Powered by Purpose
In May of 2017, I had the opportunity to attend Leadercast, which is a conference held in Atlanta and also broadcast at satellite locations across the world. The theme of Leadercast 2017 was Powered by Purpose.
I believe our purpose, or mission, is something we should constantly be aware of and also alert to the idea it may be changing in some way. The concept of our purpose being fluid is not a bad thing. Paulo Coelho reminds us each moment in search of our purpose is an encounter with God because we are seeking to discover the greatness He gave us and how we can use it to have an impact on the world. The reason our purpose is fluid is because usually when we think we have discovered our true calling in life God will reveal He wants to take us to another level.
My purpose is to inspire leaders to rise above and reveal the greatness within themselves so they can enjoy the journey as their write their own story.
First, you may think I am only talking about people in positions of power, but everyone on the face of Earth can be a leader. Leadership is not about titles, position, or power. It is about our values and character and the actions we take to inspire others. If you think we need to have a title or be in a position of power to lead, just look at Mother Teresa.
Real change only occurs from the inside-out. However, we can be inspired to look deep inside our heart and soul by something on the outside like a mentor, an event, or a new idea gained from new knowledge. Two people can read the same book and one can make a change in their life and one might not. It is the not the book which made the change. It is the person taking new wisdom and letting it enter their heart and being moved to change. My vision is not to change people. It is to inspire them to look within themselves and decide if they need to make a change or not.
What do we need to rise above? Anything and everything. Adversity, conflict, the need for external rewards, racism, disbelief, anger and anything else which is holding us back from reaching our potential. Rising above does not mean approving of all those things. One of the greatest insights I have realized is just because we have a reason to be angry, does not mean we have to be angry, or better yet we do not have to act on our anger.
It is pretty hard to suppress our feelings because our feelings come from our thoughts and sometimes we can’t help the thoughts which pop into our head. But we do decide what goes from our head to our heart and whether or not we act on those feelings. We are reminded in Romans chapter 12, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Sometimes when something happens we say we “need to move past it." What we really need to do is move above it, or rise above it. When we move past something it may still be chasing us and we may still be looking over our shoulder and letting it affect us. When we rise above it, not only is it not affecting us, but we are broadening our horizons and looking at all the different perspectives and possibilities the world holds for us. Rising above leads to a new level of wisdom and spiritual awareness.
We all have greatness within us. You do. I do. We all do. It is not something we acquire. God placed it inside of us when He created us. We simply have to remove the barriers which keep us from revealing it. However, greatness isn't the same for every one of us. For some, greatness may be running a multi-million dollar corporation. For others, it is sweeping the floor at the factory that makes the products for that corporation.
Greatness is not our role. Greatness is how we execute our role.
And we have it inside us. Study others, study ourselves, and RISE ABOVE anything or anyone holding us back from revealing our greatness!
I believe our purpose, or mission, is something we should constantly be aware of and also alert to the idea it may be changing in some way. The concept of our purpose being fluid is not a bad thing. Paulo Coelho reminds us each moment in search of our purpose is an encounter with God because we are seeking to discover the greatness He gave us and how we can use it to have an impact on the world. The reason our purpose is fluid is because usually when we think we have discovered our true calling in life God will reveal He wants to take us to another level.
My purpose is to inspire leaders to rise above and reveal the greatness within themselves so they can enjoy the journey as their write their own story.
First, you may think I am only talking about people in positions of power, but everyone on the face of Earth can be a leader. Leadership is not about titles, position, or power. It is about our values and character and the actions we take to inspire others. If you think we need to have a title or be in a position of power to lead, just look at Mother Teresa.
Real change only occurs from the inside-out. However, we can be inspired to look deep inside our heart and soul by something on the outside like a mentor, an event, or a new idea gained from new knowledge. Two people can read the same book and one can make a change in their life and one might not. It is the not the book which made the change. It is the person taking new wisdom and letting it enter their heart and being moved to change. My vision is not to change people. It is to inspire them to look within themselves and decide if they need to make a change or not.
What do we need to rise above? Anything and everything. Adversity, conflict, the need for external rewards, racism, disbelief, anger and anything else which is holding us back from reaching our potential. Rising above does not mean approving of all those things. One of the greatest insights I have realized is just because we have a reason to be angry, does not mean we have to be angry, or better yet we do not have to act on our anger.
It is pretty hard to suppress our feelings because our feelings come from our thoughts and sometimes we can’t help the thoughts which pop into our head. But we do decide what goes from our head to our heart and whether or not we act on those feelings. We are reminded in Romans chapter 12, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Sometimes when something happens we say we “need to move past it." What we really need to do is move above it, or rise above it. When we move past something it may still be chasing us and we may still be looking over our shoulder and letting it affect us. When we rise above it, not only is it not affecting us, but we are broadening our horizons and looking at all the different perspectives and possibilities the world holds for us. Rising above leads to a new level of wisdom and spiritual awareness.
We all have greatness within us. You do. I do. We all do. It is not something we acquire. God placed it inside of us when He created us. We simply have to remove the barriers which keep us from revealing it. However, greatness isn't the same for every one of us. For some, greatness may be running a multi-million dollar corporation. For others, it is sweeping the floor at the factory that makes the products for that corporation.
Greatness is not our role. Greatness is how we execute our role.
And we have it inside us. Study others, study ourselves, and RISE ABOVE anything or anyone holding us back from revealing our greatness!
This article was originally published on May 1st, 2017 and updated on June 4th, 2018.
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