Vibrational Leadership Starts with Self

I have started a Substack publication (https://peterkellett1.substack.com/) to serve as a vehicle to share what I have learned on my spiritual and professional leadership journey and how this can be applied to leading ourselves and others. Mine has been a convoluted personal journey, but I share my ongoing experiences in this publication in hopes that it will help you on your own journey. While I certainly do not pretend to have all the answers, I have learned a lot in my life as a registered nurse, professor, social science researcher, health care and educational leader, father, spiritual seeker, and human navigating the challenges of earth school. The journey has not always been easy, in fact at times it has been profoundly hard, but I have learned a lot along the way, and now my personal, professional, and spiritual resumes are combining to inform the principles of vibrational leadership that I am sharing with you now.

We can’t be an effective leader if we cannot lead ourselves - but what does it mean to lead ourselves?

Leading ourselves means learning to respond to arising conditions, instead of reacting to them. To consciously and wisely respond to situations, we have to be aware of the parts of ourselves that might get in the way of us responding appropriately and effectively. In short, we need to be aware of our programming, our experiences, and even our traumatic history that may be clouding our interpretation of a given situation, and our response to it. Think of these experiences and programs as being like smudges on the lenses of our perception that prevent us from seeing things clearly and navigating things well.

Programming is inclusive of all the guidance, lessons, and teaching (both formal and informal) we have received throughout our lives. Certainly, some programming is helpful, but unfortunately much of the programming that we receive is profoundly unhelpful, and sometimes even harmful. This includes our socialization by our parents, our communities, our religions, our professions, various media, and by society as a whole. We get taught how to act as men and women, as sons and daughters, as good employees and good students. We learn what we need to do to be compliant with the power structures within these systems and make the systems we live in “happy with us”. Along the way we learn how to fit inside the gender role box we have been assigned to. We internalize limiting beliefs that discourage us. We develop shadow personas to survive the adversity that we encounter, and while these shadow personas may initially help us, they can also emerge from the shadows of our consciousness to create problems for us. Our programming also informs the dialogue of our inner critic –that inner voice that often tears you down, and suggests that you cannot do things, or that you are a failure, unlovable etc.

So how can we sift through this programming to know what is helpful and what is harmful? How can we lead without reacting, while maintaining harmony and equanimity?

What I have come to realize is that the path to overcoming these challenges as a leader also parallels the path of spiritual exploration and development. Pursuing a spiritual path of self-exploration helps us in all aspects of our lives. When we clear programming and energetic blocks on the path of spiritual growth, we are also clearing the things that obstruct the clarity of our thinking and responses in all areas of our life.

Why Vibrational Leadership?

I am sure that you have met people and immediately got a good or bad feeling based on the way they were showing up in the world. We meet some people who immediately give us a sense of comfort or warmth, or a sense of peace in their presence. Some people inspire confidence and trust, while others leave us feeling unsettled, heavy, or even icky. In other words, we get a sense of the person’s vibe, or the energy that they exude. Being in some people’s presence inspires us and raises our own vibration, while others may bring us down with their negativity and generally low heavy vibe.

But what has this got to do with our programming?

We all enter this world in an authentic, loving, and high vibrational place. Babies and small children are not yet clouded by programming, worries, limiting beliefs, or fears. Babies are very much authentically them, and are very much living in the present, rather than responding based on programming, past experiences, or externally imposed rules or beliefs. They are just them at this very moment. Therefore, our task is not so much to raise our vibration, but rather to remember the vibration that we came into the world with before it was clouded and obscured by all the programming and traumas.

Whether we are on a path of spiritual development, or seeking to be a better leader, our tasks are the same. Engage in self-exploration, discover what is obscuring our clear perception of the world and disrupting our sense of peace, harmony and equanimity. Uncover what programming fuels our judgments and our reactions, and do the personal work to decrease its influence on our perceptions, actions, and ultimately our vibration.

Vibrational leadership is about personal and spiritual leadership. It is about leading from the highest vibrational state in all aspects of our lives, It is about remembering our true divine essence and pursuing authenticity, peace, and the unconditionality of love in our interactions.

In coming posts, I will continue to unpack the concept of vibrational leadership, share my own personal experience in working towards achieving vibrational leadership, and will provide you with guidance on how you can engage in personal exploration and develop the ability to lead yourself and others more effectively.