Rainbows, Shoes and How To Replace Lack with Abundance in Your Leadership

No rainbows! He yelled across the shoe store to the upcoming Kindergartener.

Teachers don’t like rainbows.

They’re goin’ crazy about rainbows.

My daughter, mom and I were school shopping when we heard this adult yell. We froze in our tracks. My daughter’s eyes wide as she was trying on some sparkly, multi-colored high tops. We turned, minding our own business as the little girl picked up a pair of plain black sneakers.

All I could think was: Are we really in a place where we’re against one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena? Where we teach children to turn away from the wonder and awe inspired by rainbows?

Have we politicized education to the point where the rainbow is used as an “us vs. them” tool? To the point where a five year old is publicly scolded for choosing colorful sneakers as her first pair of school shoes…

This is but one example of how joy is being replaced with lack and fear and linked to learning and learning spaces. Thanks to the constant mainstream media barrage, children and families are getting messages about school right now that range from disturbing to terrifying– it’s a place where you cannot be yourself, cannot be colorful and you may be shot.

As leaders in the education, nonprofit and youth development space, as parents, what can we do to ensure learning and learning spaces remain safe harbors of community, love and growth? How do we ensure that every human has the opportunity to benefit from their own learning and growth? Here are my current ideas:

1. Set your mind on the real purpose here. Young people–and adults (including you!)-- absolutely deserve spaces of safety, community, love and growth. All of our work is moving toward creating those spaces of learning, healing and growth. This has to be more than simple words in your organizational mission statement. This goes beyond what you say and do on a daily basis. Clarify exactly what you want to see in the world.

What does this look like in actionable terms? Draw, write, paint, or clip images of what you mean when you think about your real purpose. Be very specific. Add more details. And tune in to how that feels. What is the feeling of safety, learning, love, healing, growth? As you get this crystal clear, your job is to feel it. Embody it. Be it. You–as a leader in this work–have to mirror and model exactly the feelings we want our colleagues and the young people we work with to experience.

2. Release the competitive mindset. In every space you enter and more importantly, in your own mindset, catch yourself in the us versus them thinking and redirect to your natural creative mindset. You already know how to be abundant. There really is plenty of love, healing, growth and learning for everyone. And you are a creative catalyst for that. “You must get rid of the thought of competition. You are to create, not to compete for what is already created.”— Wallace D. Wattles

Practically speaking, this means listening to your own thoughts and speech. When you hear yourself complaining about or criticizing others, focusing on winning or beating out someone else, pause. Acknowledge that this is deficit-based thinking that perpetuates lack and fear. You are focused on creating more–more opportunities, more money, more freedom, more joy. Choose to place your energy into that creation.

3. Keep your tunnel vision. You know where you’re going. Stay fixed on that. Keep your vision of love, healing, growth and learning and what that looks like for yourself, for adults you work with and young people you care about. Keep your focus there and do not stray from it. You know that there will always be haters and they’re gonna do what they do–hate. You: shake it off.

Recognize that there will continue to be a barrage of negativity coming your way, from every angle. Get flexible like Neo in the Matrix on how you steer clear of obstacles keep your focus–1000% focus–on the real vision.

Neo from the Matrix, dodging bullets.

In practical terms, this means: shut off the news that is not supporting your vision. Do not read, do not talk to, do not listen to any one or anything that will pull your attention away from your vision. Move negative people aside. Decrease your time listening to everything that is wrong and keep your focus on creating what is good.

We know we cannot change other people. We cannot make that person allow his child to wear colorful sneakers. We cannot make the news highlight all the good that is happening in the world.

We do not have to go to the other side of the rainbow to create change. We actually already have that power–the power to create change within ourselves and within our work. We have the power to create harbors of safety, learning, love, community and healing. To echo Glinda the Good Witch, “You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”