Performance, output, results—we learn these are the pathways to success at an early age. Of course, we cannot help but notice the praise we receive when we achieve, not to mention the attention we gain when we are “best” at something. Our culture is obsessed with outputs, so much so that we overlook how they are achieved.

As any adult who’s worked in an organization can testify, there’s much more to driving success and building influence than what you do. Who you are “being” and how you choose to show up are significant factors in gaining followership and, ironically, driving lasting results.

My leader was setting the stage to prepare me for transcendence from “individual performance” to inviting “team contribution.” And let’s be honest; there’s more space for others to contribute when a leader is willing to turn the spotlight away from their own achievements and, instead, shine it for others to showcase their expertise, talents, intelligence, and accomplishments.

This is quite a mindset shift in many corporate environments with so much emphasis on “high performance.” As young professionals, heck, even kids, we are groomed to strive for our personal best. And yet, the focus on giving our best can often lead to a significant block in our leadership potential. Why? I think the answer can be found in a characteristic interwoven into the African philosophy of Ubuntu, known as: "Sahwira.”

In her book, The Awakened Woman, the inspiring Zimbabwean author and teacher Dr. Tererai Trent describes “Sahwira” as –

“Authentic in both receiving and giving. Give what is needed without being overbearing, and receive what you need without making it a duty to impress the giver” (Trent, 2017).

So, what, oh’ what are we to do with this age of Artificial Intelligence? Better yet, how do we preserve the growth of one’s mind and its capacity to think originally as humanity has become so willing to allow others to think for us? Emerson knew then what I am beginning to see now. I will do my best to encapsulate the spirit of his words to fit our times. After all, as Emerson notes, “Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding. The books of an older period will not fit this” (Emerson, 1837).

So, here is what Emerson’s mid-nineteenth-century writings could inspire us to think about in this age of AI.

Isn’t it funny how we resist life’s flow when things don’t go our way? A relationship ends, a job is lost, or an unexpected change takes place, and what do most of us do? We resist our circumstances, of course! Fighting, pushing, avoiding, and shrinking, we refuse to accept anything that doesn’t match our firm expectations. So filled to the brim with judgments and expectations, we cannot see the nearby gifts blossoming in circumstances resisted. As highlighted in the video “The Art of Effortless Living (Taoist Documentary)”—

“The unity we seek is already there, but it is only revealed when we trust the world. Changing the world in the hope of discovering unity is like a knife trying to cut itself” (Jason Gregory, 2019).

Oh, but trust is much easier said than done. Especially when we experience hardships that contradict anything we could have expected. Herein, though, lies an empty space of possibility – when what “we want” clashes with what “we get.”

Back to the great Master’s work, the “Tao Te Ching,” Lao Lzu reminds us – “Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement.” These profound words are worth a read a few times over.

Earlier this week, I found myself thoroughly enjoying a solid hour of paper shredding. I know it is very Gen X of me to use paper for my handwritten notes. Still, there’s something very satisfying about letting go of the old piles in your life to make room for whatever is next.

How many opportunities do we miss by skipping too quickly to an end goal, an outcome, or an instantaneous answer that gives us a momentary grasp of control but prohibits any experience from unfolding? Think about it. When did your haste of needing an answer before there were any answers block you from getting anywhere? Moreover, how could these impulses to skip over life’s processes to reach goals have prohibited your visions from unfolding?

In his powerful TED Talk, the great Conductor and Music Director of the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Benjamin Zander, describes how to listen to Chopin by highlighting the piece’s “deceptive cadence,” as it teases the anticipated end note multiple times throughout the piece before finally hitting it, of course, at the very end.