Motivation

In both ancient and modern cultures, leaders set up monuments to commemorate a historical happening.

Wikipedia defines it well: A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or as an example of historic architecture.

Sometimes these were tied to a victory, a death, or a religious experience.

Many cultures also used milestones along the road to allow travelers to note the distance they had traveled since there were no odometers on their sandals or horses. These were kind of mini-monuments along the journey to remind the traveller of progress.

So what does this have to do with you as a leader, the student, the employee or the parent?

In the spirit of the holidays and wrapping up your year, I wanted to give you a glimpse of our 5 Most Read Articles of 2016. Each of these articles has proven to be valuable to growing your influence. We’ll start the drumroll and count down from five to one based on the number of readers. 

A Parable

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Joe went to his office party. They had great festivities and even gave away a free frozen turkey. Joe, who had only been employed by the company for 9 months, happened to win the frozen turkey.

Like he always did after work, Joe waited at the bus stop to ride the bus home to his flat from work. He carried his briefcase in one hand and cradled the turkey under his arm like a giant football.

He noticed a man, disheveled and slightly dirty, sitting on the bus stop bench. They gave each other a nod.

The wind whipped up, and Joe’s hat blew off his head. The disheveled man caught it and handed it back to Joe as they both laughed. Soon they were engaged in conversation where Joe learned that the man’s name was Jeremiah. He was a short-term laborer working on a project for the week. He had five kids and struggled to make ends meet.  In fact, he wasn’t getting paid for this job until next Monday.

Soon, Joe’s bus pulled up with the brakes hissing. As Joe stood up, he thought, "I have money for my own turkey, plus I’m a single guy; I can find something."

As Joe stood up, he handed the turkey to Jeremiah and said, "Here. Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy."

Jeremiah actually felt his eyes filling with tears as he thought about his kid’s excitement about having a real Thanksgiving dinner.

Joe arrived as his flat, grabbed a drink, and sat down on the couch reflecting on his day. 

Jeremiah got home and called the kids together. They rushed excitedly around the turkey. He started to unwrap the turkey, only to have a puzzled look on his face. The turkey felt so real, but as he continued to unwrap it, he realized it was not a real turkey at all.

He gazed at it and was confused. Joe must be one of the cruelest men in the world.

Think of the favorite leaders under whom you have served? They probably pressed you and squeezed more talent and energy out of you than you ever imagined was within you. They probably drove you mad at times as they popped the cork of self-limitations, BUT THEY INFLUENCED YOU!

You have the ability, whether in a position of corner office, highest authority or a cubicle dwelling worker bee of creating hero moments for others and claiming hero status for your organization.

Is it so bad to feel envious or jealous of someone or others’ opportunities?  No. Actually, jealously can be a helpful emotion. It serves as a clue that you need to pay closer attention. It forces you to listen carefully what is behind the green-eyed monster.

Keeping your morale up each day can be really difficult. Trust me, I understand. But there are 6 practices that I’ve learned to do over the years that have helped me keep my energy and morale pretty high most days.