“Happy is the man who, in the course of a complete life, has everything he desires, provided he desires nothing amiss.” St Augustine
In the end, it’s in our human DNA to seek a good life. Some attribute a good life through the prisms of a religious or spiritual compass. Others may find the value in a good life as measured by mortal terms. Whether it’s a religious, spiritual, or mortal measurement stick one should use is the debate of ages, and will continue for many centuries to come. However, one fact is for sure, no matter what your measuring stick is, the end result is all human beings are seeking happiness. St Augustine stated, “Happy is the man who, in the course of a complete life, has everything he desires, provided he desires nothing amiss.” St Augustine (Six Great Ideas, p.97)
Ok, why would we start a “leadership” discussion with such a philosophical or metaphysical concept? The answer lies in the fact that every leader, large or small, is made of a key element we all possess: we are all humans who must develop our inner self, must harness our inner passions, and must resolve our inner worth. Thus, every human being who is seeking the role as a leader must learn to mold these key elements to achieve the goal of becoming a superb leader.
“Philosophers like to kick up the dust and then complain they can’t see,” Thomas Jefferson once said. We are indeed going to kick up the dust a bit here and speak broader on the idea of what makes a great leader. But contrary to Mr. Jefferson’s opinion, we will let the dust settle and the horizon will be clearly within our view, and within our reach.
Abraham Lincoln was often quoted for his many leadership tips, but one area that is not much discussed is his long suffering with his own mortality. Lincoln was one who struggled with the concept of this mortal world and the afterlife. Abraham Lincoln believed, “Like the ancient Greeks, ideas of a person’s worth are tied to the way others, both contemporaries and future generations, perceive him. Memory is the essence of life -- seemed to live most intensely through the process of thought, the expression of thought, and the exchange of thought with others. Indeed, in a poem inspired by a visit to his childhood home, Lincoln emphasized the centrality of memory, which he described as: O Memory! Thou midway world / 'Twixt earth and paradise” (pg. 100, Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin)
Whether you believe that a person’s worth is in the value placed on the view by others is not the debate I want to bring up. The point of bringing up how Lincoln viewed the worth of a “person” is in the “memory” of them is to spurn this question: What are the “elements” that build the framework in the “worth” of a superb leader?
By adopting Lincoln’s thoughts, we can say the following is the doctrine for us to follow: Ideas of a person’s worth are tied to the way others, both contemporaries and future generations, perceive them. We should all seek to be a person who has attained: “A mind worth respecting, Achievements worth admiring, And a character worth emulating."
Now, don’t let me lose you, we are not trying to force a philosophical precept that will take us down the slippery slope and debate the theologians and the atheists have been entertaining. The point of this organic approach is to show that every superb leader must first develop an inner compass. Not a compass of right versus wrong, or a compass that will tell them to turn left versus turning right when they arrive at the crossroads of business decisions. No, instead the inner compass is the inner measuring stick by which to measure their thoughts, their decisions, and their actions.
Let’s go back and look at what St. Augustine said, “Happy is the man who, in the course of a complete life, has everything he desires, provided he desire nothing amiss.” He cleverly mixes in the power to move forward – “obtaining everything he desires,” with the temperance element of, “provided he desires nothing amiss.” St. Augustine wasn’t laying out the “keys” to happiness, or a road map; but instead he provided an inner compass for us to be guided by. It is still up to the human beings to determine whether the sought after desires are “amiss”!
This is the same with what a superb leader and their inner compass. But instead of just focusing on the right desires in St. Augustine’s precept for humans, we are placing the following three elements as what must be in the superb leader’s inner compass AND a core essence of desires sought of a superb leader: “A mind worth respecting; achievements worth admiring; and, a character worth emulating!”
Before we move forward, it must be discussed on what this leadership compass does, and what it doesn’t do. It does set up a measuring stick for a leader to reflect on as they measure the value of their thoughts, their decisions, and their actions. It doesn’t lay down the law on what is the right or ethical choice. Nor does it state a leader should do this, or do that because of a six-step process or the like. The three elements allows for the leader to examine the background, the options, and seek the best solution for the situation. The value of right or wrong, wise or unsound will be measured by the times and circumstances.
In short, where does superb leadership all start? If one wants to seek to be a superb leader, they must have a core burning to develop their inner compass:
“A MIND worth respecting,
ACHIEVEMENTS worth admiring,
And CHARACTER worth emulating."
If you don’t have this core burning to develop these inner worth compass goals listed above, don’t worry, a superb leader can be taught. There are studies upon studies that prove this. But if you don’t find this core burning start to develop early in your pursuit of leadership; than leadership may not be for you. You can be a great manager, a dynamic research analyst, or a steady contributor to an enterprise.
However, if you want to continue on your pursuit of becoming a superb leader, move forward and look forward to the next post: Three questions: a superb leader must ask themselves.
