Carl Jung once described a conversation with a Pueblo elder in Taos, New Mexico, that stayed with him for the rest of his life. The elder said:
“After all, we are a people who live on the roof of the world; we are the sons of the Father Sun, and with our religion we daily help our father to go across the sky. If we did not do it… the sun would no longer rise. Then it would be night forever.” –Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1973)
Jung was deeply moved by the sense of shared purpose in that belief. The idea that through daily devotion and steady action, the community helped ensure the continuation and thriving of life as they knew it.
Whether we take that literally or metaphorically, it offers a powerful image for leadership. Leadership is about showing up each day with the faith that your actions, steadiness, presence, and purpose, continue to transform uncertainty into light.
As we approach the close of another year, I have been reflecting on what it means, as a leader, to run to bring the sun up.
The Run Toward the Light
Leadership is, at times, a sprint but more often a sustained act of presence that calls for endurance, clarity, and belief. Some days, the horizon feels bright and on others, the path is dim and uncertain. Yet, much like the Pueblo elder’s ritual, the work of leadership depends on showing up anyway.
Leaders don’t control the sunrise. We can’t command innovation, culture, or progress to happen on schedule, but our values and mindset create the conditions where those things can rise.
The strongest leaders have a scalable steady rhythm fueled by integrity and purpose that becomes the pulse others align to.
The Pause Before The Next Horizon
The end of the year is a unique and fleeting moment to pause, one that looks past outcomes to examine the cadence, resilience, and purpose shaping what comes next.
Lean into the pause by asking yourself
- When this year did my decisions and actions most clearly reflect my core purpose and what enabled that alignment?
- Where did my leadership create the conditions for others to act decisively and with conviction?
- What light did I bring forward, even in challenging times?
- Who needs my steadiness, encouragement, or optimism right now?
- What can I release that no longer serves the run ahead?
- What kind of sunrise do I want to help create next year?
We all understand, at some level that renewal isn’t found in doing more bur rather it is found in reconnecting to why the work matters at all.
When you know why you’re running, you run differently, more intentionally, more generously, and often with more of that contagious endurance that got you where you are today.
Purpose Without Perfection
Jung’s Pueblo story reminds us that purpose doesn’t require certainty. The elder didn’t say, “We make the sun rise.” He said, “We help our father go across the sky.” The difference matters. Leading is about contribution more than control. We can’t guarantee every outcome, but our steady faith in the work helps sustain others through uncertainty. Teams often look to their leaders less for answers than for reassurance that the light will return.
There’s humility, and relief, in this perspective. You don’t have to hold up the sky (even though it certainly feels that way at times). You just have to keep running toward the possibility the horizon offers…
A Practice for Leaders: Your Own Sunrise Run
As this year closes, consider creating a small ritual as your own “sunrise run.” It might be a moment of reflection before dawn, a journal exercise, or a quiet walk in winter light. What matters is the space your ritual opens for perspective.
- What needs restoration before I begin the next run?
- What rhythm or practice helps me stay grounded when the pace accelerates again?
- Who do I want beside me as I step into a new year and how can I signal that connection now?
- How will I mark the start of this next horizon symbolically or simply to remind myself why I run at all?
- Consider inviting your team to design their own version of a “sunrise run.” A moment of brief pause to name what sustains them and what they want to bring into the light of the coming year.
- Year-end rituals close one chapter as they gently crack open the next one.
Running Toward Renewal
In the Pueblo belief, Jung saw a vision of life infused with meaning where daily effort sustains something larger than oneself. Leadership offers a similar opportunity. We can treat it as a series of obligations, or as an act of stewardship, a way of helping light rise across the landscape of our organizations with the dawning of the new year.
Leadership isn’t about making the sun rise. It’s about running toward the light consistently and with a faith so strong that others can feel the warmth returning. It’s about helping people remember what they’re capable of, even during the long stretches of winters lanky shadows.
Click Here to request a companion reflection worksheet to bring the practice of this blog to life.
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