Do-gooders —people who mean well but don't do well—can be recognized by their pent-up anger. Inside, they are like children who constantly stamp their feet because they don't get their way. Behind this lies an inflated ego. Their behavior reveals their excessive demands on life. Do-gooders see the injustices in the world first. They get upset about everything and everyone. They dream and talk about ideals. Ideals that they expect from others, but do not live up to themselves.
Yes, there is a lot of injustice and misfortune in the world. There are earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. There is corruption, greed, and exploitation. But there is also the opposite. That's just how our world is. We only have this one, and there are only these people.
Excuses to responsibility one's own responsibility
What applies to constant complainers and do-gooders, I also observe in leadership. First and foremost, they look for external reasons. Just so they don't have to start with themselves. Fierce competition, constant availability, the evil parent company, uncommitted employees, high targets, constant pressure to perform – these are all well-known excuses that help responsibility minimize one's own responsibility .
leader who attribute their weak performance and lack of leadership skills primarily to external circumstances have failed to understand one thing:
What matters is what you make of it.
Everyone has the opportunity to interpret their own life within their own framework. We are gifted with free will—beyond the injustices and external pressures we encounter. leader in particular leader embrace this gift. Develop your inner freedom and use it to get the best out of yourself and the people around you.
The starting point for any leadership is self-leadership. This requires personal development. Those who cannot lead themselves cannot lead others. By leadership, I mean the development of others. Ask yourself: Do I see my employees as the cause or the solution to my problems? The more people you see as the solution to your problems, the easier it will be for you to lead them. In order to encourage others, I must first recognize and exercise my free will. Only by changing myself can I bring about development.
Give things their own meaning
Sometimes people who listen to my lectures say to me, "Mr. Grundl, you have exactly the life you want." I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I have a life exactly as I want it? I'm in a wheelchair and 90 percent paralyzed. That's the reality. The fact is that, within the framework of this reality that I have to accept, I have created a space for myself where I can be. And I maintain that every person can do this, no matter how hard the reality they have to come to terms with may seem at the moment.
The greatest inner freedom we can achieve is the freedom to give our own meaning to the things that happen to us. A meaning that inspires us and, in turn, inspires others. This is mental excellence: thinking things through and interpreting them for ourselves, not just parroting others. People are then capable of true inner freedom. But to achieve this, they must stop demanding a better and fairer world and reconcile themselves with the world and with other people. Konrad Adenauer summed it up perfectly: "Take people as they are. There are no others."
Yours, Boris Grundl
Want more inspiration?
Take a look at Facebook or the video blog "Grundl's Reasons." Here, Boris Grundl examines current topics from different perspectives. Always with the question: "What can I take away from this topic for myself and my life?" In the video"German Unity Day," for example, Boris Grundl talks about the distinctionbetween "what unites us vs. what divides us":
The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, is a day that has been etched into German history. The coming together of nations regularly triggers strong unifying forces, but at the same time also many divisive moments. These two opposing forces are always present when something new emerges—whether in a professional or private context. Boris Grundl invites you to consider where unifying and divisive forces are at work in your everyday life and which force you focus on in which moments. This will help you learn to deal with both forces wisely.
Image source: © Kallistii Pixabay
