Have you ever tossed a rock into a lake and just watched the ripples expand until you can’t detect them any longer? Those ripples are an important metaphor for leadership.
Even a tiny pebble makes a ripple in the lake. Just so, a small action on our part can end up having a significant effect.
Many of us set out with the intention of changing the world. The challenge is that if we wait for the massive action that we believe will allow us to change the world, we miss opportunities to take a small action that might change our neighborhood or someone else’s day, or the corporate culture in our organization that could be affected just by us leading by example. There is a commercial playing right now that I absolutely love. It highlights a continuous thread of individual, small, random acts of kindness. One person does something nice for another person. Then that other person does a nice thing for a third person, and the third person does it for a fourth person, and the kindness continues and spreads. You may never know how your leadership efforts will affect others. That doesn’t matter. Lead as if that leadership will change the world.
What random act of kindness can you do today that would potentially impact someone else, your neighborhood, your company, or your community? You don’t have to change the world. Change the world you touch.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.
