Embracing the Year of the Fire Horse through Curiosity, Empathy, and Connection

This week marks the celebration of the Lunar New Year, welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse. According to the Chinese Zodiac, this signifies a period of intense energy marked by strong, independent, and dynamic actions. For leaders, this represents a high-energy, breakthrough period that will favor bold leadership, rapid innovation, and

decisive action.

With this in mind, we should all consider how we, as leaders, can best position ourselves to navigate this upcoming cycle.

In my book Open Up! Step Into the Leader You Are Meant to Be explains my belief that embracing open leadership means using curiosity, empathy, and connection – or what I call the CEC Method - to find the inner strength and authenticity to navigate resistance, challenge, and change.

As you read this, you may be asking yourself, ‘This all sounds great, but how do I use it and make it relevant in my world?’ Let’s start by more closely examining the meaning of each letter of the CEC Method.

The first C is for curiosity – asking yourself what gives you confidence, strength, and fearlessness. Dig deep and identify what makes you feel empowered or gives you your superpowers?

The E stands for empathy – the ability to consider a situation from someone else's point-of-view with genuine care and concern. This requires stepping out of your own suffering and reframing it as a positive force that benefits the greater good. How can you turn a challenge you are facing into an opportunity to help others or improve a situation?

The last C is for connection – finding your community and building authentic and vulnerable relationships that support each other. As individuals and in groups, we are usually most effective and at our strongest when we have established genuine connections.

Now that we’ve reviewed the meaning behind the CEC Method, it’s time to start using it in real-world situations. To help you out, I’ve created a card you can fill out and save to remind you how you'll turn your SOS into a Story of Strength through the CEC Method.

Next month, we are going to dive further into what it means to use the CEC Method to be an authentic leader. In the meantime, if you enjoy the content on our blog and newsletter, please consider subscribing to my new Substack, where I share additional insights on Open Leadership and embracing your Story of Strength.