I was recently interviewed by Andrea Bahamondes for a radio blog cast she was putting together. It was an amazing experience. And if you have not yet taken the opportunity to connect with her, I would recommend doing so AND to check out her blog at: www.thenakedelephant.net
There was one topic that Andrea brought up that created within me an urge to follow up here, today, with you. Her question was, “When we are in business, we have so many tools at our disposal to be successful, but what do we do when we are alone… when we start something from scratch that is just ‘us’ in the initial stages?” It was a marvelous question… and though I could do an entire seminar on that question, let me try to put some of the most critical pieces in this post to begin what might be the beginning of a longer dialogue.
It seems to me, that business success is to achieve goals. To become better than the competition and that the successful business man or woman knows how to manage and/or administer the many tools available to them. These tools can be a sales staff, an HR department, marketing, technology specialists, budget guru’s, logistics and data collectors… all are potentially there to create the outcomes or goals set by whomever to keep the business sustained, growing, and profitable. But what happens to the business person who begins to sense that this is not enough for them? That what they are doing is sometimes exciting and clearly challenging, but there is a sense deep within them that there is something “more” that they need. What if they begin to sense and know deep within their spirit that their lives are not giving them the meaning they most want … when they begin to understand that when their “run” is over that, overall, their lives did not make the kind of difference in the world they deep down wished and still want to make? What happens then and how many people today find themselves EXACTLY in that position? Sadly, my experience tells me the answer is in the millions… and it is world-wide. It very well might be you…. and I will tell you quite openly that until only a few years ago, that person was me.
When one finds themselves in that place of wanting “more” and not receiving the kind of value from their efforts as their spirit truly desires, many turn away and strike out on their own to create something that is meaningful if you will. And yet, when they do so, many turn to the same tools that helped them be a success before in business and they end up creating EXACTLY what they had before… a sense of knowing that the harder they work, the less value they receive and they once again “know” that something is indeed wrong. So what is it? What is it that they have missed? What key ingredient or formula was missed in their business education? The answer, I believe, lies in the true concept of being a leader of self.
It is quite simple in concept, yet one of the most challenging yet worthwhile action we will ever do for it deals with creating lives that matter and make a difference… the kind of difference that resonates deep within our spirit as being right… at least right for us. It is a concept that says before one can lead anyone, they must first learn to lead themselves AND the only way to do that is to go deep within ourselves to find our true core values and eventually our purpose in life. This in itself is not an easy journey as many times we are afraid of what we might find as we challenge each of our assumptions/beliefs, identify and understand our own mental modes, and begin to see how we have created our own reality and thus the lens by which we see the entire world. But in the end… we find who we really are. We find what our true, authentic core values are AND we find what it is that when we do it, we become energized, joyful, passionate, commitment, and we KNOW that our actions matter deeply to us and to those we encounter along the way. In short we find our purpose. And it is when we are on purpose AND our choices everyday become aligned with that purpose and our core values that the totality of the power within us is finally unleashed… and it brings us great joy as wonderful, seemingly magical, things begin to happen.
Now just suppose that an individual who wanted more for their life knew that he/she needed to start something new… to go a different direction…. began to create from the place of their core values and purpose? Imagine the powerful energy that would come from their choices, intentions, and actions? Imagine the kind of energy and people they would begin to attract and imagine what all of that together will create since it is all aligned to something of great value and of deep meaning to everyone who was attracted to and impacted by the actions taken. Most of all, imagine the sense of joy, fulfillment, energy, passion, commitment, and value each day would bring to that individual and to those they have encountered along the way. Imagine that person was you…
And therein lies the difference when one is alone and creating from the simple tool of the leading of self. The difference is from where our willingness to create, to build, to organize, to expand, to innovate comes from. The difference is that what we are creating comes from what we were meant to “be” or to do. And, wouldn’t it be interesting if businesses, organizations, families, indeed nations today truly began to see the value that the leading of self can create for everyone. Wouldn’t it be interesting if each employee that came to work felt that, at the end of the day, they had received something of great value to their spirit and that they were making a difference that mattered? Now would THAT create a competitive advantage and increased potential for ROI?
