Today is a gift

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." So say Oogway (or the Wise Turtle) in Kung Fu Panda.

One of our associates just gave me a 'gift' recently (Thank you, Jacq!). At work, we have always subscribed to the concept that everyone is a leader. And by our definition of a 'leader', we mean to say that anyone who is able to influence our thoughts, decisions, actions, or words is a leader. Provided that the influence is done with integrity, and of course in the context of our work, be aligned to our mission.

Her idea of the 'gift' is that, leadership may be quite daunting for some. As she works with youth, some challenged (or being inappropriately labelled), it is easy to see why she proposed 'gift' rather than 'leadership'. The thinking goes like this, we are endowed with different 'gifts'. Of course over the course of our lives, there may be moments that feeling gifted or a leader is the last thing on our minds. As a result, in her work with youth, she's coaching them to discover or re-surface the gifts that these youth have but may have some how 'lost' it.

We totally agree on that point. At the same time, we would also like to bring together several concepts by other scholars and practitioners to amalgamate the concepts and decipher it into practical steps that we all can use.

Now, the concept of the 'gift', is aligned to the Hedgehog Concept presented by Jim Collins, where interest alone is not enough. For instance, you hear people talking about, if you do what you love, the money will follow. Well, this is only part of the story. As you'll recall our previous discussion on having but just one strategy? Doing what you love alone may be good, but good is the enemy of great!

Hence, we must find that something which not only we are interested or feel passionate about, but we must also be good at it. Which means, while it is aligned to your interest (positive emotions well up when you do something you love), it must also be something that you are good at, almost naturally (technical competence). Of course the sweet spot is where the above-mentioned two criteria fit with the third, which is it must be something that people will pay you to do.

The full story reveals itself when you look at not only these three components, but when you bring in the fourth. Those of us who are familiar with Covey's work, will recall Habit 7: Sharpening the Saw. You see, in Habit 7, we look at the physical, mental, emotional, and spirit.

Drawing the parallel between Covey and Collins is as follows. What you are passionate about = emotional; genetically encoded = mental; what others will pay you for what you do = physical. Hence, using this parallel Covey has one additional and in fact, an extremely important component, which is "spirit".

This is where your conscience lies, where the sense of rectitude surface. Where it allows us to discover what might it be that will get us to do 'the right thing'. And when you find it, this is your 'gift', the 'gift' that once opened, will give you the strength to step up and lead with moral authority. So, my friends, what might your 'gift' be?