Niiamah Ashong and a fellow leader hold an open, unscripted conversation on the Outlier's Edge Podcast about what leadership asks of people now, from sovereignty and accountability to the courage to imagine a different world. Together they explore what it means to stay in the imagination rather than visit it for a minute. What emerged is that purpose lives in who someone is being, not in an outcome, and for Niiamah Ashong that purpose comes down to creating space.
Episode at a glance
- Host: Niiamah Ashong, coach to outlier leaders
- Show: Outlier’s Edge Podcast, released October 29, 2020
- Format: session, 62 minutes
- Topics: Leadership as service and calling, Sovereignty, Steadfast, not just resilient, Staying in the imagination, Purpose as a way of being, Creating space
What this session is about
The guest arrived with a clear view of leadership as service and calling: a belief that what a leader does matters and impacts others, and that the leader is responsible for it. The guest sees courage around speaking up, like a whistleblower willing to put themselves on the line for something they believe in, as one of the best examples of leadership. The guest named sovereignty as the thread underneath, a part of each person that nothing outside can touch, and the ultimate choice of how to see things and how to show up. From there the guest opened a bigger question, imagining a world where everyone was in touch with that part of themselves, and brought the idea of a soul family: the people someone is meant to connect with so a purpose doesn't have to be carried alone.
What emerged
Niiamah Ashong heard the guest's word, imagine, as the heart of the conversation and invited staying in the imagination rather than visiting it, living the imagined future day in and day out. The guest saw that a big mission doesn't have to be carried alone, because people are already connected and here to help, a realization the guest called a sigh of relief and, with a laugh, very terrifying. Building on the guest's idea that purpose is a way of being rather than an outcome, Niiamah Ashong named the core of his own brilliance as creating space, including spaces where no one has to bring the answers.
Questions this episode answers
What does leadership mean beyond holding a role?
For the guest, leadership means service and calling: a belief that what a leader does matters and impacts others, and a willingness to take responsibility for it. The guest points to courage and bravery around speaking up, like a whistleblower putting themselves on the line for something they believe in, as one of the best examples of leadership.
What is the difference between being resilient and being steadfast?
Niiamah Ashong asks why people stop at resilience, which is about getting back up after being knocked down. He points to being steadfast, rooted like a tree, so that whatever comes, a part of the person stays immovable and they can keep moving forward in their direction.
Why should a leader stay in the imagination instead of imagining for a moment?
Niiamah Ashong says being in the imagination is not daydreaming. He sees the job as taking what is imagined and living it day in and day out, modeling that future in every moment. He adds that a world-changing conversation can't happen while carrying forward the past.
Is a leader's purpose an outcome to achieve?
The guest suggests that purpose is not the outcome but the being, so a leader would never have to go through a transition into a new purpose. Applied to Niiamah Ashong, that boiled his purpose down to creating space, something he recognized after people told him the way he led a dance break at a conference made them feel more comfortable to dance.
Why does a vision move people more than opposing a problem?
Niiamah Ashong notes that work on injustice tends to focus on what people don't want, while the conversations that light him up ask what they do want. He says the absence of something does not get people what they are looking for, and that once the yes is clear, two or three problems often fall away as irrelevant.
In their words
Our job is to take the thing that we're imagining and live it day in day out as much as we can so that we are modeling that future in every single moment that we breathe.
Niiamah Ashong
It's not the outcome that is your purpose.
A participant
I'm no longer childish but I strive to be childlike.
Niiamah Ashong
Key moments
02:42 – What leadership means right now
06:47 – Sovereignty, the part nothing touches
08:24 – From resilient to steadfast
12:01 – Practicing world-changing conversations
15:09 – Imagination is not daydreaming
23:23 – Nothing is created alone
34:15 – Purpose as being, not outcome
36:31 – A dance break reveals creating space
39:38 – Saying no to claim what's mine
56:53 – Infinite games and clean energy
About Niiamah Ashong
Niiamah Ashong is a coach to outlier leaders, host of the Outlier’s Edge Podcast, and founder of the Trailblazer Collective. He coaches leaders who are creating something only they can make: a company, a body of work or a movement. Make a difference with your difference.
Work with Niiamah: 1:1 with Niiamah | World of Difference
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