To “succeed”, we need to lead from the heart.
5 lessons about leadership from Moonshot camp.
→ 138 countries represented
→ 8000+ in the community and growing
→ 100+ C-Suite mentors
→ $300,000 in grants for youth-led projects
PS – Thank you, Ritz for this summary!
1. Every leader is unique, and what they’ve experienced often shapes the area in which they want to lead.
As I got to know young leaders from all over the world, I also got to know their incredible personal stories. I quickly saw that many of these young leaders had turned their personal suffering into their missions, courage, and businesses. Some are:
🌱 Helping refugees because they’ve been through that difficult journey themselves.
🌱 Creating art programs, because they’ve struggled with their mental health.
🌱 Have worked in the White House, shaped politics, and social policy because they’ve experienced discrimination.
🌱 Are building a platform that provides medical care in war-torn countries.
🌱 Monitor bees using AI, to keep prevent the whole ecosystem from failing.
And more! They know how important their business or idea is. Sometimes, it’s the difference between life and death.
Which brings me to this point: whatever we choose to be invested in (and invest in) has to be meaningful to us, or it won’t matter to anyone else.
Along the path as a leader, we’ll have to re-motivate ourselves, and be able to inspire others to come on the ride with us too. In hard times and in exciting times.
Leading from the heart, allows us to move past many personal edges. And just as I have experienced, when we come across something that we whole-heartedly believe needs to be transformed, chances are, the truth of that will resonate with others.
2. Heart-led leadership builds emotional safety first so that people can thrive.
My first night on the job, a returning young leader told me that they were having trouble relaxing because they knew what an incredible experience the camp was – and they were almost grieving the end of it before it had started.
One of the reasons this camp is so revered by its members is due to the fact that the camp’s leadership team know how important it is to support the whole human – with their emotions, histories, mood swings, traumas, and personalities.
The business world likes to cut that side off, and divide work from family, our bodies from our minds, energy from productivity – you know, the usual dichotomies we’ve grown accustomed to in our current society.
But heart-lead leadership is about seeing that when we pay attention to all parts of us, we’re so much happier, aligned, and taken care of, that we actually create more impact.
I’ll take impact over productivity any day, because the former tends to lead to burnout and procrastination, while being able to hold space for emotional growth creates space for the entirety us us. And as I’m always learning, wholeness is healing.
Leaders who create emotional safety enable trust and .accountability.
3. We like to be led by service-driven people. Not just success-driven ones – and there’s a difference.
As I met with more and more brilliant, accomplished people, some of whom have taken trips to the moon, filmed documentaries that have cut down crime rates by 90%, and “kids” who are trying to save the planet, democratize cancer care, and more – I paid attention to the way I felt around “success”.
Success isn’t just wealth. It’s alignment with our values, and creating meaningful impact on the world around us. Working with the Moonshot team was inspiring because there was no ego – and so much service.
- Service to the Young Leaders in all the practical and emotional ways.
- Service to changing the world for the better by asking “What if we get it right?”
- Service to making an impact that everyone could take home with them to their countries.
In my own daily work at the moment, I am applying exactly this self-leadership tool whenever I feel doubt, fear, or anxiety. I focus on how I can be of service to my clients, remembering why what I offer is needed, and letting go of the rest.
It’s not about me, but what I can enable through me.
And we can all get behind a mission and a leader that’s there for more than themselves. That kind of leadership is almost a sacred space-holding container where we simply create conditions for magic, and then watch as others takes it even further.
4. Leadership means stepping outside of our comfort zone to stretch the edges of what we “think” we know, while believing in ourselves. Continuously.
I’m embarrassed to say that I wondered if these budding leaders would be arrogant. I know. How judgemental of me!
Instead, I found curiosity, humbleness, and openness – no doubt the very qualities that had helped them succeed. Moreover, there was also fear and anxiety. And often, a huge sense of pressure.
We all have these feelings, and when we’re in higher leadership positions the more intense they can become. Experienced leaders aren’t perfect; they’re just better at holding space for nuances and openings without judgement. One of the things that Moonshot teaches its members to do.
In a divided world, this is such a resource.
The team made sure that the Young Leaders were challenged and pushed to keep an open mind about themselves, each other, and what’s possible. Hence ice baths, physical challenges, dance, art, meditation, and seminars.
On the flip side, while it creates wisdom and opportunity, it also creates many occasions of discomfort. Hence a mental health support team, mentors, and an array of supportive and accomplished staff. It’s not easy to lead. It’s creating the path that others get to follow. Sometimes mentally, sometimes actually. But seeing ourselves do things we didn’t think we could do, creates a positive feedback loop.
The young leaders at Moonshot camp had to push themselves to try culturally different, mentally different, or even physically different experiences than they have in their day-to-day lives and that’s the point; if we stretch, we’ll be supple when challenges come. If we don’t, we’re likely to break on the edges of our own notions and ideas.
The lesson being; letting go of what we think we know. Leadership requires openness to contrast and new ideas, but through that it transcends and unites.
5. Leaders lead themselves, first. How are you leading you?
Leadership starts with self-leadership. That means self-regulation, acceptance, respect, and a progress-mindset. One that takes time to reflect on flaws or mistakes, but doesn’t stay in them. One that cheers and uplifts the spirit.
Yemi, Klara, Erin, and the rest of the team are great examples of this. Particularly Yemi, who’s had to navigate racial, political, and family challenges to get to here and to the creation of Moonshot Platform.
One of the things Yemi said really stayed with me.
It’s that the camp is designed the way it is because we need to honor and lead with all aspects of ourselves, or our unhealed wounds will trickle down into our organization, affect our families, and limit the way we show up at the table, the way we connect to people, and curtail what we can achieve.
By welcoming in all parts, contrast, feels, and thoughts – we also allow space for integration and acceptance. That means knowing what we stand for, where our values lie, and what our vision is.
Because that’s what we’re doing here. Being the fullest, most authentic human beings we can be.
It’s a joy to see a youth development program/accelerator that cares about the mental health of its participants and respects all of their journeys. Although my colleague Dan Houser and I were both there to support, all of the team members were doing support work throughout the entirety of the camp thanks to it’s conscious focus on creating a nurturing atmosphere.
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I’ll leave you with a parting thought: what is your leadership story? Where is your heart? And what if, as Moonshot Camp asked its members this year, you could get it right? By being inclusive and finding inspiration from unlikely worlds, ideas, people, and disciplines we can create new solutions and ideas that would never arise from old, established ways of thinking.
*Moonshot camp is co-funded by the EU and supported by many amazing partners.