by Corey Ciocchetti | Ethical Leadership
A perfect way to ponder compassion comes from professor Mason Cooley: “Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves.” Isn’t that a wonderful way to think of it? When we’re compassionate, we stop worrying solely about our lives, our problems, and our to-do lists and begin to care about the plight of others. We plug into the people around us, lift them up, and try and make their lives shine. When we help people in need like this . . . we glow. Think about how amazing it felt the last time you truly felt someone’s pain and then helped them out of a rough spot. What a great feeling, right? Now, think about how the person you helped felt? Probably one thousand times better than you felt, right?
Come and see what it means to practice true compassion.
by Corey Ciocchetti | Ethical Leadership
Courage is “the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” Relevant synonyms are mettle, resolution, or tenacity. During my Merriam-Webster search, I discovered courage in the Top 1% of word lookups – out of over 470,000 words! It appears that courage is immensely popular. Well, those numbers show that it’s popular to think about courage. My hope is that it becomes more popular to act with courage as well. Courage should indeed be in the Top 1% of virtues we seek.
I like to supplement the dictionary with more colorful definitions of important words like courage. The author Joyce Meyer presents my favorite translation: “Courage is fear that has said its prayers and decided to go forward anyway.” That sentence encapsulates the concept of courage perfectly. Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s just the opposite. In fact, you can’t have courage without fear. I believe that courageous people are filled with fear from beginning to end of the struggle, but, for some reason, decide to engage anyway. George R.R. Martin described this idea well in his Game of Thrones series:
Bran thought about it. “Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?'”
“That’s the only time a man can be brave,” his father told him.
So, it’s okay to be afraid. Isn’t that refreshing? Think of fear as your chance to demonstrate courage. And, to be honest, would you really want to live in a world where nothing scares you, where there are few obstacles to overcome? I wouldn’t. The bottom line is that I want some stuff in my life to be scary, so I can practice being courageous. Acting with courage feels wonderful.
Come and see some other key concepts to ponder when it comes to courage . . .
by Corey Ciocchetti | Ethical Leadership
Once upon a time there was an older gentleman, a fiction writer who lived by the ocean. Early each morning, he would walk along the shoreline and gather his thoughts and prepare his next storyline. This was his routine, regardless of the weather. One morning, after a big storm, the man ventured out yet again for his daily stroll. This morning, however, he noticed that the rough seas had tossed thousands of starfish all over the normally pristine beach.
He knew enough about starfish to recognize that most were too far ashore for the waves to wash them back into the ocean. Though they have the word “fish” in their name, he remembered that starfish are weak swimmers and move poorly on sand. The old man recognized that all these starfish would surely perish during the heat of the day; they need water to live. But there were just so many of them stranded on the beach. What a shame, he thought, and kept walking.
Down the boardwalk a bit, he looked up to see a young girl dancing in the sand. She was up early and loving her time at the beach. But she wasn’t building sandcastles. Instead, every minute or so, the little girl would bend down, pick up one of the stranded starfish, and throw it back into the water.
Surprised, the old man wandered over to the little girl and asked, “Why are you throwing these few starfish back into the ocean?”
The girl responded, “The tide has washed them up here. They can’t get back to the water by themselves. But they need to get back to the ocean, or they’ll die. So, I’m helping them out.”
The old man then chuckled, “But there are too many out here, thousands. Don’t you see. You can’t save them all. It’s a waste of time. What you’re doing just doesn’t matter.”
The girl giggled, then bent down and threw another one as far into the water as she could. She replied, “Well . . . it mattered to that one.”
This story has a profound impact on my life and what I do. It will for you too. Read on to find out how . . .
by Corey Ciocchetti | Ethical Leadership |
Picture your psychological twin – someone who thinks and acts just like you. Though you may be better looking (it’s your imagination after all), your twin reacts to good and bad news, treats others, and responds to pressure just like you. You are intellectual and emotional equivalents. Now. . . imagine this person as your boss!
Is that wonderful news? Or, does that working arrangement make you a bit nervous? Perhaps you are mortified by the thought? Let’s dive deeper:
1. Would you go the extra mile for this person because she’s so inspirational?
2. Could you thrive under this person because he cares about your successes as much as his own?
3. Would this person motivate you to get up and come to work each day?
4. Would you just end up being unhappy or even miserable after a few months?
5. Might you quit out of frustration?
by Corey Ciocchetti | Ethical Leadership
In the coming weeks, we will cover this cool stuff on the topic of ethical leadership:
Be A Leader You Would Follow Series – the character traits of a character-infused leader
Improving Morale Series – increasing morale is free and in the palm of your hands
Professionalism – how to act, speak, and think like a true professional
The Good Leader’s Book of Virtues – evaluating the courageous, compassionate, honest, and humble leader
