Lexington, KY - Whether in school, at work, or in your daily pursuits, what are you doing to grow?
As I have studied organizations - their workers, managers, and leaders - and their strategies, cultures, politics and ethics - I have come to understand that there are three competencies vital to lasting success: seeing more clearly, thinking more broadly and feeling more deeply.
The degree to which we focus our vision, challenge our thinking and enrich our hearts determines our effectiveness. Those who strive to improve their abilities to see, think and feel, continue to grow, prosper and build. Those who do not, slide backward.
Seeing more clearly
Seeing what others cannot, by refining our powers of discernment, focus and insight, allows us to become of great service to our employers, colleagues, clients and neighbors. Martin Luther King inspired thousands as he said, "I've been to the mountaintop... And I've seen the promised land."
How and what we see are largely a function of our choices. We can choose to open our eyes or to close our vision. Author Anais Nin put it this way: "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
One of the key choices that unlocks inspired vision is attitude. We must come to learn to choose attitudes that are positive, productive and uplifting. A poignant example of this is death camp survivor Victor Frankl.
In spite of having all that was dear to him stripped away, Frankl came to the understanding that "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." As we choose a positive attitude, we will see more clearly.
Thinking more broadly
In October 2002, on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Sarasota, Fla., I had my final face-to-face visit with my father. This once vigorous army major, athlete, corporate executive, entrepreneur and community leader, now 85 and infirm with arthritis slowing his every step, had a twinkle in his eye.
Leaning close to me, he asked, "Do you know what keeps me going? I can't wait to see what's next."
I waited, wondering if he might be pondering his eternal reward.
"I can't wait to see what they come up with next," he said. "Every day I open the newspaper and am astounded by all the new things that appear."
Three days later he left us, yet my father's wide-eyed curiosity and almost childlike awe for the world around us have grown within me.
What intrigues you? What captures your imagination, stirring feelings of wonder and awe within? What are you curious about? What fascinates you? What does the future hold? What might you be unaware of today that will become tomorrow's significant challenges and opportunities? What are we missing? Where can we grow?
Feeling more deeply
Perhaps in reaction to the image of the "Organization Man" of the 1950s and 1960s, a generation has chanted the mantras of "do what you love" and "follow your passion."
Although these are well-intentioned, conventional wisdom is devolving them into a buzz of self-centered self-satisfaction.
From Tom Wolfe's defining the 1970s as "The Me Decade"
to Twenge and Campbell's recent book "The Narcissism Epidemic," there is a clear sense that the self-serving pursuit of personal passion may be overdone.
Why did Granddad labor in the coal mines or tobacco fields, or on the factory floor? Passion? Perhaps, but what was his passion? His own self-actualization? More likely, Granddad worked with a love for family, duty and honor, and a need to survive.
Why did Michelangelo, a passionate sculptor but a dispassionate painter, labor so long and so completely to adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? It was a cause greater than self, a duty higher than personal gain, a feeling deeper than pleasure.
As we labor, we can learn that purposes higher than self move us toward a deeper connection with others, a richer understanding of our responsibilities, and a greater strength to make the world a better place.
In all seasons of life we must continue to sharpen our skills, expand our knowledge, deepen our understanding and extend ourselves.
Lifelong learning in programs such as the Gatton College's MBA Roundtable and Certificate in Business Administration not only inform but inspire. Lifelong learners come to gain skills, but they also come to open their eyes, to broaden their minds and to enrich their hearts.
There is a power in connecting with others who are working along the path of life. There is comfort in sharing experiences with those who can empathize with your stresses and strains. There is satisfaction in drinking deeply at the well of your curiosity, your intrigue, your fascination.
As you continue to learn, you will grow to appreciate the freedom in seeing more clearly, the power of thinking more broadly and the connection in feeling more deeply.
Gordon Holbein, Ph.D. is a senior lecturer in the Carol Martin
Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky.