WISE, INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
LEADERSHIP IN LIFE
Mike Prom - Director
October, 2008 – Vol. 1, Num. 6
Simulcast 2009 – Friday, May 8
SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE – “THE ONE THING”
How would you define success if that question was posed to you by someone starting out in your field? Answers would be given all over the chart. Is there just one right answer to that question? As it has been said of climbing the ladder of success, that it is a great climb until you get to the top and realize you were climbing up the wrong ladder or building.
An interesting phenomenon occurs for a fair number of people when they reach their late thirty’s and early forty’s. They have worked hard to become successful in whatever venture of life they have chosen. Yet they share that even though they have gained success, they are still lacking significance in life, where they have really tapped into who they are and the impact they want to leave on others. Success does not guarantee significance. Significance is knowing who you are and what your purpose in life is. What makes you tick? What is your passion, the spark that needs only a little breeze which then will ignite a blazing inferno?
In the movie “City Slickers”, Jack Palance and Billy Crystal are on a dude ranch, riding horseback out on the range. Palance is lamenting about the guys who come out to the ranch for a two week stint and think all their problems will be solved. So he asks
Do you know yourself? Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to be in the world.” Developing yourself builds self-confidence which will attract and inspire others. Do not lead others until you can lead yourself. You cannot lead people where you have not been. What changes do you desire to make and why make those changes?
We do not ask these questions because we are too busy doing what we think is right which can answer the success questions of life. But is the “right thing” your “one thing”? Business leader Peter Drucker teaches the difference between efficiency and effectiveness is efficiency is doing things right while effectiveness is doing the right things.
Changing jobs is not necessarily what will help you find true success which is significance in life. Begin with yourself. Ask yourself if you could snap your fingers and know that you could not fail, what would you do? At the end of your life, you would love to be able to look back and know that you did something about …? The area where you feel you could make the most significant contribution would be…? What is your personality like, what talents and abilities do you have, is God a part of your thought process?
Consider these questions, write down your thoughts about them. Involve a friend or find a coach to lead you through the process. I have helped people through this process and when they begin to understand who they are and what their purpose is in life, you could not pay them enough money in the world to replace the joy they have found in their lives. One of the saddest statements a person offers about him/herself at the end of their life, is, “If I only would have ….”
THE THREE C’S OF GROWTH
These three words will determine your growth.
Choice – It allows you to start growing.
Change - It allows you to keep growing.
Climate - It allows you to enjoy growing.
John Maxwell
QUOTES
“Most people spend more time planning their grocery shopping than designing their future.” Tom James, Personal Development Coach
“How wonderful it is that we need not wait a single minute before starting to improve ourselves and our world.” Anne Frank
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty and job to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” Hellen Keller
