I think every leader struggles on occasion with the question; what good am I really doing?
I believe you are doing better than you realize.
It is natural from time to time in leadership, whether you are a manager, parent, teacher, coach or wherever you may serve, to wonder if you have done any good. You may think you are a failure and that regardless of your effort it isn’t sufficient.
After all, most leaders rarely get thanked, recognized or praised for the good that they are doing. And honestly that’s not what most of us seek any way.
However, unfortunately we don’t realize the positive results that come from the good we are doing. You may never really know how much good you are doing.
I can remember several years ago after leaving a highly visible leadership position I had held for five years in my church and struggling with feelings and doubt about whether I had done any good. Sure there were results, but the things I couldn’t measure were most important to me. Did people make positive changes? Did I inspire? Were individuals and families better because of my leadership?
Recently my Father passed away; his death was preceded four years earlier by that of my mother. The number of people that came to me personally or wrote to me about the influence both of them had on their lives has been comforting and honestly a bit amazing.
They had served in numerous leadership positions both in business and church. Many kind and uplifting things were shared with me that I never knew about. They had both had important influences and affects on others lives. But I doubt neither of them really knew the extent.
If I had one wish, it would be that we would all do a better job of telling people the impact and good they have had on our lives.
We compare too much and reflect on the good too little. It is easy for us to compare ourselves to the success of others, or what appears to be success. Social media bombards our daily lives, clouding us with idealistic images of friends and others who appear to be doing much better than we are. But the reality is we are probably doing just fine.
Every smile you give, every positive word you provide and every kind act you do does more good than you will ever realize. So keep doing your best leader. Keep trying, keep learning and keep moving forward. You probably will really never know the extent of your good, but you are doing better than you realize.
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