Government_Leadership_1

=**Purpose**=
 * Resolved: To Discover Our God-Given Purpose**

George Washington resolved to develop character. When he was young, he had a fiery temper. Therefore, resolving to develop good character, he copied 110 rules of civility from a London magazine to go from rude, country boy to a gentleman. Character and self-mastery were his goals. To him, life became a series of resolutions to live by as his morals would keep his temperament under control. Washington lived by virtue over happiness and duty over rights. If he lived by happiness, he probably would've turned out more like Benedict Arnold instead of suffering through Valley Forge. Washington's friend Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee eulogized Washington saying "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting..."
 * Background:**

Benjamin Franklin resolved to develop wisdom. When he was young, he offended many. People crossed the street to avoid him. He didn't believe this when someone told him until he witnessed it happening. So, he chose to improve himself. He resolved to be more frugal to pay what he owed people, would be honest and sincere, be more industrious, and "speak ill of no man." Then, he created a list of 13 Virtues and studies each for a week 4 times a year. He made a book to check his progress on each one. This personal improvement plan helped him become one of the most respected citizens of Philadelphia. He grew in wisdom. At the Constitutional Convention, he was able to temper hard feelings during debates. Hamilton often threw his support to Franklin even though Franklin's recommendations were often moral criticisms of the policies Hamilton himself thought were best. Franklin's principle-centered diplomacy allowed him to change the minds of even his political opponents.

Jonathan Edwards resolved to serve with humility. He was a minister as well as a missionary to Native Americans. He would go on to be President of the College of New Jersey (today Princeton University) shortly before his death. He kept a diary and penned some guidelines that came to be called his "resolutions." He wrote 70 resolutions, and committed to read them once a week, or over 1,800 times over 35 years. Two of his resolutions included: (1) "Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory,..." and (2) "Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody..." Intensive Bible study led him to balk at what he saw as errors in the church doctrine where he was a minister. By one vote, he was dismissed. He didn't get angry over this injustice. On the contrary, he was dignified and preached his last sermon with truth, love, and grace exiting Northhampton without bitterness. He didn't fight for his rights. He said it was God's will and accepted the church's decision. He went on to be a missionary to the frontier Indians. Certainly, he practiced what he preached.

Mind, heart, and will are important. Transforming one's life requires the whole person to be involved - the mind; has to truly want to change - the heart; and has to physically start the process of changing - the will. Many people claim to know the answers to life's problems, but don't actually do them. A person can't change the world without first changing himself/herself. Washington, Franklin, and Edwards didn't seek to change the world - they resolved to change themselves and as a result, they changed the world.

Viktor Frankl was a Nazi death camp survivor who learned the importance of having a purpose for living during his brutal struggle to survive. Logotherapy is figuring out one's mission in life - Frankl did this. Unfortunately, many will allow their lives to lead them instead of them leading their lives. Many issues can arise when a person is not seeing they have a purpose. A purposeless life is like a hoopless basketball game - a lot of running around and dribbling, but little getting accomplished.
 * Living on Purpose:**

Discovering your dream is important. Fulfilling one's dream is what gives us purpose and meaning to life. You're meant to leave this earth not on a pension, but on a purpose. Purpose gives us direction in life. Below is the Purpose Hedgehog developed by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great. __Passion__: What you are deeply passionate about. This is a mixture of what a person loves and what a person hates, creating motivation to change one's current reality and gets one through the tough times. Steve Jobs (Apple Computer) said the difference between a successful and unsuccessful entrepreneur is perseverance - passion to get through rough times. __Potential__: What you can be best in the world at. Everyone is born unique. Finding our skills and reaching for our potential gives us purpose. __Profits__: What drives one's economic engine. Turning one's potential and passion into a fruitful calling. An example is Wally Amos. He was a talent agent with the William Morris Agency. His Aunt Della raised him and taught him a tasty cookie recipe, which he would bake and send cookies to celebrities to entice them. He was able to get Simon and Garfunkle. He was a good agent, but not happy. His passion was baking cookies. Therefore, he opened a cookie store in 1975 - Famous Amos. He aligned his passion and purpose with his potential and, therefore, made profits. __Intersection of all__: Feel you're doing work that is your talent, like your pay, and love what you do - enjoy getting up in the morning. If you do what your passion is, you'll never "work" a day in your life!

Steve Jobs was the founder and CEO of Apple. He was able to produce easy to use and reliable technology. He wanted to create customer satisfaction so the customer would come back (when creating the i-Pod, he said he wanted the user to be listening to music in two clicks). He had a passion for product perfection. His passion and his potential aligned and produced profits. He fulfilled his purpose and created a culture around his passion attracting many with talent to Apple.

Big-rocks first analogy: The big rocks in the picture below represent what is important in order to achieve one's purpose. Many times people spend their time focusing not as much on what is important as on things that are of lesser importance - such as playing a video game instead of completing work towards an education. The sand represents things of lesser importance. If we put sand in a jar first, then pebbles, and then try to put in the big rocks (the things that are most significant), there isn't room for all of the big rocks. However, if we put the big rocks (the things that are most significant) in first, then the pebbles will fall around the big rocks as will the sand. It's a matter of prioritizing.

Purpose-oriented time management is important. Ivy Lee was a management consultant. Charles Schwab, one of Andrew Carnegie's business partners, met with Lee to improve his management. Lee said he could give Schwab an idea in 20 minutes. Lee pulled out a 3x5 note card, handed it to Schwab, and told him to write the five most important tasks for tomorrow. Then number in importance. Lee said first thing tomorrow look at #1 and start working on it looking at it every 15 minutes until it is completed then move on to #2 and do the same and so on until quitting time. Lee told Schwab even if you only finish #1, it'll be the most important task. Finally, spend the last five minutes of the day making the next day's list. He then told Schwab when he's convinced of the worth of the system, have your people try it and try it as long as you wish then send me a check for what you think it's worth. This was a 25 minute meeting. Two weeks later, Schwab sent him a check for $25,000 ($1,000 per minute) saying the lesson was the most profitable one he ever heard. In five years, the Bethlehem Steel company turned into the biggest steel producer in the world and made Schwab a $100 million fortune. Time management is one of the most powerful multipliers of results known to man. The crucial lesson is that a person can't properly manage time until he/she has identified what he/she is called to do, why he/she is doing it, and how he/she is suppose to accomplish it.

Born October 14, 1910 in Hall, Indiana, he grew up in a farmhouse with few of the modern-day conveniences like running water and electricity. However, as a young child, he was given something much greater by his parents, which was knowing that he could fulfill his purpose through hard work. As a result, his passion, potential, and profits aligned in coaching. In his book, //Wooden on Leadership//, he described his purpose by saying "What occurred in the practices is what gave me joy and satisfaction - teaching others how to bring forth the best of which they are capable. Ultimately, I believe that's what leadership is about: helping others to achieve their own greatness by helping the organization to succeed." It was a sense of purpose that led a farm boy from the fields of Indiana to UCLA where he led his team to 10 NCAA titles in his last 12 years including a record 7 in a row. His central philosophy of life was that everything happens for a purpose.
 * John Wooden:**

Wooden was only 5'10" and 175 lbs. but made up for it with quickness and speed along with a great work ethic. His father encouraged him not to try to be better than someone else, but to be the best he can be. Wooden believed that self-satisfaction is knowing you did your personal best. You may lose, but not be a loser if you did your personal best and may win, but not be a winner if you didn't do your personal best. Wooden used this in his own life and in coaching. He led all his teams to strive for excellence saying "Championships were never the cake; they were the icing. Doing your best is the cake."

When he took the UCLA job, he was led to believe he'd get a state-of-the-art facility to support his efforts - this didn't happen in his first 17 years. His teams had to practice in less-than-desirable conditions. Many high schools had better facilities. His teams had to use the 3rd floor of the men's gym where the gymnastic and wrestling teams practiced too, often at the same time. The facility was often called the B.O. Barn due to its lack of ventilation. Wooden is an example of being driven by a purpose, though. Instead of waiting for conditions to improve, his purpose drove his team to improve, which eventually led to improved conditions. It took him 16 years to put the pieces together to launch his dynasty in 1964 with UCLA's first NCAA title. Most people today are impatient with the success process, applying hard work for just a day, week, or year and expecting championships regardless of whether they invested the full 10,000 hours needed for mastery. How many people would stay committed after 16 years and no championships?

UCLA won consecutive championships after enduring hard work in tough conditions. Since they made the championship, they would be viewed on TV. One viewer was Lew Alcindor a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who then committed to go to UCLA. A new facility was being built just in time for the 1965 season. This wasn't just a coincidence, but rather an example of a person who by fulfilling his purpose, created his own LUCK (Laboring Under Correct Knowledge). Wooden's team won seven straight NCAA titles and an amazing 88 games in a row along with 10 championships in 12 years. This all was created 16 years prior when a young coach created a purposeful culture founded on a simple concept - hard work applied to reaching one's potential made a person a winner regardless of the external scoreboard. Despite poorer facilities and less funding, Wooden competed consistently.

Many today are so focused on getting in the win column, they shortcut the success process, thus skipping the internal achievements. The lesson to learn is if one handles the inner scoreboard, the outer scoreboard will take care of itself. Coach Wooden died on June 4, 2010. He had previously written in his book Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success - "I am ready to meet Him [the Lord] and I am eager to see my wife, Nellie. Today, Wooden is with the Lord and wife having fulfilled his life's purpose and having heard the words, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant."

Remember, PURPOSE is not discovered, it's detected.
 * Questions to answer:**

__Collins's Hedgehog Concept__: 1. What are you deeply passionate about? 2. What could you be the best in the world at? 3. What drives your economic engine?

__Discussion Questions__: 1. What stands out to you about a person who you have encountered that you believe is living his or her purpose? 2. Write a mission statement...a statement of what you want to accomplish. 3. Why is passion so important for purpose? 4. What does purpose have to do with priorities? 5. We're going to look at 12 other resolutions. Why would purpose have to be the start and foundation? 6. What will you take away from this lesson and begin applying into your own life?

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