Everybody wants to rise higher than they are right now to enjoy better circumstances than they experienced yesterday.
This is a universal desire that unites every human being, male and female, young and old, rich and poor.
Political leaders, who understand this and tap into this desire, win the support of a united citizenry. Sadly, very few, if any, political leaders do actually understand this. Business leaders who come to terms with this concept are able to build a motivated and engaged workforce that produces the goods both figuratively and literally. Those business leaders who fail to grasp this higher truth will spend their careers trying to get reluctant workers to do the bare minimum. They will throw money at the problem but it will not help.
Individuals who succeed in rising to better circumstances are to be saluted for their effort and determination in bettering their lives and those of their families. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if leaders started lifting others to better circumstances?
There is a significant benefit to lifting others and it was well put by Robert Ingersoll, an American lawyer living in the 1800s. He said, “We rise by lifting others.”
Corrupt politicians and greedy business leaders operate according to exactly the opposite mantra. Their mantra is, “We rise by exploiting others.” One cannot deny that many of them have indeed achieved financial success using such methods. But before you decide to throw caution to the wind and follow their lead, let me urge you to think again. You may well, like them, succeed financially, but you will lose your soul in the process. I am not speaking of religious matters. I am referring to the fact that you will lose your identity – the essence of who you were made to be in this life.
The world, our country and our companies need leaders who lift others. If you are in a leadership position, ask yourself if you are lifting others. If you’d like to rise by lifting others, here are two things you need to do to achieve your goal:
1 Awake to your higher purpose
It’s said that we are all born for greatness but raised to mediocrity. When we are led by mediocre leaders, we make the mistake of thinking that their mediocrity is the standard by which we should measure ourselves. We then never seek to rise above the levels stet by such leaders.
Do you want to be successful or great? Success is about what you achieve for yourself. Greatness is about what you achieve for others.
If you want to be successful (nothing wrong with that) go for it. But you will really only benefit yourself. The interesting thing is that greatness is achieved through success (one has to broaden one’s view of success here) but does not stop there. Greatness lies beyond success. Few realise that and stop at the small town called Success instead of continuing through it to the mega city called Greatness.
When you awake to your higher purpose, you awake to the needs of others and set out on a journey to lift them up. In so doing, you rise to greatness.
2 Act on your higher purpose
It’s not enough to become aware of your higher purpose. You have to act on it … now. It’s also not enough to merely speak about your higher purpose. Talk is cheap. Actions are what cost.
I have learnt over time to measure people not by what they say but by what they do. Many leaders talk courageous talk but, when the time comes for them to put their money where their mouths are, there are no courageous actions to back up what they have said. That means they are actually not courageous. The same applies to ethics – people claim to be ethical but then act unethically. That simply means they’re NOT ethical. It’s the old truth of your actions speaking so loudly that one can’t hear what you’re saying.
Instead of talking a big game, let your actions show what’s really going on inside of you and start lifting others so that you rise beyond success to greatness!
Alan Hosking is the publisher of HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net, @HRFuturemag, and a professional speaker. He assists business leaders to lead their people into the new world of work.
