I’ve been reading a recommended book called From Success to Significance. It describes a turning point, a shift from focus on career/business success and the practical need to provide for a family etc. to doing something significant. That is not to suggest that supporting a family or developing a career is not significant. But, for many of us, the practical reality of those responsibilities meant having to defer the pursuit of passions or interests. And we all have those passions and interests.
It occurred to me that there have not been many generations (in fact ours may be the first) where individuals can reach a point of economic independence (retirement/business success) and still have capacity (skills, experience, resource) to do something significant with a reduced requirement for the same pay cheque that was needed while working.
So what to do with that residual capacity? We could spend our remaining years golfing or fishing but, for many of us, that will not be satisfying for the many years that could potentially be left.
The US election highlighted a reality that I have been bemoaning for some time. There are so few competent leaders. Among the many characteristics of leaders is to “speak truth, bring hope”. What I saw in the election campaign was a strong tendency to speak lies, bring fear. Any substantive policy discussion seemed to be abandoned in favour of the exchange of insults that was often painful to watch. It was a race to the bottom that looked anything but presidential. And now we are beginning to see echoes in the Conservative leadership race that are disturbing.
Our generation so badly needs a revival of leadership that is based on the Ultimate Moral Authority, not the relative morality of reality TV. Perhaps our burden as the generation of Success to Significance, is to be that change, to be the voice of reason in the many contexts within which we find ourselves in leadership roles. I would be happy to explore what that might look like with anyone who is interested.