Bigger on the Inside

The end of the year is here.  We try to treat it as any other week.  No need to reflect back.  No point in predicting the next year.   It does not work.  Each of us, in our own way, will indeed look back and look forward.

For me looking back on 2012 involves creating this blog website.  For better or worse, I now think like a blogger with an eye toward my next bit of writing and what I want to share with you.  I love the connections I have made this past year with other bloggers and curious folks.

The impact of writing and pressing the “Publish” button is profound.   As I move into 2013 I will write more and more and search out a bigger publish button.  My writing is a journey into me.   Several folks who know me thought I was just re-blogging the writing of others.  Nope, all me here.   As I said in my original post, if you like what you read, it is me.  If you do not like what you read, still me.

As I look forward to 2013 I will continue to focus this blog on where I began, leadership.    For me there is no more important topic.  I will nibble at the edges and dive into the core of what leadership means for me and how each of us can grow as leaders.

Speaking of leadership … have we gone over the Fiscal Cliff yet here in America?

I traveled this past week to New York City with the family.  We had a great time and enjoyed Christmas in the big city.  Alas, I did miss one very important Christmas tradition.  Not time with my extended family; I did that the previous weekend.  No, the important Christmas tradition missed was the Doctor Who Christmas special.   I am a Whovian, a fan of the BBC series, Doctor Who.

Yesterday morning wearing my Doctor Who bathrobe (no kidding) I finally watched the Christmas special.    The good Doctor is an alien time traveler who time-after-time helps our crazy planet Earth.  His spaceship/time machine, called the TARDIS, remains in the shape of an old fashion British Police Box (see photo).  It is huge inside while appearing as a simple police box on the outside.

I know what you are thinking … why is he talking about Doctor Who?  I thought he was talking about leadership.

A simple answer.  Traditionally those who see the TARDIS for the first time are amazed that it is so expansive inside while it seems so much smaller on the outside.  They all say, “It is bigger on the inside”.     In this last episode, for the first time, someone said the opposite … “It is smaller on the outside”.

So we arrive back to leadership.  It is our ability to build an expansive space … something that is bigger on the inside.  As leaders we need the mindset of being inclusive and expansive.  We work together to find creative solutions that expand our world.

I open the doors of my TARDIS and smile at how much bigger it is inside.   I am afraid others walk around the outside and comment on how small it really is and thus limit themselves on the possibilities.

I mentioned the fiscal cliff earlier.  In the USA we have political leaders that indeed focus on how small the box really is and they do nothing to grow and expand the space where they can say, “It is bigger on the inside.  We are building this space that is inclusive and is full of possibilities.”   This is not left or right.  It is leadership and finding answers.

In 2013, I move forward.  Move with me.  We will focus on that space that is bigger on the inside.  That is what leadership is for me and why I write this blog.