Be a Guide, Not a Master

Bouncing around my home office … I do want to call it a studio but have not earned that right quite yet. Opening various books as I explore; not quite sure what question I am trying to answer.

I come across some writings from Seneca and marvel in the wisdom thousands of years old.  Words that speak to today.

“Won’t you be walking in your predecessors’ footsteps? I surely will use the older path, but if I find a shorter and smoother way, I’ll blaze a trail there.

The ones who pioneered these paths aren’t our masters, but our guides.” 

Seneca, Moral Letters

There it is, a satisfying answer for today. I am a master, earned through years and experience. Yet, in today’s fast-moving environment the older paths of the master do not always lead to the best solution. As leaders, we must remain a guide in search of that shorter and smoother way forward.

This is how we change. It is up to the leader to understand when to be the master and when to be a guide and explore a new way.

The master, ever the guide, finds wisdom.