Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership

The Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership were written by Kent Keith in 1968, when he was 19, a sophomore at Harvard College. They apply today just as they did in 1968. Interestingly, Kent was active and passionate about student leadership in high school and worked with high school kids long after he left college. During his first couple years of college, he found that he could get many students excited about making a difference in the world, but when they hit the real world, they became discouraged and decided that being a leader wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

When Kent introduced the Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership in his book about leadership in student councils, now referred to by John C Maxwell and others as seminal work for the mantle of leadership, he said, "I laid down the Paradoxical Commandments as a challenge. The challenge is to always do what is right and good and true, even if others don't appreciate it. You have to keep striving, no matter what, because if you don't, many of the things that need to be done in our world will never get done."

The Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

I have read and re-read these a few times a year now for several years, and I have to say that every time I do, I am motivated to be a better person, reaffirmed in doing good because good is always good, and humbled by a 19 year old students wisdom.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and insights!

How is Life like a Video Game?

One of my collegues and friends wrote a great post last week on a re-frame for the challenges in his life. that came from his frustrating experiences learning new video games.

He writes, "Then I had an epiphany. The people who designed these games don’t design them so that a person can get one third of the way through just to quit. It is in their interest, in the game publisher’s interest, for users to want to finish the game. So they have built a way to finish the game into it. There is a way there, I just have to find it."

I generally believe that the universe is designed to support us not "take us out of the game." There is not always a way out of the challenge or around the painful experiences in our path, but there is always a way "through" it.

So for all of you that enjoy video games or have people in your life that love them, this post may be one that brings a new way to teach your children and yourself about facing the challenges that appear on your path!

You can read it here - http://enfineitz.com/wp/

As always, I look forward to your insights and experiences!

Conscious Practice

“If I don't practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.”

Jascha Heifetz became an unparalleled violinist; born with a divine gift he started playing the violin at three years old and played for the first time in the United States at Carnegie Hall in New York at the age of 16. He is widely regarded as one of the finest violinists of all time and continues to be admired for his immaculate technique and a tonal beauty that many violinists still regard as unequaled.

Perhaps this serves as a dramatic and simple example of Aristotle’s words, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

It may well serve us to be very conscious about our own practices, by determining:

1. What are my chosen practices, the things I repeatedly do, to ensure a habit of excellence?
   For example, I know for me that in order to be playing at the top of my game professionally and as a mom, I must incorporate weekly and even better daily, the practice of meditation, reflection, exercise, prayer and learning or I find myself slipping from center ground.
2. Am I conscientiously staying “in those practices” in such a way that I am consistently moving toward a manifestation of gifts given and my potential?
3. Do I know how long does it takes me to notice when I am “not” practicing and do I have conscious triggers to ensure I get back on track quickly?
4. AND, if I have lost the rigor of consistency in my life for awhile (because let's face it, it happens), my favorite question to ask my self and my clients is always, “When would now be a good time?”

As always, I look forward to your thoughts, reflections, stories and comments here or on facebook!