"It is in giving, that we receive."
Today is Thanksgiving, and I’m sitting here reflecting on my family and my time at LeaderWork. ?I’m realizing that in these two groups, I am super thankful for both the opportunity to serve and be served. I think this simple, reciprocal truth is at the heart of who we are as people, created to live and grow in relationships with one another. Thinking back on 40 years of working, it seems to me that our greatest purpose or potential will most likely be realized in the communities or the institutions where we give of ourselves and, in turn, grow alongside others.
The two most significant institutions where most of us spend our lives are our families and our work. It’s easy to overlook the family as an institution, but it may be the most important one. It has been my experience that the health and success of the family will have the most profound impact on a person’s life. ?And while work often gets reduced to simply being a means of earning a living, I know it has the potential to be much more. When done through the heart, eyes and hands of servant leaders, work is a place where people come together not just to create products or services, but to form communities—places where each of us can (stealing from Ted Lasso) become the best versions of ourselves in connection with one another.
For me, this perspective secures the foundation of what it means to lead. Leaders often hear that their role is to create value for investors, and while financial returns matter, focusing exclusively on one group overlooks the reality that organizations serve not just investors but also employees, customers, suppliers, and the communities in which they operate. It is abundantly clear that without sufficient economic success, the potential of the institution to do good is diminished. But economic success does not define the purpose of any institution.? Rather, I believe that economic success is the limiter on the institution’s ability to serve.? We should keep in mind that the members of the stakeholder groups are at the end of the day people who invest in an organization in their own way, and it’s our responsibility as leaders to serve in ways that creates the potential to optimize the returns for each of these people (stakeholders) — not to maximize for one at the expense of others.
Thanksgiving reminds me of this responsibility. Institutions, when at their best, are spaces where people come together to grow physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Family is sacred and work isn’t just a choice between "living to work" or "working to live"; it’s about integrating our human need for connection and growth into the places where we spend so much of our lives.
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When we serve others, we not only help them but also grow ourselves. As the prayer of St. Francis instructs us, “It is in giving that we receive.” This isn’t just a religious thought; it’s a truth as immutable as gravity. Within a community, the mutual act of giving ensures that we, too, are cared for by others. The Native American have a great take on this.? It is their understanding of gifts that if a gift is not shared, it corrupts the person who holds it. This Thanksgiving, I choose to reflect on what is being shared with me and how I can share gifts—talents, treasures, time, and care—with the people in all the institutions I am lucky enough to be part of; family and work.
Happy Thanksgiving. May your day be filled with thankfulness, connection, and the experience of serving and being served.
?Lead on!
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