How do you spend your time when commuting?

If you conduct a time audit, you might discover that your commute is a valuable pocket of time, one that can be intentionally used to call a loved one, read a book, meditate, pray, work on a personal project, or simply rest. I believe that balance and flexibility are inportant for effective time management and that our schedules don’t always need to be completely blocked off with activities. 

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to commute to work via @gotransit. Between admiring the beautiful scenery along the Lakeshore East route, meditating and watching the stillness of the water, I found myself appreciating the beauty of nature. 

That morning, I took the first 15 minutes to simply breathe and mediate. A mini reset that I needed before the workday began.

With a clearer mind, I spent the remaining 45mins reading one chapter of The Leadership Challenge titled – “Modeling the Way.”

As a career professional, leadership skill is one of the most important competence that an individual needs to thrive at work and in every area of life. 

Even if you’re not in a formal leadership role, self-leadership is critical skill in the evolving modern workplace (whether in remote, in person or hybrid work environments), where autonomy, collaboration, discipline, self awareness and initiative are important.

In book The Leadership Challenge, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner outline five practices of exemplary leadership:

1. Model the Way

2. Inspire a Shared Vision

3. Challenge the Process

4. Enable Others to Act

5. Encourage the Heart

Through practical case studies, real life examples and actionable insights, the authors remind us that leadership goes beyond titles. It is about taking action and inspiring others to strive for excellence towards achieving extraordinary results. In other words, leaders set examples for others to follow by aligning their actions with shared values.

If you’re looking to learn more about leadership skills, I highly recommend checking out this book out.

I’ll close out today’s post by sharing one of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Leadership is important, not just in your career and working in your organization, but in every sector, community, and country. We need more exemplary leaders, and we need them more than ever. So much extraordinary work needs to be done. We need leaders who can unite us and ignite us.”