Blogging is the last thing I should be doing. In fact even reading the book I'm about to share an excerpt from is probably the second last thing I need to be doing. This reading isn't due till Tuesday and I have a project that I have to finish typing up that's due tomorrow. However... Here's an interesting excerpt from John Maxwell's book "The 360° Leader" (emphasis mine):
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"How many kids say, 'Someday I want to grow up to be vice president of the United States'? Probably none. If a child has political aspirations, he wants to be president. If she has a bent toward business, she wants to be a company owner or CEO. Few people aspire to reach the middle. In fact, several years ago, Monster.com, an online job search service, poked fun at this idea by running a television ad showing children saying things such as, 'When I grow up, I want to file all day long' and 'I want to claw my way up to middle management'.
Yet the reality is that most people will never be the top leader in an organization. They will spend their careers somewhere in the middle. Is that okay? Or should everybody play career 'king of the hill' and try to reach the top?
I believe that people should strive for the top of their game, not the top of the organization. Each of us should work to reach our potential, not necessarily the corner office. Sometimes you can make the greatest impact from somewhere other than first place."
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I found this to be rather refreshing. In a world where everything seems to be saturated with "look out for #1" and "here's how you can get to the top of the corporate ladder", it's nice to know that reaching your potential may not mean you are the top dawg. You can be just as influential from the cubicle next to the water cooler as you can from the corner office with a view. Just something to think about...
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1 comment:
I battle with this, but in a different way. I'm not a socially or economically competitive person (and in fact have quite resigned myself to a life of abject poverty - joke), but I wonder how much is healthy in striving for the best in light of being a Christian.
I want to be the best person I can be, and in fact I want to be perfect. But this is traditionally seen as unrealistic at best, heretical at worst.
So do I settle? Or continue against seemingly impossibly odds?
Hope I didn't hijack this too much.
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