What is greatness and what does it mean for you?
Posted on March 20, 2013 by Bonnie Flatt, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
How do you define your greatness as a leader?
What is greatness and what does it mean for you?
I was talking to several clients today and in each case, this question came up in one form or another. Each client is on a leadership journey, looking at who they are, where they are going and how they are going to get there. The question of greatness is an important one because what it means to them will impact how they see themselves and how their teams relate to them.
I say this because I believe that leaders challenge the status quo. They build a culture around them based on their values and purpose. People are attracted and enrolled in their cause because of the “why” of the leader or his/her purpose. Take a look at Ghandi or Martin Luther King, as examples.
So what exactly is greatness? Greatness is the quality that radiates from the inside out. It is who you are when you are honoring your values and living a life of purpose. In other words, when you are stepping into your true Self.
I was reading a blog by Tony Schwartz in the Harvard Business Review around redefining greatness and his last sentence summed it up for me:
“The true measure of greatness is our capacity to navigate between our opposites with agility and grace — to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never to stop trying to get better. “
What Schwartz says in his blog is that greatness is not about our strengths, our skills or our leadership competencies, it is about who we are in all of our dimensions.
The challenge for many of us is that we may not know who we are. We are so busy running and doing, taking one leadership course after another, that we don’t take the time to listen, question and find our purpose. So my questions to you are:
- What are your top 5 values?
- Why were you put on this earth?
- What is your purpose in life?
By thinking about these questions, you will get closer to the meaning of greatness for you. Start noticing the impact this has on your life and in the teams that you lead.
