MY LEADERSHIP STORY
We all start with a story. Mine begins in a small, village Nyawa in Kenya, where I was born with an inclination toward radical authenticity… but found the social climate wasn’t conducive. As a child, I learned to go numb, shielding myself from the pains of growing up. With one exception: reading. When I was reading, I felt fully alive. Reading was my Joy, with a capital J.
By the end of college, I had started down the path I vowed I’d never take. Having been told I wouldn’t make it in the “real world” if I pursued a heart-centered career, I went after a degree that I didn’t love, but hoped would help me “get ahead.” Luckily, my gut gave me the message I needed to hear.
After several years on this track, I started to wilt. It was all I could do to drag myself out of bed on some days. In a stroke of inspiration (that scared my family and re-lit a fire in my soul), I decided to resign from my job to start my own small enterprise coupled with community volunteerism, in search of a deeper sense of meaning or fulfillment in my work and life. Something greater was calling to me.
That move was the beginning of a pilgrimage that, in many ways, I am still on today. It was a journey toward wholeness, with a goal of re-awakening the flame that would propel me to where I am today. Through a series of fortunate events, I landed in Elgeyo Marakwet CSO network as a founder and elected county coordinator, teaching leadership development and consulting for several organizations of renown within government and outside government while horning my own leadership skills and styles.
Today I am committed to helping leaders and teams thrive, by stopping the energy leaks that lead to burnout and poor performance. I support my clients to embrace the deeper values that feed them, body, soul, mind and spirit.
As an Atlas Corps Fellow, serving at Open Government Partnership, I believe that we are all here to experience the richness of life. I believe in not compromising between success and well-being. And I believe that means using our bodies well, in order to serve a purpose that is deeply meaningful in our daily work and for a cause greater than ourselves. Hearing the call requires today’s leaders to listen to the inner wisdom that gets drowned out by should’s and obligations. I support leaders to find meaning and build energy through powerful mindfulness practices, coaching, and a deep willingness to objectively seek truth, to be able to answer the most difficult of life disturbing questions: Origin, Existence, morality and destiny. It’s difficult finding truth in an era without absolutes, everything is relative, it’s even more troubling because truth in itself is not inclusive but exclusive! Then the question: is truth dead? If yes, who killed? It’s indubitable fact that some quarters would dispute the existence of God for lack of prove, but then what is the prove of His inexistence? It’s naive believing in evolution when there is no documentary evidence of evolution centuries after America got independence or traced back historically to earlier civilizations, which would be verifiable.
By contrast the complexity and the wonder of creation is mind boggling! who is fooling who?
In my opinion, success is not just about looking good or grasping for the next promotion. It’s about dancing with the circumstances and living our legacy one day at a time.
