The Business Roundtable recently did an about face to shift CEO responsibility from shareholder value to social responsibility.
And at the time of this short blog being published, the G-7 leaders are meeting in Biarritz, France to come to some agreements that will contribute to the betterment of all in service of the future.
Something all of you have in common is that:
- You don’t have to worry about putting a roof over your head
- You are able to put “bread on the table” and provide for the security of your families
- You and your family don’t have to worry about receiving healthcare
- You shouldn’t take the above for granted
- You have influence
Because of the above you all have the opportunity to drill down beneath your mind into your hearts and souls to discover your purpose, what you were put on this Earth to do and quite possibly the reason you were born and what you are each meant to do.
To help you in figuring that out, I’d suggest you each take a long walk through a favorite area of yours where you are uninterrupted and can ponder the following and fill in the blanks as you.
“Right now at this moment in my life and this moment in time and history, I am seeking _______, in order to ________, so that ______ because ________.”
I don’t have any of your level of influence, but I do have some. Here are my answers:
“Right now at this moment in my life, I am seeking ways to connect and influence influencers and doers in order to shift the consciousness and mindset of the world from hate to love, fear to courage, begrudging to forgiving and vengeance to mercy in order to lessen the fear, hate, hurt and psychological pain in the world so that I can leave the world better than I found it because the fear, hate, hurt and pain of the world calls out to me every day to do something about it and I don’t have that much time left in my life to do it.”
I am reminded of a story about Abraham Lincoln who was traveling between two cities with his entourage when he passed a horse that was stuck in a ditch. He rode past a half mile and then turned himself and his group around to go back to that horse. When he got back to the horse, someone in his group asked him why he had done that. Lincoln was reported to have said: “Because I couldn’t get the pain of that horse out of my head.”
That story speaks to me and I am hoping that it speaks to you Business Roundtable members and G-7 leaders, when you each take that walk I recommended.
Influence is a gift and responsibility and a terrible thing to waste. Please use it wisely and use it for good.
BTW I will be speaking in Moscow on October 7, 2019 at the MTT Forum along with Daniel Kahneman and Joseph Pine. My topic will be how to become more influential by listening not just to people, but listening into people, which is what I covered in “Just Listen” Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone.