Finding Your Waterfall: Why Leaders Need to Feel Small Sometimes

Madusha Ranaweera
2 days ago
4 min read

This photo was taken six years ago in the deep mountains of Sri Lanka.

The only people around for miles was me and my husband.

I'm perched on top of a waterfall. You can't tell how high it is from this picture, but trust me, it was a tall waterfall. I was too afraid to move at first but eventually that just turned into stillness.

Just looking at the picture, I remember the cold, wet stone beneath me, and I remember looking up and seeing the sky peeking through a barrage of leaves.

I remember the deafening roar of the water. It was so loud I couldn't hear my own thoughts.

Which was wonderful.

I felt so small and yet part of a larger whole.

It was the most grounded I'd felt in years.

And truthfully, I haven't felt that way since.

The Question That Haunts Me

So I wonder: can I only be still in the presence of something that is vast, relentless, and indifferent to my stress?

Maybe. And if that's what it takes, then that's fine.

Because in that moment, I felt connected to a part of myself beyond all the petty problems of modern life.

I didn't have to be productive. I just had to BE.

Finding this picture now made me feel all of that again.

But it also makes me a little sad.

The Problem We All Share

I look out my window and I can see trees.

I'm surrounded by nature but I'm not immersed in it.

My routine prioritizes work. Events, meetings, deadlines, emails.

I have to schedule time to give my dogs attention throughout the day. Just a little play goes a long way.

And therein lies the problem: we prioritize the wrong things.

Even when we plan vacations or time off, they're full of distractions. Restaurants to try. Places to see.

Even our rest comes with a checklist and has to be productive.

Maybe that's why half the time, we've all said that we need a vacation from our vacation.

We've optimized rest right out of existence. We've turned everything, including our downtime, into another performance. Another thing to accomplish. Another box to check.

And we wonder why we're exhausted.

Why Leaders Need to Feel Small

Leadership makes you feel big. Important. Necessary. Like everything depends on you.

And in some ways, it does. People look to you for answers, for direction, for stability. Your decisions matter. Your presence matters.

But that weight becomes unbearable if you never put it down.

That's what the waterfall gave me. Permission to be small again. To be just another creature on earth, subject to the same forces as everything else. Not special. Not important. Just present.

Mind you, I had about 20 leeches on both my legs by the end of it.

And still, nothing has ever made me feel quite as restored as that hike through the forest did.

I'd still do it again, leeches and all.

Because I loved feeling like a living creature of the earth. One that other creatures can suck blood out of. Where my worth isn't measured by my productivity or accomplishments.

Where I'm not a CEO, or a leader, or someone with responsibilities. Just a human being, standing in front of something magnificent that doesn't care who I am.

And somehow, that's exactly what I needed.

What Your Waterfall Looks Like

Your waterfall might not even be a waterfall. It might be the ocean. A mountain peak. A forest trail. A desert at sunrise.

It's the place where you feel both insignificant and connected. Where your problems shrink to their actual size. Where you remember that you're part of something larger than your to-do list.

It's the place that strips away all the layers of performance and expectation and leaves you with just yourself. And the earth. And the quiet knowing that you're exactly where you need to be.

We all need that place. And we all need to return to it more often than we do.

The Gentle Reminder

So here's my gentle reminder to you (and to myself):

Schedule it.

Not when you "have time." Not when things calm down (they won't).

Find your waterfall. Your forest. Your mountain. Your ocean.

The place where your problems feel small and the earth feels big.

Even if it's just for a day. Even if it feels indulgent.

It's not.

It's necessary.

Because you can't lead from empty. You can't stay grounded if you never touch the ground. And you can't maintain perspective if you never step back far enough to see how small you really are.

So go. Schedule it. Find your place of stillness.

Your team will survive without you for a day. Your inbox will still be there when you get back.

But you? You'll come back different. A little more grounded. A little more whole. A little more human.

And that's what real leadership requires.