Tag Archives: Change

Why Were You Not

Posted on 09. Apr, 2012 by .

31
There is a tale of a chassidic rabbi named rabbi Zusya. Zusya was a timid man, a man who concealed more than he revealed. 
 
One day Zusya stood before his congregation and he said,  When I die and have to present myself before the celestial tribunal, they will not ask me,  ‘Zusya why were you not Moses?’ because I would say ‘Moses was prophet and I am not.’ 
 
They would not say ‘Zusya, why were you not Jeremiah?’ for  I  would say ‘Jeremiah was a writer, and I am not.’ 
 
And they will not say ‘Why were you not Rabbi Akiba?’ for I would tell them, ‘Rabbi Akiba was a great teacher and scholar and I am not.’ 
 
But then they will say ‘Zusya why were you not  Zusya?’ and to this I will have no answer.  
 
All of us strive to be great leaders, the best parents, exceptional partners.  
 
But how do we know what is the right thing to do, and how do we live a life without having regrets about 'Why were you not'?  
 
It begins with living with integrity.  
 
To have integrity will define our lives. 
 
To have integrity we will do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. 
 
To have integrity is to be true to the life we have been called to live.  
 
Having integrity is having character, consistency, commitment and congruency with your truest self. 
 
If you know who you are you will know what to do and if you know what to do .... you will not have to be asked why were YOU not.
  •  your integrity is when your beliefs and thoughts and actions come together.
  •  your integrity is finding out the uniqueness of you and living it
  •  your integrity is discovering your giftedness and sharing it
  • your integrity is detecting your strength and showing it.

LIVE IT. SHARE IT. SHOW IT.

To discover your integrity ask yourself the following questions:
  • What does integrity mean?
  • What are the characteristics of someone who lives a life of integrity?
  • What do you have to change to be more authentic about yourself?
  • Are your decisions congruent with who you are from within?
  • What are your blind spots that keep you from being real?
  • What do you value?
  • Do you know what is right in your heart?

Lead From Within: Integrity is the anchor of your heart; it is your commitment to being who you are deep in your soul.  
 
Stay tuned next week as we discuss the defining source of integrity.

Continue Reading

Embrace Uncertainty

Posted on 27. Mar, 2011 by .

18
Uncertainty is a permanent part of our lives. Rarely will you come to a moment and say, I am certain. We are consistently called to make decisions, and we are constantly making these decisions with limited intelligence. It’s important that we learn to embrace the tension of not knowing everything. Great leaders lead without knowing it all. Great leaders do not eliminate uncertainty, but learn to navigate through it. Great leaders lead despite the shadows of uncertainty. Great leaders recognize that clarity of vision is more important than certainty of the outcome. Every day, we are expected to make decisions regarding our business, our relationships, our marketing, our ideas, and our strategies. We make these decisions even though we don't always have the answers. If we knew everything that was going to happen, we wouldn’t need to experience it. There would be nothing to attain, achieve or acquire. Lead From Within: The only thing we can be certain about is where we have been and what we have done in the past.  Where we are going is always new, and often uncertain.

Continue Reading