I’ve spent the last week at the lake with my family, and I've found that it’s my favorite place to let my mind wander.
No tasks, priorities, or meetings. Just time to slow down and think.
And in that stillness, a poem I read six months ago came back to mind, one I didn't fully understand at the time:
Forgetting is essential to learning,
just as exhaling is essential to breathing.
Breathe out, then in.
Find the self,
then lose it once again.
Thus, the path goes ever onward.
At first, I didn’t get it. Why would I work so hard to figure out who I am, only to let that go? Why would I want to forget what I learned?
But sitting here, disconnected from the usual pace of life and reflecting on the last few months, it finally began to click.
What Got You Here Won't Get You There
What helped me get where I am today may not necessarily get me where I want to go tomorrow.
The way I've led in the past, the mindset, the habits, and the assumptions may not serve me in this next season.
What's worked so far might be the thing holding me back.
And that's where the poem's wisdom applies:
Let go of what's no longer working.
Take in what you're now ready to learn.
Figure out who you're becoming.
And be prepared to do that again when the time comes.
That's the work of self-discovery and self-leadership.
The Courage to Evolve
It's not about locking in a fixed version of who you are. It's about knowing when to step back, rethink, and expand.
The leader who clings to yesterday's version of themselves becomes increasingly irrelevant.
The one who's willing to breathe out the old and breathe in the new stays alive to possibility.
This isn't about abandoning your core values—those remain relatively consistent as the heart of who you are becomes established.
It's about releasing the methods, mindsets, and identities that no longer serve your growth and the intentions of where you want to go.
Individually and Collectively
This not only applies to who we are as individuals, but also to the organizations or teams we lead.
This year has been a breakout year for our company, with many doors opening to create a path forward that I couldn’t have imagined years ago.
However, if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, those doors will close. The company must evolve and begin operating like the company we aspire to be.
It’s a similar line of thinking—keep what’s useful and adapt the rest to align with where the organization is headed.
After all, as Seth Godin beautifully wrote:
“Strategy is the process of becoming.”
A Reflection This Week
Ask yourself:
What version of me am I holding onto? What version of me do I need to become?
Leadership isn't about perfecting who you are. It's about being open to who you want to become next with an aligned purpose.
That's the path. Ever onward.
We come to this same cove on every lake trip during the summer. I sit here and stare out, dreaming a little bit about the future. Every year, a different version of me shows up, and the vision becomes a bit more clear.
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Thanks for reading Pursuing Pragmatic Leadership. I’m grateful for your support as I continue exploring what it means to lead from the inside out—starting with self-awareness, values, and identity and translating that into how we show up for others.
If this resonates, please subscribe and share with others. My mission will continue to be learning, integrating, and sharing a practical approach to leading with who you are.
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That lake looks beautiful and so serene. I personally think if you are showing up day after day, year after year as the same person you aren't growing no matter what role you are in. At that point you are going through the motions and the excitement to experiment is replaced with adherence to what works and what I consider the dreaded status quo.
I love the wisdom you dole out here, Josh, as you take time to reflect. Isn’t reflecting great!
We think of learning as the accumulation of knowledge, but it is about understanding. Understanding often means that we must let go of our previous ideas and even experiences. It’s an evolving and ongoing process of renewal.
One of my favorite Bob Dylan lines is “He not busy being born is dying,” which gets at the same thing. If you are not constantly becoming new (“being born”), all you have is death. It’s a harsh way to put it, but there you have it.
I love how you frame it as a reflection on the future (if there can be such a thing): “ What version of me do I need to become?”
Good stuff.