Lead Your Life With Honesty
Your soul will thank you
We were asked to send in questions to the CEO of our company.
He’d receive them anonymously, and answer our questions in an induction meeting for new joiners.
‘What are some skills/values you appreciate in your employees?’ I was curious to know.
What someone expects from you says a lot about their leadership and management style.
He could’ve said get your work done on time, be proactive and network, bring in new business, anything.
But he chose to go another way.
Lead with honesty and integrity.
He went on to say how his father instilled these values in him. How he told him if he led his life with honesty, he’d sleep better at night.
How the man slept peacefully his whole life.
For me, honesty starts with being true to myself.
As someone who was always on the cusp of every group, just lingering on the outside a little bit, it was easy to adapt myself into a more likeable version of me.
Be a bit more of what people expected.
Less loud, less opinionated, less excited.
More intelligent, more carefree, more chill.
And I did a damn good job of it for a big chunk of my life.
I adapted in my young years in boarding school, I adapted when I had to shift schools in the 11th grade, I adapted in college, I adapted for my first boyfriend.
But it was always into someone I wasn’t.
And it left a bit of a scar that’s still healing.
Being untrue to yourself hurts you in a way that’s hard to mend.
When you change — for society, for your loved ones, for a new environment — in a way that’s not in alignment with who you truly are, you tell yourself you’re not important.
You tell yourself something or someone else is more important than you.
It’s important that they feel at ease. At the cost of your authenticity.
Somewhere around my Uni years, I had to take a second look at how I was living my life.
I was surrounded by people who loved me but I didn’t feel at peace on the inside. I didn’t go to sleep with a light mind.
Something felt wrong. Something wasn’t right.
I had finally achieved everything I ever wanted. I was accepted by the people around me. At last, I wasn’t an outsider.
But in the process, I lost something more important. Something I didn’t value. I lost self-acceptance.
I’d become a mould other people could shape as they liked.
My healing journey started with meditation and journaling — shadow work to be specific. Solo dating helped me find some important pieces of myself again. Books led me back to who I was.
With consistent and hard effort, I found my way back to myself.
I finally gave up on caring about being normal, being accepted, and being a part of the crew. I realised my inner peace was something far more important.
And beautifully, this allowed me to find my tribe. It took some lonely years to get here, but I found people who were as weird and quirky as me, who didn’t try to shape me into a mould of their preference.
Safe to say, it’s easier to fall asleep at night these days.
Last thoughts
What does honesty mean to you?
Are you leading your life by being honest with yourself?
I encourage you to not people please, try to fit in or say things you don’t mean for the sake of someone else. You must live your life with authenticity and integrity.
With love,
K
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