What We Believe

One of the weekly rituals I have established for myself is to read my personal mission statement. I have done this fairly consistently now for the past two years. I try to read the statement on Monday of each week. This week did not start off well and so I did not take the time to read the statement until today. My mission statement is a personal map. It reminds me of who I am and where I am going. It is helpful to me every week as a reminder of what it is that my life is all about. I use it to reorient my direction when I find that I need to make minor course adjustments.

Thinking about my mission statement today reminded me of how important it is to take a moment to remind ourselves of who we are. Every time I read the statement I experience a swell of emotion. This is true not so much because it is well written, but rather because it inspires me to be true to myself. It moves my thoughts away from the problems of the moment and causes me to think about the future. It adjusts my perspective in a way that always leaves me hopeful and encouraged.

Writing a personal mission caused me to spend time thinking about what I believe. This is not so much a question of religious doctrine, but rather an overview of the things that are important in my life. Living your life in a manner that is consistent with what you believe is challenging. Every day we encounter people that seem to achieve enviable levels of success while living their lives in a manner with which we might not agree. Many times these people are our bosses, our leaders, or even our spouses or close friends. We can become frustrated or even angry when we see examples of people that seem not to live by our value standards.

The challenge we face is how do we remain true to who we are when we encounter those that have completely different points of view? I think that the answer lies in having a sense of humility. For centuries wars have been waged and lives have been lost when people of differing points of view have been brought together. In the corporate world while not as dramatic we see similar effects. Brilliant careers have gone off track, employees have lost jobs, and CEOs have been fired when they have encountered those that hold different beliefs. Both history and work experience have taught me that right does not always win. Simply having the proper values and beliefs does not translate into success. Success is found in being true to ourselves and those we serve.

If asked most people would consider themselves to be humble. Yet, this is a virtue that is mostly misunderstood. Humility requires that we consider ourselves to be less than everyone else. This includes those that we know are wrong. We lose sight of the need to be humble when we act on our urge to correct those that we observe making a mistake. We lack humility when we criticize or find fault. When we defend what is right we can often make ourselves appear to be “holier than thou” or superior to those that we confront. The natural response to our admonishment is resistance. Sometimes a fervent battle for what is right may be the right fight. However, usually it is the right fight at the wrong time and is conducted in the wrong manner.

Still, it is important to remain true to our beliefs. We must always make sure that our example is consistent with what we believe in. The best way to help others see the error in their ways is to continually live up to the values we espouse. Generally, we will not win awards or achieve recognition for living a life consistent with our values. But when we add humility to our value system we can live expecting that we are less than those that we serve. In this understanding we achieve a level of truth to ourselves, and we offer a demonstration to the world. This consistency is its own reward.

I often use an inverted triangle to make this point visually. If every leader imagined that they were at the bottom of an inverted triangle they would notice two things. First and most obvious is the fact that at the bottom of the triangle everyone else is above them. These are the people that we serve. As leaders we should serve everyone and not ourselves. Second and most important, at the bottom of the triangle there is the least amount of room to move to the left or right. This for me reflects the lack of freedom and intense responsibility of leadership. With no room to move to the left or right we must live consistent with our values. There is no wiggle room. We must practice what we believe because when we do not everyone can clearly see that we are not being true our stated values. Of course, this is just what I believe. It is entirely possible that you believe something completely different, and I guess that is the whole point of this article.