Spoiler alert: things are about to get a little weird...
As I got seated on the airplane heading out from my layover in Germany, I was reminded of an unusual experience I had traveling on a plane years ago. I was living in Seattle at the time and was headed back to St. Louis for my birthday. This was the first year of my now annual tradition of setting a birthday intention (because birthday wishes just feel so passive). My intention for that particular year was “realignment.” I’d been feeling horribly out of touch with my values while living in the Pacific Northwest, and I needed to do something about it.
As I scribbled down a thought on a piece of paper, the man sitting next to me said in a very matter-of-fact way, “You don’t have to live like that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your hands. They shake,” he said. “You don’t have to live like that.”
I’m sure I was visibly irritated. My hands had had a tremor for years. I’d seen a neurologist for it, and she told me the condition would only get worse with time. At some point, my handwriting would likely become illegible, and I may not have the ability to hold a coffee cup.
“I’ve been seen by a doctor,” I muttered back.
“Well, you don’t have to live like that.”
We sat there awkwardly in silence.
“What do you think of the term ‘alignment?’"
Well, now this man had crossed a line! Could someone be so intrusive as to crawl inside my mind?
“I’m sorry- is there something you’re trying to get at?” I shot back coldly.
“I’m an energy worker,” he said. Ugh, I was so over the Pacific Northwest. “I used to be an investment banker, and then at some point I realized I had the ability to help heal people. I know this all sounds very strange. I had a hard time believing any of this myself. But I’ve come to accept that this energy thing is real. It’s present, and it’s malleable, even if we can’t see it.” His eyes lit up as he smiled.
“Now I buy a lot of public transportation tickets- usually on ships because it gives me the most time- and I spend my life doing energy work on strangers. Would you be open to me using my tuning forks on you?”
I looked at the man a bit dumbfounded. This was easily the weirdest conversation I had ever had with a stranger on a plane. But I did have some time to kill, and you know what the kids say: YOLO.
Geoffrey (as I later learned his name to be) removed from the overhead cabin a small briefcase lined with meticulously placed tuning forks. He then proceeded to do some sort of… something… on me or to me. I’m sure the two of us redefined in-flight entertainment.
“Give it one year,” he told me afterwards. “Your life is about to get much better.”
I can’t help but laugh sharing this story because even as I type it, my hands aren’t shaking. In fact, they haven’t shaken since around that following birthday.
This is probably the most hated true story I’ve ever told.
“But it’s correlation, not causation!” I can hear my fellow statistics nerds yelling in response.
And, of course, my friends- it absolutely is. But if you’ve made it this far, I’m guessing there’s at least a tiny part of you that’s wondering if there’s something more to this experience.
I’m currently sitting on the plane next to a young PhD candidate in electrical engineering. After explaining my profession to him, he asked me the age-old question: “So, what makes a great leader?”
“My answer has probably changed a lot over time,” I told him. “At this point, l’m convinced that what separates the best is a person’s ability to get their energy right.” This brilliant 25 year old looked up at me a bit dumbfounded. It was official. I’d become the new Geoffrey.
For as much emphasis as I’ve placed on evidence-based practice (which I still stand strongly behind), I do feel like there’s something to great leaders that’s not exactly measurable or even visible in their behaviors. To me, they’re people with incredible vision, often stemming from a strong sense of purpose, who have the ability to attract what’s needed to execute their objective. I’m not sure I’ve ever met an amazing leader who needed to read up on how to inspire others. Once they’ve fully aligned their efforts with who they are, what they do best, and what they believe they can lead others to accomplish (“getting their energy right,” so to speak), the rest in many ways seems to simply follow.
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