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| Bob Schultek Author of The Gauntlet |
All our lives, we struggle to improve, to advance our careers, and to strengthen the financial well-being of our families. There is genuine value in this pursuit, and during our lifetimes, we’ll have opportunities to make more money. But, is the pursuit of wealth what truly drives you? Is that what defines you?
Most leaders acknowledge that real satisfaction comes from what they do, how they act to overcome a challenge, achieve a goal or build a business. As people of action, their true worth comes from what they do to make a difference. Investing time and energy to produce a significant improvement that positively impacts stakeholders is what makes work meaningful.
And when it’s time to inspire others in the organization to follow their lead, the most effective leaders, relying on their empathy, recognize that those they lead share the longing to make a difference. That realization is what enables leaders to encourage the discretionary effort required to deliver productive change that improves results. The inspiration that motivates people to invest extra time and energy is grounded in the universal aspiration of doing meaningful work that makes a difference.
What drives this need for purpose in us? It’s possible to make more money, but no one can make more time. Each of us has a limited amount of time to make a difference in this life. It’s our actions, not our words that deliver that difference.
Investing precious time is like giving a portion of our life that can never be recovered; ensuring that our actions produce meaningful results for us, our teams and other stakeholders is what generates a return on our time investment that defines our true worth.
