Choose Significance

"Being Significant" is a concept that came about as the culmination of years of transformation and evolution on my own leadership journey. It’s why I felt inspired to create the Significant Leader Award to recognize our students who have demonstrated a commitment to being significant in their own personal and professional lives through personal growth. Personal growth is one’s emphasis on becoming the best version of themselves. This requires self-reflection and an honest evaluation of where you are and where you want to go. It can be growth in your personal life, physical fitness, or professional ambitions. I will argue that at the base of any growth is a personal desire and commitment to be better. When you shift your mindset and realize that, you will take the first step towards true personal growth.

Your organization, department, employer, spouse, parent, and/or teacher are NOT responsible for your personal growth. They are responsible for providing you the basic skills to survive and execute the job or role, but they are NOT responsible for your personal growth. Only YOU can make that commitment and only YOU can put in the work that is needed. If you stop and think about it, the people who hold great significance in your life do so because they did things in a remarkable or notable way. It was a parent or grandparent who took the time to nurture and grow you from a child into a responsible adult and who gave you wisdom from their own mistakes. It was a leader who was always available to listen to you and helped you understand how things happen and how to work through it.

I personally believe there are three key reasons as to why it is important to be significant in all you do:

1) Being significant creates CLARITY for your life.

When you choose to be significant, you begin to develop a ‘why’ behind the things you do, which in turn begins to set the daily actions you take to achieve your end goals. Every child wants a significant parent; they want a parent who sees them for who they can become and not just who they are. It’s a parent that begins to view their role as a parent from a different and more comprehensive lens. The same applies in your professional life. Probably the most transformational moment in my leadership journey occurred many years ago when I had a true mindset shift to begin to see the people who worked for me for who they could become with the right nurturing and encouragement and not who they currently were. Having this mindset shift gives great clarity to one’s purpose and effort.

2) Striving to be significant provides DIRECTION.

It provides direction for your actions and begins to encourage you to hold yourself to a higher standard. We all want to be seen as the parent and/or boss who seeks to understand what has happened and why before responding. It’s not allowing yourself to negotiate with yourself, which usually leads to lower standards for yourself. It’s not saying, “I’ll just workout tomorrow since I’m so busy today,” when I have set a goal of 30 minutes of exercise each day. When you strive to be significant, you start to see things that others don’t see. Remember, people give us permission to lead and the number one thing people want from their leaders is direction. Start with yourself and providing direction to others will come naturally.

3) Striving to be significant develops RESILIENCE.

It allows you to get used to having failures and setbacks, but not being entangled in those failures. Too often I see friends and colleagues who are still chasing their past self (who they were 10, 20, 30 years ago) instead of learning from those setbacks and moving forward. Significant leaders use failure as a growth opportunity to be better now and in the future. A great friend of mine used to always say to me, “Dean, there’s no future in the past.” My lesson to you is to embrace the past failures and setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow.

When you have CLARITY and provide DIRECTION to yourself and others, RESILIENCE comes naturally.

One of the greatest leaders I don’t spend enough time talking about is Nelson Mandela. As a leader in South Africa, Mandela spent a large part of his adult life in prison away from his family. Most of us would be bitter about that, but not Mandela. One of his best quotes is: “It is in your hands to make a better world", which was from a speech he gave not long after he was released. The tone of the speech was to encourage others to not focus on the bitterness of past transgressions against you, but instead focus on learning from them and building a better future for you and everyone around you.

Remember, the future is in your hands. The leadership role you hold as a parent, coach, or administrator is temporary. Your role is to build future leaders who will create a better future for all.

- Dean