo credit: Jackie Yun | JackieYun.com

 Write to me and let me know if you are willing.

#TakeThisMoment to reach out. ~ Jackie Yun. 

p.s. Thank you to all the breezes who have appeared in my life.  My gratitude abounds!

12 responses to Leadership & The Breeze

  1. Thanks for sharing your stories with us!

    • Hello Felice,

      It’s not always easy sharing stories about oneself.

      I saw your Quote Post on Medium re: On Putting Yourself Out There — “If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.” ~ Seth Godin.

      Hope this post qualifies! 🙂 More importantly, hope it motivates someone on the cusp of saying something important to go ahead and say it. It could be THE difference for someone — as I know well from being the message receiver (thank you, my messengers!).

      Much thanks and hugs for your comment.

      Jackie

  2. Precious, Poetic, Insightful. Thank you Jackie.

    • Greetings and Hugs to you, Wilma, for your lovely comment and your tweeting of my post!

      You tweeted: “Gentle leadership. Who has brought some word to you gently?” and free association popped this phrase from a Jason Mraz song into my head:

      “In case you never noticed, the path you never chose has chosen you. Don’t be afraid to free and break it…”.

      Thanks for giving me the thought that music can be a gentle path for a message. You’ve probably found it so given your music background. 🙂

      • Jackie, yes, music is a medium for me. And yes, many times for me the wind that upset my situation was the breeze that whispered new dawn. I love how your free associations connect so many brilliant quotes.Thank you.

        • Wilma,

          Music is a perfect storm of a medium for messages — it’s cerebral, heart-touching and physical with our brain synapses firing and nerves tingling.

          Over at Twitter, your question that… “We need to ask ourselves often, that very important question, ‘What do you really want?’”

          … makes me think of the struggle of being authentic and I hear Katie Melua sing: “I’d die for the truth in my secret life.”. ♬♪♫

          In reply to your other question on Twitter: “Do you know of any genie stories where a relationship of trust, joy and knowing develops between the genie and the human?”. Yes! The TV show that I loved as a kid, “I Dream of Jeannie”. ~ 🙂

          And yes to your tweet that “The answer to ‘What do you really want?’ shapes your life whether or not you can articulate the answer.”

          My question is “Can a genie give you the peace and presence of mind that comes with being authentically yourself or must you find this on your own?”

          Hugs to you for our conversations and our connection,
          Jackie

          • Jackie, I give a resounding NO to your question. I think that knowing is behind my question about a relationship with a genie. Thank you for citation of one such relationship in the genie stories. I’m not strong in such stories so I didn’t know. I’ll need to look up that show.

            You see, I believe that as long as we’re treating God or a lamp, or anything else for that matter, as a vending machine we’ll be left far short of our sweet spot and potential. I need to be willing and work hard to enter into authentic relationships with the expected source and project as well as with the people or beings involved.

            That entering into engaging and authentic relationships requires work, like forgiving or releasing retribution, like learning communication skills, and like asking myself deeply, “What do I really want?”

            Hugs back. Thank you for entering into engaging and authentic relationship. 🙂

          • Wilma,

            Your statement is so powerful ~ “as long as we’re treating God or a lamp, or anything else for that matter, as a vending machine we’ll be left far short of our sweet spot and potential”.

            I saw this pinned on Felice Lam’s (Hello Felice!) Twitter page: “At the center of your being you have the answer: you know who you are and you know what you want ~ Lao Tzu #quote #soulsearching #wisdom”.

            Perhaps, it is just a matter of teasing that out from our souls, that which seems invisible to us now. In your August 16 Lectionary, you give a homework assignment that could be a first step: “Tell someone who will listen about a wish you made as a child. Then tell your current best and deepest wish”.

            Continue being the breeze, Wilma. I so appreciate you!

            Jackie

          • I wanted to stop by and thank you both for sharing your thoughts. Soul searching is a lifelong process and sometimes, it feels hard to answer the question: What do I really want?

            I appreciate your insights and wisdom very much!

  3. Hi Jackie,

    Thank you for sharing. How true it is that those “breezes” and/or the pain one experiences as one encounters a challenge are exactly what may lead to some of the greatest growths in our lives (personal or work-wise).

    Your thoughtful post brings to mind these two quotes:

    “We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” by Robert Louis Stevenson

    “Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” by James E. Faust

    Thanks again!

    • Good day to you, Dorlee!

      I love the two quotes you’ve presented — and I’m sure you knew I would.

      When we are visited by a “breeze”, those are the quotes we must remember. Those quotes will help us honor our friends who are willing to be “truth loving” even as we grapple with their message.

      Hope you’ll enjoy this from Bill Hybels which I saw on Twitter: “Storms draw something out of us that calm seas don’t.” — and may that something show us our strength.

      Thank you so much for your thoughts. xoxo.

      Jackie

  4. But you’re the breeze for me! Have we crosscurrents going? Will we have a whirlwind? Just a fun image this morning! Be good to you!

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