Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations

Word count this issue: 310

Estimated reading time:   2.0 minutes 

I had lunch a couple of weeks ago with my friend and mentor, The Rt. Rev. Jim Cruickshank. Jim is a retired Anglican/Episcopal Bishop, and I’ve mentioned him before in these notes. http://www.alisdairsmith.com/index.php/leadership-notes/257-fences Jim and I were talking about the importance of bringing one’s whole self to our endeavours; to our work, to our relationships, to our journey to self awareness. In the midst of the conversation he said,  “what truth do you want to be in your one life on earth?”

This question freaked me out at first; I went straight to my default intellectual and philosophical me immediately asking, ‘what do we mean by truth?’ Now, after a few days of the question ruminating, I’m a little more comfortable with the question, and see it as a deeply profound one for us as humans and as leaders. 

The wisdom traditions all tell us that we have a choice; we can choose life or death, good or bad. Think about the choice offered in the Star Wars philosophy; there is always the dark side. As tempting as the short term gains of the dark side truth may be, in the end, it is the health, vitality, relationship and strength found in the light side truth that sustains us. 

Like the generations before us we have a choice. What is likely different is that human made ecological disaster is much more likely than ever before, and the technology (r)evolution is changing how we work, heal, contract and socialize with each other in ways not seen since the Industrial Revolution. 

Jim’s question then stands out for us all, ‘what truth do you want to be in your one life on earth?’