Best selling author, and leadership consultant, Nikos Mourkogiannis believes that tragedy is the best way to learn the importance of purpose. In his book-Purpose: the starting point for great companies-he introduces purpose with a story: "Other children had fairy tales at bedtime. I had the nightmare story of my family. The story of the day the Communist came to our farm in Greece. They wanted my father, but my father was long gone; he'd left to fight the Communists. So the Communists made do with the women. There were 54 women in our village that day. The Communists demanded that they denounce my father. They refused-all of them. So the Communists shot them all. Two women survived, only because there were so many bodies that the wounded could hide under the pile."
Adversity is certainly the greatest teacher, and I've often wondered why bad things have to happen in order for us to understand what truly matters. Why can't we learn from the experiences of others? I am inspired by the courage and vision of people like Nikos, "I wanted to be somebody who changed the world for the better. To do that, I have to stand for something worth living for, and, if necessary, dying for." I, too, wake up each morning hoping that I can contribute something positive to help someone get ahead. Do you stand for something worth dying for?
Adversity is certainly the greatest teacher, and I've often wondered why bad things have to happen in order for us to understand what truly matters. Why can't we learn from the experiences of others? I am inspired by the courage and vision of people like Nikos, "I wanted to be somebody who changed the world for the better. To do that, I have to stand for something worth living for, and, if necessary, dying for." I, too, wake up each morning hoping that I can contribute something positive to help someone get ahead. Do you stand for something worth dying for?
1 comment:
What a great topic. Sometimes we try to hide our personal tragedies in life because it is not normal. What is normal anyway? The more I look at my life, the more I realize how lucky I am to have survived and peresvered through it all. Working on yourself is probably the best business idea today. I am not talking about sales training skills, but truly working on becoming a better person, role model and productive member of society. It is a lot of work.
I am truly greatfull to have these purpose statements. It gives me time to gain some perspective on where I am today and where I am going.
Post a Comment