Haunted Leadership
by lind7496 • October 28, 2012 • Inspiration • 1 Comment
As a young girl, I saw a movie I was probably too young to see – The Haunting. I was a wee lass still in single digits of age and it scared me to death. The movie was made in the 60s and was the story of a young woman named Eleanor who was drawn to a certain house. For some morbid reason, I waited nearly three decades later to eagerly see the remake. Slightly different from the original, I had a more grown-up reaction to it. Yes, it was still scary, but I am able to rise above the terror and remember a few important specters of value today.Our heroine is drawn to the house which is the location of a misguided experiment on terror and its effect on people. There she finds little voices calling to her and a lone evil spirit menacing her and her companions. This evil spirit was the ghost of a wicked man who abused captive children. Our heroine was a descendant of one of his wives and as the story unfolds, we learn that the wife failed in her attempt to save the children. Finally, our heroine overcomes her fear and musters the courage to face this malevolent spirit and lead the spirits of the young children to their final peaceful rest. She dies in the end, but the newly freed spirits of the grateful children lead her soul to heaven.
Don’t be afraid, but there are three leadership lessons in this chilling tale. Those lessons are:
• Terror invokes courage and courage invokes action.
• Those little voices in your head may be heralding your divine purpose.
• Your destiny is inescapable.
(1) Terror can paralyze us, but it can also mobilize us into action.
In the movie, our heroine overcomes her fear and opens door after menacing door; she climbs scary staircases; and she enters dark rooms. Leadership can be scary too. But, as we move through challenge after challenge, we have to go through some rites of passage. We have to climb stair after stair to the top. Finally, you have to take paths of uncertainty the lead you closer to your objectives.
Jeff Wise in his book Extreme Fear writes,
“[o]ne might say that, in the simplest sense, the essence of courage is simply the ability to dominate one’s emotions, to stay in charge when terror is trying to wrest away control over your thoughts and actions.”
(2) Hero-leaders listen to the voices in their heads.
Hero-leaders follow their hearts, souls, and spirits. And in doing so, they inspire themselves to inspire others – and to do the difficult things a hero is called upon to do. The heroine in this story hears the voices of the souls of the ill-fated children who help her understand why she needs to act. Kahlil Gibran said:
“There is a desire deep within the soul which drives man from the seen to the unseen, to philosophy and to the divine.”
(3) Listening to that divine voice in your head and having the courage to act will lead you to your destiny.
“Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don’t let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.” — R. I. Fitzhenry
Another fictional character, Luke Skywalker of the Star Wars series demonstrates this principle during the course of several movies. His destiny calls him to shed the pain of a fatherless childhood, with a gift he didn’t understand and save his people from the oppression and tyranny of the Dark Side. Luke finds his inner edge as he battles his past and his hatred to prevail in the end.
A haunting hardly seems like a good thing. But haunted leadership persists for a long time singing a gently melody prompting and inspiring us to bravely follow our unlit path to our future.
This was such an ingenious way to capture that Halloween spirit without being…too spooky. (I am not a big fan of Halloween like how I used to be.)
As I think about the dark unlit path that I have been walking, I resonate with the metaphors you included. Building my brand, marketing myself, enhancing my resume–these are not apart from the inner process of healing and growth that I have had to undergo. It is still ongoing, but I feel, nevertheless, that it is a very necessary component to continuously be progressing as I myself approach my fullest potential.
Thanks for sharing, Aunt Linda!