Ridiculously In Charge

I’m loving the concept of being “ridiculously in charge” – a phrase that I learned from Dr. Henry Cloud in his book, Boundaries for Leaders

In times such as these, it’s easy to feel like we have little to no control. We are limited in what we can do, where we can go, how we can or cannot be around others, and the list goes on. So, I’m drawn to this idea of being in charge, even if it’s being ridiculous in charge of something small that I control like my daily water intake.

It’s easy to slide into what the Tim Kight calls BCD “Blame, Complain, Defend.” And this can be especially contagious and toxic on our school teams. It’s hard to get anything done when it feels like we have little to no control, so what does it even matter anymore?

But the satisfying truth is that we do, in fact, have a great deal that we control, and we need to train our minds to see it.

Once strategy that Dr. Henry Cloud shared for seeing that which we can control is by drawing a vertical line with our team. And on the left side of that line, list everything that we feel we have zero control over. Then, allow ourselves to wallow in the frustration of not having control over those things.

For about 5 minutes.

And then move on.

Dr. Cloud goes on to explain that sometimes we need to be able to show our brains that yes, those things are a concern, and yes, they are important, and we know it’s important, so we acknowledge and then move on to that which we can control.

As you might imagine, what we can control is what goes on the right side of the line. Everything we can think of that we control. Our mindsets, our meal plans, the way we show up for kids every day, and the list goes on. There is something deeply satifying about reminding ourselves of that long, vast list of everything that we do control.

When we step back to take a look at that meaty list, it’s hard not to feel empowered to be ridiculously in charge of ourselves and our work. Dr. Cloud explains that often things are the way they are in organizations for one of two reasons: we allow it or we create it.

Let’s create better realities for ourselves and for those we serve by being ridiculously in control of our wellbeing, our emotions, how we respond, how we show up.

How might the world change if when we opened our eyes each morning, we thought, “I am ridiculously of myself!”

If we want to change the world, we can start by changing ourselves. Let’s own it. Let’s be ridiculously in charge!