A Compass For Our Times.
Tania Louise McInnes 
Key insights from exploring leadership through the Compass lens.
Exploring leadership through the lens of a Compass has been an insightful journey for me over the past month. The Compass analogy offers a way of orienting ourselves in times of rapid change, complexity, and uncertainty - all of which we are currently experiencing.
One of my insights has been the reminder that these reflections are not about learning something new. Rather, it’s about remembering what we already know, and may have lost touch with along the way.
To summarise, each of the Compass points offers a different quality of attention.
North invites honesty and orientation. It asks us to pause long enough to notice what’s actually true for ourselves. Not the version we perform, or the one shaped by expectation, but the quieter inner truth that lets us know when something is aligned, and when it isn’t. North reminds us that leadership doesn’t begin with action. It begins with ourselves and with clarity about what matters.
Examples of this show up in moments of slowing down, moving from our head to our heart, noticing when endurance has replaced alignment, and asking the braver question: ‘Is this still true for me?’
East opens the mind. It brings curiosity, perspective, and a willingness to question assumptions. In a world shaped by rapid change and powerful new tools, East encourages us to stay open rather than certain. To ask better questions instead of clinging to fixed answers. It’s where learning stays alive and possibility emerges.
Some examples I have covered include working with AI as a thinking partner, noticing how rushed questions produce shallow responses, while curiosity and clearer prompts opened new perspectives and challenged long-held assumptions.
South brings us back into the body. Into rhythm, coherence, and embodied ease. South reminds us that leadership isn’t just cognitive - it’s felt. It shows up in nervous systems, energy levels, and how resourced we actually are. When we listen to the body and honour natural rhythms, leadership becomes more sustainable, more human, and far less forced.
Examples of South showed up in recognising when the body says ‘no’ while the head says ‘push on,’ rediscovering play, and remembering ancient rhythms like the Maramataka - where rest and action exist in balance.
West is where relationship lives. It’s about connection, trust, discernment, and weaving people together in ways that allow collective strength to emerge. West teaches us that leadership maturity isn’t about having the strongest voice in the room; it’s about holding the whole, listening well, and creating the conditions for others to contribute meaningfully.
Examples of this were seen in navigating heated council meetings with restraint, learning when to respond and when to stay silent, and setting boundaries that strengthened trust rather than fractured it.
What I love about this Compass is that it isn’t linear. It’s holistic. We don’t ‘complete’ one direction and move on. We circle. We revisit. We spiral. Some days we might need North’s clarity. Other days, South’s grounding. Often, we’re moving between them all at once.
This isn’t about perfection either.
It’s not about always being centred, always curious, always grounded, or always relational. It’s about being human. Having a way back when we notice we’ve drifted. A way to re-orient when things feel off. A reminder that leadership is lived - not performed.
As we move further into an AI-supported, digitally mediated world, these human qualities need to be celebrated and encouraged. Presence. Discernment. Connection. Rhythm. Inner authority.
This Compass doesn’t replace strategy, skills, or tools. It complements them. It keeps us human while everything else accelerates.
If nothing else, I hope these reflections have offered a moment to pause, notice, and perhaps gently ask:
Where am I orienting from right now?
That question alone can change everything.
Further insights:
Download my free guide: 10 Ways to be Authentically You (even on a Tuesday).
Check out 'A New Compass: Finding your Inner North' - a short guided series.
#anewcompass #leadinglights
Categories: : A New Compass, Leadership, Leading Lights, Self-Leadership