Start With ME: The Foundation of Leadership
Nov 26, 2025Leadership often begins with the desire to build teams, launch initiatives, or drive collaboration. But too many leaders skip the essential first step: the personal work of knowing themselves. Without that foundation, every effort to collaborate risks imbalance and misunderstanding.
In the ABCs of Murmuration, Kathy Hagler and Robin Graham remind us that everything starts with ME. The ME is the individual starling before joining the flock, the single note before the symphony, the musician who practices before stepping into the marching band performance. Awareness, beliefs, and connection are the core practices that prepare us for authentic collaboration.
- Awareness means noticing the patterns and habits that drive your reactions—many of them unconscious.
- Beliefs represent the assumptions you carry about yourself and others—some of which may limit your growth.
- Connection starts with yourself, learning to align mind, body, and spirit, so that you can connect with others in meaningful ways.
When leaders practice ME, they strengthen their ability to contribute authentically. Without that work, their attempts at teamwork will falter. Like a musician out of tune or a bird that hasn’t learned to fly, they’ll struggle to stay in formation. But when ME is strong, the WE and the US can thrive.
Strong leadership doesn’t begin with managing others. It begins with managing yourself. That is the foundation for leaderful collaboration and the brilliance of murmuration in action.
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