Page 230 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

Union. For an immediate boost to your sense of well-
being, try this exercise that will likely have demonstrable
results: Each night for a week, write down three good
things that happened that day and why you think they
happened. Stopping to notice things we like about the
day, especially when we also notice what caused the
good moment, is a great routine that builds hope and
connection.
• • Live out of a strong moral code. Many of the most
resilient victims of hurricane Katrina and 9/11 attributed
their response to their faith and moral compass. In times
of distress leaders can turn to lasting moral principles to
get their bearings and rally others. Lincoln appealed to
moral values in his memorable speeches, placing present
action steps in that context:

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in
the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to fin-
ish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care
for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and
his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and
lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

• • Face fears head-on. We have a friend who gets very anx-
ious in social settings. Rather than run from the fear, she
invites people to her home. She has done the same with
her fear of needles by training to be a phlebotomist; of
exercise by committing to do a triathlon; and of perform-
ing by auditioning for community theater. Leaders who
face anxiety or other fears or challenges directly increase
their resilience and skill.

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