“In the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you’ve had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.”
-Jim Collins
When was there a time in your professional life that you look back on and say, man, those were the days?
Where were you working? What were you working on? Who were you working with?
What made that organization or team, or professional experience so rewarding?
These questions have been bouncing around in my head for the greater part of the last two decades. They have been challenging me to think about what I want to do and who I want to become – and how to build a business that gives people meaningful work to build a meaningful life. Questions that make me think about why we do what we do, why some organizations can catch lightning in a bottle, and why others plateau and fight to survive. I’m a reader, but I’m not an academic, so these weren’t questions in the sense of research but more of reflection. And as much as I’m a man of reflection, I’m also a man of action. Reflection without action isn’t helping anyone, and I think we are here to help as many people as possible.
To whom much is given, much is expected. As leaders, our responsibility is our moral obligation – to utilize our platform to make the world a better place. Engineer or Executive, Lawyer or Laborer, Planner or Project Manager, we owe it to our clients and our employees to lead in a way that elevates and inspires.
What action are you taking? Who are you helping? How are you making the world a better place?
Next week I will tell you about what action we are taking at MCFA.
BJ Kraemer, President