An Inspiration: “Over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.

— John Muir

Inspiration forms the beginning of any great endeavor, leadership moment, or strategic plan.  The creative inspiration sparks an idea … we are awe-struck and inspired by something beautiful in our world … a leader or book inspires us to make a change. However it arrives, inspiration is a key ingredient to the creative leadership process, yet it is often abandoned all too early, or forgotten all together, as the pragmatic tasks of project management fill-up our to-do lists and our time. As we move into implementation and strategy though, the original inspiration needs to remain in the passenger seat, not the rear view mirror.

Why?  Inspiration gives us energy, it’s what originally woke us up at 4 am with that next great idea, it’s what gets us out of bed every morning, inspired to take on a new day. Inspiration is that big lofty ideal on the horizon that we are willing to go through hell to achieve.

For me, one source of inspiration has always come from the mountains.  I grew up in Palm Springs nestled up against the 10,800 foot Mt. San Jacinto … every morning I walked out of my childhood home and saw this majestic mountain.  In the summer, we traveled to the Sierra Nevada, camping in the mountains for weeks at a time.  And then eventually we moved to the town of Idyllwild in the San Jacintos, and I had the opportunity to spend the angsty years of my teenage years being angsty, but also getting to climb the peaks and hike the trails that were literally in my backyard. The mountains provided a sense of peace while also offering perspective … these geological behemoths still remind me of how small our present actually is. But despite the age, the mountains themselves are always in a process of transformation and change, either growing or eroding away. They are a macro version of our own lives.

So while choosing a name for a business can be an arduous, complex process, and I’ll probably always question if it was the right one to choose, (I often regret having disregarded some real gems (ha!), like Leadership Development, Facilitation Mastery and Community Education for All: LDFMCE 4 A), I knew that one of the great inspirations in my life needed to be an aspect of the business name. The ‘Innovation Lab’ component represents the process, the trial and error, the exciting exploration of coaching, leadership and strategic planning.  It answers what we do (with some explanation).

‘Rocky Mountain’ recognizes where we are geographically and gives the organization a sense of place. But ‘Rocky Mountain’ also pays homage to my magical childhood inspiration and comfort found in the mountains.  It reminds me everyday of that horizon line, that better future, the vast cosmic chronology that we are just one beautiful grain of sand in a story playing out over the millennia. The Rocky Mountains that I can see on the horizon everyday from my office keep me balanced and in check, inspiring me to do the wonderful work of leadership development and community building.

Your Break Through Post # 50 {Vol. 2, Ed. 4}