THIS IS THE PART where the hero (me) is unmasked. I play the role of leader. People see me as William or Bill. I'm the man with the answers. I'm the man who is in control. I have it all together. People speak around the table and then they look at me. They look at me as if to say: "What do you think?" or "Was what I said good?" When I speak I speak with authority and confidence, with conviction. I can't help it. I have learned to speak that way - to say what I mean and mean what I say. I speak clearly and my words are focused. But, what do I know?

I don't know anything. Life is not under my control. I don't have the answers. I am amazed at what I don't know. My life is me riding a white water raft down a river. I don't know what is around the next bend. I don't control the river. If I listen to the Master Raftsman (The Voice Within) I'll know what to do - paddle here; lean this way; don't grab on to the rocks; don't stand up in the water; let the river take you.

We like our leaders to be confident. We want to feel that they know what they are doing. Of themselves, they do not know what they are doing. I can't make people like me or love me. I can't make people buy my books or attend my workshops. I can't make things happen. At best I make my intention known; do the work; and allow things to happen.

Sure, I could use manipulation. I could use manipulative tactics so people will want to buy my books. I can play on their fears or tug at their desires and call it "spiritual marketing". I could say I have all the answers. You know the drill: Follow steps one, two, and three, and be wealthy, healthy, and oh-so-spiritual. I'd be misdirecting. I certainly have tried to "lead" in this way. Perhaps if I had been more successful at it I wouldn't be writing this article. It's misdirection because the message isn't "Come to me!" The message is "Go within." I'm not your guru. The guru is within you.

In my more temporal leadership role I could tell people what to do, and I often have. I could direct people as to what to do and where to go. I can be the answer man. But, is that leading? Does that help people find their own Inner Voice, their own calling? Does my leadership enhance and draw out their strength?

I have often played the hero. I have often been the one who calmly dispensed answers or passionately presented the path to success. But, the hero is unmasked. I know nothing. I know nothing. I don't know what you should do. My opinion is worthless. I am nothing. This is not a self esteem issue. This is not a crisis of confidence. It's a realization. I am nothing. The "I" that I have always thought was "me" is not who I am. Who am I? I could offer answers but they would not be accurate. All I can say is "I am".

Now that I am unmasked, now that we know that I know nothing, perhaps I am ready to lead. Empty of my worthless opinions, I can be truly helpful. Empty of self and all of its accessories, I ask Spirit: "Let me see this world, this situation, this person through Your eyes."

When I enter a leadership role I say the following adapted from A Course In Miracles:

I am here only to be truly helpful.
I am here to represent You Who have sent me.
I don't have to worry about what to say or what to do,
for You Who have sent me will direct me.
I am content to be wherever You wish me to be,
for I know that You go there with me.
I am healed as I let you teach me to heal.

As that thought sinks in I move to the second prayer adapted from the writings of St. Francis:

Teach me to heal. Make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is sorrow, joy.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is injury, forgiveness.
Where there is despair, trust.
Where there is darkness, light.
Help me seek not so much to be consoled, as to console;
not so much to be loved, as to love;
and not so much to be understood, as to understand.
For it is in giving that I receive;
It is in forgiving that I am forgiven; and
it is in dying to self that I am born to eternal life.
And so it is.

Now I am a channel, an instrument, for the Divine, or Unified Will. I am not a channel for some disembodied spirit. Certainly some of those are very good, and some not. I am an instrument for my Higher Self, the Christ Within, my Inner Being, the Holy Spirit, my Atman, my Buddha Nature, or simply God. Whatever you call It, the concept is the same. Whether you are a new age seeker or an evangelical Christian, the result is the same. In some way you are intending "Not my will, but Thy will be done."

It doesn't matter how many books you have read, or how steeped in spiritual practices you have been. Let go. Forget everything you think you know and allow the Spirit Within to direct you. Spiritual Intelligence is choosing between Spirit and ego. In every moment you choose, consciously or unconsciously. You choose to hear one voice, the Voice of Spirit or the voice of your ego.

There is a flow to life. When you submit your personal will to the Will of God, you are in the flow. When you submit your personal will to your ego, you resist the flow. For me it is the word "submit" that gets in the way. I don't want to submit to anyone. Yet, I have submitted to the world, to the approval of others, to the need for control, to my physical and my emotional urges, and to my own incessant, inner chatter. I have submitted to all of these things in the name of freedom. Yet, when have I felt most free? I have felt most free when I was not thinking about me. I feel free when I am focused and creating, when I am free of thought and worry, and free of fear. I feel free when I am on purpose, and in the flow. I am free when I successfully practice "Not my will, but Thy will be done." As A Course in Miracles says: "God's will for me is perfect happiness."

As a spiritually intelligent leader, my role is to lead others to this place. I lead by example. I lead by remembering that I don't have the answers and that I don't know anything. I become an instrument for the well-being of others. I become the presence of leadership because the Presence is working through me.

As leaders we have a great deal of knowledge and experience. We utilize it as needed. Rather than look at our world through our knowledge and experience we look at it with new eyes. We see people we thought we knew, yet now they look different. We see the perfection in every person and every situation. Everything and everyone is as they are meant to be in this moment. We set aside our judgments and see what is. We set aside our opinions and we see what can be.

As spiritually intelligent leaders the people around us want to make us heroes. They want to place their well-being in our hands. They want to trust us with their path. Resist the temptation to be the hero; the all-knowing leader, the one with all the answers. Teach people to find their own answers. Teach them to walk their own path. Be a beacon, yet cultivate in others, their own ability to shine. You are a blessing to the world.

The wise leader is not collecting a string of successes. The leader is helping others to find their own success. There is plenty to go around. Sharing success with others is very successful.

The single principle behind all creation teaches us that true benefit blesses everyone and diminishes no one.

The wise leader knows that the reward for doing the work arises naturally out of the work.
- The Tao of Leadership, John Heider

© William Frank Diedrich, 2008

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Frank Diedrich is a speaker, executive coach, and the author of three books including Beyond Blaming. He recently released a powerful and insightful new Cd entitled The Leader's Edge: Three Keys to Exceptional Leadership. Bill's books and Cd are about taking you inward where you find your own Inner Wisdom. For more information go to noblaming.com and intelligentspirit.com.