This past week at an ICCO symposium we discussed the topic of Sustainable Leadership.  Not only did we wrestle with the term ‘leadership’, we tossed around the meaning of ‘Sustainable Leadership’, what ‘sustainable’ means exactly and every other permutation and combination of the term.  Then we looked at why in the world we would want leadership to be sustainable.  Good question!  Is it for the individual, the organization, the community or the world as a whole? 

The easy part of our discussion was looking at sustainable leadership for the greater good, not the greater bad.  For some a no brainer but for others, well, it’s a thing to consider, is it not?

Like many other topics of conversation and focal points in our lives, the meanings continually change.  What the symposium did for me in one instance was help me wrap my head around the implications of sustainable leadership for the world and what failure would mean.

Bottom line is, and I ask you this, what is the impact of being a leader and what might be the impact of dropping the ball in our leadership?  Pressure?  Yes.  Implications?  Definitely.  Bottom line is, we are stewards for the world and all those people within it whether or not we pay attention to the responsibility that brings. It also has nothing whatsoever to do with our level of power, role or workplace responsibility.  It has to do with who we are as human beings.

The concept of stewardship is being responsible to future generations for their condition; that we do not own the world but we pledge to do no harm in the world.  To be stewards is very humbling.  The question is, are you paying attention to your level of impact on people, situations, your world and the world as a whole?  Attitude is contagious.  If you live your life from your own story and focus on everything that’s going wrong in your life, you’ll attract the same or attract no one in your life at all. What impact will you ultimately have in the world?  When we look at the world and those within it from our own stories, we aren’t paying attention to anything really. It’s a 2 x 4 to the side of the head that says “Get over yourself”.  The world is a lot greater than you.  It’s also a reminder to ask others where they are, to listen rather than preach and judge.

Christina Baldwin said “To work in the world lovingly means that we are defining what we will be for, rather than reacting to what we are against.”

What will you be for?

Something to take note of:

A colleague of mine from Washington D.C. recently co-authored the book “A Coach’s Guide to Emotional Intelligence: Strategies for Developing Successful Leaders“. It’s an excellent book well worth the read and a great addition to your library. 

Click here for more information or to order it.

With deepest respect,

Donna Karlin
Founder and Principal
A Better Perspective
http://www.abetterperspective.com

ISSN 1913-6307

Welcome back from vacation.  I’m sure you have many a story to tell from over the summer. Life is about stories, but you have to listen to hear, to learn from them and understand them.

People tend to focus on a single fact, element or event rather than the bigger picture. They do this because the fact, single point or moment in time is clearer, more understandable or fresher in their mind, so they can wrap their heads around it.  They don’t tend to look at the bigger picture because they don’t have the patience to listen, to inquire, or to have a conversation about it. They don’t have the focus or patience to wait for the bigger picture to unfold.

The world is made of people and richer through and because of their stories.  I just started a book project about ‘human based’ leadership and am interviewing leaders in all areas of expertise.  I believe we can’t grow people unless we know people.  The same applies to living our lives.  For some, class, prestige, levels of power or status and fame are the measuring stick as to whether or not they’ll ‘waste’ time on people.  However every person in this world knows something more about life and living than we do.  In paying attention to them, learning and growing because of them not only will it enrich us and help us see the world in a whole new light, but give others a sense of validation because you took the time to pay attention.  In order for you to work with people and grow people, you have to pay attention to people, from their stories, not your own.  Have patience with people.  You will be educated by life more than school.

Albert Pine said “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”

Just think of what you would do for others if you really paid attention to who they were?  How many people give up because they think no one is interested?  The next person you ignore just might be the person who is about to discover or invent something amazing for the world, and yet just might give up because they think no one cares.

So now that you’re back from summer break, what will you do to jump back into life? 

A couple of things…

As of this month we’re back to sending out Perspectives in Brief bi-weekly.  We will park them as always on our website www.perspectivesinbrief.com.  Share the site with those you think would benefit from this newsletter. 

Jumping back in? Well this is a great time for a fresh start.

I’ll leave you with this: “Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force…When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life…When we listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other…and it is this little creative fountain inside us that begins to spring and cast up new thoughts and unexpected laughter and wisdom. …Well, it is when people really listen to us, with quiet fascinated attention, that the little fountain begins to work again, to accelerate in the most surprising way.” - Brenda Ueland

Thanks for sharing a few minutes with me….

With deepest respect,

Donna Karlin
Founder and Principal
A Better Perspective
http://www.abetterperspective.com

ISSN 1913-6307