“Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others.
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It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed.”
~ Mwai Kibaki
Privilege… what does this word mean to you?
How has and does privilege play out in opportunities availed to you?
Are opportunities all about hard work… or about privilege, coupled with hard work?
Controversial topic… absolutely… especially for those with the most privilege…
that package it as hard work!
Jamie Dimon, a well-known executive, was the keynote at one of the functions I attended. Sure, he’s one of the most comprehensively talented executives in the world, but he said something powerful… that had nothing to do with business… unless you have high Holistic-DMQ (Decision Making Quality). Here’s the paraphrase.
“If I was born in a developing country, instead of where I was born… none of you would even know my name.”
You can do the research on the exceptional opportunities consistently provided to him. Sure… he worked his ass off while having Sandy Weill, among others, as mentors at an early age. But… he also had the privilege to intelligently work hard.
The well-known author (and my favorite), Malcolm Gladwell talks about his own rags‐to-riches story where his grandmother (Daisy Ford Nation), a Jamaican slave, was taken by William Ford as a concubine.
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Think your life is difficult now? Imagine being a concubine to a white land owner in Jamaica back then, without any mental health days!
Long story short, Malcolm’s, grandfather was white and his grandmother was black. Why was this important? In Jamaica at that time, per Malcolm, black people weren’t allowed to be educated while brown people were able to be educated. Education opened the door for his mother, who was brown, which eventually led to privileges Malcolm secured through just being born, with no effort on his part.
We aren’t able to change our past… but appreciating the privileges we’ve been extended, through no effort on our part, I believe, is critically important for us to lead a Purpose-Driven Life!
The $100 Million Question: What will you do with the privileges and opportunities you’ve been blessed?
If you’re similar to most people… you’ll use it to enrich your personal life and the lives of your children and family. Thus; self-centered initiatives. Why not make your life easy… it’s quite popular and socially admired? Just take a look at social media. People just can’t pump out enough, “look at me”, “take care of yourself, you deserve it”, etc., content.
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Meanwhile 6,000 children die every day from water-borne disease, women are abused by the 10’s of thousands, millions lack enough food, etc.
Unfortunately, this enriching one’s self, is also a wonderful formula for becoming rich with fool’s gold and
poor with the wealth that comes from leading a Purpose-Driven life… while still providing plenty for yourself.
In case you’re wondering, am I privileged? Absolutely… in many, many ways!
If you too realize how privileged you are… why not leverage your privilege to genuinely become wealthy in life?
Are you an Executive who realizes you’re privileged?
Why not utilize your privilege to significantly change 1,000’s of other people’s lives?
Together, we can intelligently create
$100K+ a month for Your Favorite Non-Profits?
Be a Difference Maker… DM me on LinkedIn or directly jim.roncevich@ipgsocialimpact.com.
Get MAD! Get Making A Difference! ~ JR
