The Call to Serve, Lead and Live Greatly

The Call to Serve, Lead and Live Greatly Reflections on Optimizing Our Greatest Potential in Disruptive Times (Including 10 bonus links)

© Irene Becker, Just Coach It-The 3Q Edge™ | (IQ-EQ-SQ) Reach-Resonance-Results 3Q Leadership™ Blog- 41,000+ Social Media Followers & Growing!  

determination

I used to sign all my emails, yours in service, because we are each our brother’s keeper; we are part of a greater soul, a greater whole. My decision to use a more conventional  salutation was the result of people not understanding what I meant.  Service is not servitude, service is the linchpin of growth, the fire of evolution, the foundation for great leadership.  Service is something that we can embrace and use every day to make a greater impact in our world, our work, our relationships.  It is the call to live greatly.

You count, your words and actions count.  How will you use them?  How will you change them to face a better day, to build a better future? How will you decide to serve today? We can talk about collaboration, we can speak about ethics, values and building flatter, better organizations.  We can talk about community, we can talk about sharing and caring. Speaking helps.  Speaking is important, but doing is better.

In “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:  A Leadership Fable”, author Patrick M. Lencioni, speaks to five problems I believe deride not only teams but our individual power and ability to rise to the challenges before us. If you are not suffering from one of the following dysfunctions, someone you lead, work for, know or love is.

  • Absence of trust.
  • Fear of conflict
  • Lack of commitment
  • Avoidance of accountability
  • Inattention to objectives

The greatest hope before us lies not in burying our heads in the sand, but rather in facing these five dysfunctions with the knowledge that we can transform them, the conviction that we can rise to the challenges before us with courage, integrity and humanity.

What do I know about courage, integrity and humanity? I know that they are the building blocks, the foundation of all that is good, meaningful and sustainable.  I know that we each have the ability to cleave to our courage, embrace our integrity and push forward each day with humanity if we so choose.  I know that I have held on to my courage, integrity and humanity when there was nothing else before me and when the temptation to close my eyes to that which matters most would have been the most expedient course of action.

Great leadership starts with the fire of courage, integrity and humanity that is timeless because the call to serve is the call to lead.  If you listen, if you are still you will hear it. Great leadership is a 3Q equation that starts with courage.  Courage to optimize our intelligence/ideation (IQ), build our emotional capacity/strength/communication (EQ) and cleave to the purpose, integrity, humanity (SQ)  that can and will take us forward better and faster.

Some of us will use our courage  to build new organizations and discover solutions that serve constituents, stakeholders and communities in new and better ways.  Others will use their  courage to stand tall and stand strong in their lives, in their relationships, in their families when times are tough and the five dysfunctions of a hyper competitive, volatile world and workplace are before them.  All of us can use our courage, integrity and humanity to make a positive difference in whatever way we choose.

The secret to peace and prosperity is within our hearts, it is the echo of our deepest wisdom and it calls to us all.  Take a moment this day to harness your courage and use it to make one positive change in thought, action or communication that will help you serve more, serve better and lead forward!  Savor your power to make a difference and be the difference in whatever way you choose because the call to serve, the call to lead is also the call to live greatly.

Yours in service, Irene   More on building a better path forward?  More on embracing and optimizing our greatest potential?  YOU betcha The Secret to Peace and Prosperity:  A Short, Passionate, Purposeful Allegory What Does Leadership Really Mean? 3Q Leadership Benefits and Why I Have Dedicated My LIfe to This Work Our Greatest Hope Rising to the Challenges Before Us Against All Odds I Will NOT Be Broken-The Call to Build a Better Future Leaders-Be the Miracle or Miss the Miracle Podcasts/Interviews Extraordinary Women: Conquering Formidable Life and Leadership Challenges Webtv Interview by Shannon Skinner From Pain to Gain in Life and Career Radio Interview by Deborah Scott A Great Read-Great Book:  Serve to Lead by James Strock

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Irene Becker | Just Coach It | The 3Q Edge™ Executive Coaching, Consulting, Training & Keynotes with a 3Q Edge™ Leadership Growth, Talent/Career Optimization, Business Development in Disruptive Times Face to Face | By Telephone, Skype or Video Conferencing Twitter @justcoachit Tel: (1) 416-671-4726 Skype: beckerirene