Leadership With a Purpose

Some proverbs of note: “Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.” (1) “Don't brag about your wisdom or strength or wealth” (2) and in another place, “If the tongue has no fear, words are hard to make good.” (3)

Thoughts that certainly fly in the face of what the culture craves today.

I can’t help but also reflect on Clayton M. Christensen’s HBR article “How Will You Measure Your Life?” (4) His final thought, “Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.” is a thought of wisdom.

The heart of the wise resonates with two steady heart-beats: Knowing self – understanding one’s purpose; and controlling self – exercising the discipline to hold to your principles. Christensen points out that it is “easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time.” (4)

A good grip on life’s purpose (and the principles that make it real) prevents you from trusting your “smarts,” your physical strength or your riches. That grip is strengthened when you live a life of “ing” not “ed.” You are committed to learning. If you have learned, you have stopped learning. I am learning that this purpose-driven living is also about earning the right to be given more and more responsibility, often by contributing to the growth of those around you.

A focus on personal purpose will determine how you allocate your time, talent and treasures: will it be for yourself; or for others? This focus helps the tongue gain “fear,” which is expressed in words that heal, instead of hurt. That help, instead of harm. That hearten, instead of humiliate.

Leadership, continually practiced well, is a noble undertaking. It can inspire: cities are built in deserts; human footprints are put the moon; water, in underdeveloped countries, is made safe to drink. A reading of history tells us that the focus of the individuals responsible was never on “I” but on “we.”

If your purpose is all about you – if you climbed the “ladder-of-you” in life - you may find that not only is the ladder too short, it is also leaning against the wrong wall. Double jeopardy.

On what is your ladder of purpose leaning? Wall of self? Or others?


Copyright ©2011 by P. Griffith Lindell


1. Proverbs 28:26
2. Jeremiah 9:23
3. Confucius, Analects, c. 400 b.c
4. Harvard Business Review – Reprint R1007B