In the hit comedic movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character, Phil Conners, is caught up in a time warp, doomed to live the same day over and over until he gets it right. Hilarious as the ensuing mayhem may be on the big screen, it is a poignant and not too thinly veiled metaphor for how most of us live our own lives - mindlessly occupied with our own issues and concerns, stumbling through life (often over the toes of others) with little if any conscious direction or critical thought. In the end, we keep on running into the same scenarios and problems over and over - not because we're caught in a time loop, but because we're caught in a life-loop. We haven't made the grade, so we can't graduate beyond our current situation.
Local leadership profit or just for fun. Most of us find ourselves in a position to help others achieve more of their potential than we realize. Sure, as leaders, supervisors, and parents we can see ourselves in that position; but the fact is that all of us are uniquely qualified to help at least one other person in our lives reach their potential. I believe it is part of our purpose in life to serve others in this way ? to encourage and support people we care about in becoming their best selves.
On airplanes, in restaurants, in the newspaper and on television, I often hear people saying their businesses are not growing to their satisfaction or that they are not reaching their objectives. The explanations that follow consist of reasons like:
You're a bright, successful business executive making good money and managing a capable staff of accomplished professionals. You are successful beyond your wildest business school dreams. You've achieved much-yet something's missing. On the surface, life is good-yet you feel tired, drained, frustrated, defeated. Intuitively, you know your life can and should be more fulfilling.
Many people end up in a supervisory position or SOHO ownership almost by default. In today's workplace, if someone stays on their job long enough, they will probably be promoted as others, more senior to them or higher up the chain of responsibility, leave for other opportunities.
All of us join professional organizations for a reason--a friend belongs, we need to for credibility, etc. Many times we let years slide by and we don't stop and review those reasons. Unless something sets off a boundary--lack of funds, the organization runs itself into a ditch, or a leadership problem.
I was invited to do a Leadership workshop at a well known Fortune 100 company out in New Jersey. The all day event was geared toward their new crop of interns. At a point in my presentation I talked about the many reasons we come up with for not taking action. The many excuses we create in order to delay or defer acting on our plans to achieve success.
I had the good fortune (or misfortune depending on your climate perspective) of living in Minnesota for ten years. The Summers were beautiful, Fall was spectacular with the changing colors of the leaves on trees and winter was,?well, damn cold.
While reading my latest book on politics and economics, I came across a reference to a bible story called "Parable of the Talents'. In this story three servants are each give ?talents? (a monetary denomination used by the Greeks). To the first, the master gave 5 talents, to the second he gave 2 and to the third he gave 1 talent. The master gave each a different amount of money (talents), according to their ability.
Two of the servants doubled their money and the master was pleased with their results. The third servant, fearful of losing it, buried his money where no one benefited from it, including himself.
When the master summoned the third servant to get an accounting of what he had done with his talent, he was angry and displeased to find out the servant had simply buried it and where the money had no opportunity to earn interest.
The servant tried to explain to the master that he knew how ?exacting? the master was and he did not want to lose His money. The master didn?t buy it. He ordered that the one talent be given to the first servant who was able to convert 5 talents into 10. (Reference Matt 25:14 and Luke 19:12).
Although I believe the story or parable was strictly about economics and frugality, it can be extended to include, not only money, but true talents (i.e., ability).
The cornerstone of my book, The Logic of Success, is the premise that unless you find out what it is you were meant to do, true happiness will elude you. Finding out what it is you truly want takes time, patience and perseverance. In the first chapter I discuss how to create ?search patterns? to find your true calling. (Get a Free copy at www.thelogicofsucccess.com).
Now, I want go beyond the obvious of telling you about your hidden talents (you already know you have one, two or more). I want to address the ?How? talents were (and are) buried within us.
As children, we all loved to discover new things. We even did things when others advised us not to (e.g., touching the stove when Mom said it was hot). We wanted to learn, we wanted to discover for ourselves the world around us. Failure and pain were not yet transformed into anxieties.
As we got older, we were expected to act a little more responsible and accountable for our actions. Like in any soap opera drama, this is the scene in your life where ?society? steps in and starts benevolently imposing its norms on your behavior. You are now expected to:
I am fascinated by problems. I like to think of myself as a solution oriented individual. However when problems creep into my life as they always do I know that I am in for a major learning experience.
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