Deeper, on Purpose
Barry Lewis Green
Educator, Speaker, Coach, Writer, Creator ... advancing Character Leadership and Education ... to move forward together, stronger ... engaging change.
I invite you to read this from HBR on Purpose. In it, you will find, among many other things, that Lego strives for “the development of children’s creativity through play and learning.” Purpose matters; and it is ultimately driven by character. Lego is looking to advance Creativity through Joyfulness and Discernment. Play and learning are the vehicles. Creativity is the goal.
This is more than semantics. It is deeper. The development of children’s creativity through play and learning... is about behavioral modification. The advancement of Creativity, Joyfulness and Discernment is about character development. The former is more transitory. The latter is more foundational.
Indeed, think of character as the soil from which great behaviour grows. If we take care of the soil, the tree will almost certainly take care of itself.
Honestly and decisively, my own work as an educator and entrepreneur is about advancing the kind of leadership that moves the heart, hands and feet to make a difference in the world. That difference can be at school, work, business and community. It can be at home or otherwise. At the level of character, my work is about advancing Love and Honor. Love is the fire and the lightning. Honor is the earth and thunder. Love is passion. Honor is purpose. In combination, they advance leaders and organization that say what they mean and mean what they say; and get good and great things done. That is my sense of purpose.... Love, Honor and Noble Leadership.
STATES and QUALITIES
Virtues are "states of being" and "qualities of life"; and good ones. They are our best grounding. And, if we want to better and more deeply understand our purpose, I suggest we consider which virtues we most want to move the needle on in the world, and for whom?
If you teach, what are 2-5 virtues most important for you to advance with your students? Are they Excellence and Initiative? Are they Honesty and Optimism? How do you see yourself delivering on advancing same?
If you are entrepreneur attempting to serve the world or your corner of it, what are they? What do your products and services help advance?
If you are a community leader, what virtues are most important to you in moving that needle? As an employee? As a parent? As a friend?
Identifying those virtues that matter most to you in advancing in the world helps you to identify your deepest and best "brand". It helps you identify the purpose of your work, services and products. Virtue is not something simply conceptual, Virtue and virtues are resonant states of being, and qualities of life. Dale Carnegie once said that we should appeal to the nobler motives. This applies to school, work, business and community. Only naming what you "do" is scratching the surface. Naming and claiming the virtues you move the world (or your corner of it) on gets to a juicier sense of purpose.
Lego advances Creativity through Joyful Discernment. I advance Noble Leadership through Love and Honor. For me, Love and Honor fuel what I call Thoughtful Zeal, Joyful Excellence and Noble Together Strong. They fuel our broadCAST to the world.
Neither example you will find on a website. They do not need to be. But they are the soil to everything that is. Diving in on such builds our best sense of Integrity.
This is the deeper dive into purpose. How about you?
Peace, passion and prosperity...
Barry Lewis Green, aka The Unity Guy with Epic Engage
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