What If You're Winning at the Wrong Things?
I've recently been studying Parker J. Palmer.
Pretty sharp guy.
His message is simple:
Take on big jobs worth doing. Commit yourself to something that matters. Stay with it for the long haul. And remain faithful to the gifts you've been given.
I love that. Especially for CEOs.
We've become very good at measuring things.
Revenue. EBITDA. Margins. Market share. Productivity. Growth.
Results matter.
But Palmer distinguishes between effectiveness and faithfulness.
Effectiveness asks, Did I accomplish what I set out to do?
Faithfulness asks, Did I remain true to what mattered?
Imagine a CEO who doubles revenue, triples the company's valuation, and walks away with a handsome payday.
Successful? Absolutely.
But what if, along the way, that CEO sacrifices relationships, compromises personal values, burns out good people, and becomes someone he/she no longer recognizes?
Still successful?
I've been writing my book, CEO Mental Fitness, for three years. Three years!
Some days I wonder whether I'll ever finish the damn thing.
But somewhere along the way, I realized writing this book wasn't simply about publishing.
It's about helping CEOs think better, make wiser decisions, and live and lead better.
Will it accomplish everything I hope? I have no idea.
But I know why I'm writing it.
And perhaps that's the point.
Some things are worth doing even when you can't directly put a number on it.
Ask yourself:
What am I working on that's genuinely worth doing?
What gifts am I not fully using?
What important commitment have I abandoned because the results weren't coming quickly enough?
Am I measuring my leadership only by what I accomplish or by what I remain faithful to?
At some point, you will no longer be a CEO.
But the people you've influenced, the principles you've defended, and the gifts you've shared?
Those may endure.
Perhaps the ultimate measure of leadership isn't simply what you achieved, but what you remained faithful to along the way.
Just a thought,
Liam
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