What is GREATNESS?
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This was a question that came up in a discussion recently about describing someone as ‘great’. Initially it was about phrases such as: ‘we had a great time’, 'he’s a great guy’, ‘oh that’s great’. But what I wanted to explore here is not so much the simple use of the word great, but the truly magnificent greatness we bestow upon someone important who has impacted a large number of people, perhaps historically. E.g. Alexander the Great, etc. This can be impacting in a good way or a bad way, the main thing is, impact. I want to put some other people’s descriptions first before I put my own opinion.
GREATNESS:
1. Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than all others. (Wikipedia)
2. https://rightfromtheheart.org/devotions/what-is-true-greatness/ See below for these meanings:
- One way is by a person’s talent and abilities. In 2015, a 21-year-old kid from Dallas, Jordan Spieth, won the Masters when most of his peers were still in college!
- Others define greatness by their accomplishments. What Steve Jobs did in building Apple to the point that many business experts think Apple might become the first trillion-dollar company in American history
- Looking back at historical accomplishments, think about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and Susan B. Anthony, to name a few. The impact they had on American history is monumental.
- Others think greatness is really all about power. And who’s the big enchilada when it comes to power?
- Similarly, some people define greatness by how quickly someone climbs the ladder of a large corporation – who has the biggest staff, the most prestigious title, and makes the most money.
These descriptions all cover ideas that focus on specific areas of greatness. However, I would like to propose another point of greatness which is more about the inner quality a person of ‘greatness’ I believe has to possess.
I believe that greatness comes from those people who have the innate ability to handle an unprecedented level of insecurity in order to maintain their open minded focus to reach their prescribed goal.
This then can refer to a sportsperson, a leader, an artist, a scholar, a brilliant mind, an inventor….almost anyone you can think of.
The difference between a person of greatness and a normal person is that the normal person constantly gives themselves mind limits. The great person has not limits. They understand that the extent of their limits is only measured by the extent to which they can handle the insecurity that would go with widening those limits.
There are plenty of examples of this. Going first to someone like Steve jobs. Historically (along with other tech superstars) he will definitely find himself in the book of greatness purely because of his ability to hold onto his (at first) seemingly impossible dream to make a computer that is beautiful both on the inside and out. The level of push back he would have received through his life would have made his life extremely insecure. However he persisted and he managed to be a game changer in how people saw computers.
Leaders like Nelson Mandela are also people noted for their greatness but in a completely different way. To stay in prison for 27 years for a completely unacceptable political reason was the one insecurity he endured, but the most significant point was when he was released (after countless offers to sign a statement saying he plead guilty to these crimes and he refused – another sign of greatness), it was the way in which he presented to the people of South Africa his philosophy of forgiveness. The level of forgiveness a man like this could exude and show others to exude was an indication of the level of extreme insecurity he would have faced from people saying ‘you should never forgive your captors’.
…and so it goes on.
This open mindedness to embrace insecurity is to me the most powerful ingredient of greatness. What do you think?