I could have referred to us as Human Beings. In fact, in virtually all that we read, we are referred to that way. Yet, to find a person who actually defines herself or himself by what they are, and not what they do, is a rare event.If we pause for a moment to think of those people who have made a lasting mark in our society and in our world, I would suggest that their core – the essence of their identity – was not their role, position, title, nor even their identification with the outcomes of their efforts. Rather it was from their deep awareness of who they were, and what they were called to do – their purpose and presence – that their identity came. It was from this core that they drew the energies to facilitate their actions.
Closer to home, I am sure that you can think of the people that have been an influence in your life. Was it what they did that made them an influence in your life? Or were you attracted to who they were as a person – their values and their strength of character?
Now, you and I are unlikely to be a Gandhi or Mother Teresa, or even a Jimmy Carter. But we can take to heart that the deepest legacies in our life will be left, not by what we do, but by the kind of person that we are.
Or to put it within a business framework – we manage by doing. We lead by being.
How much of your sense of identity is wrapped up in what you do? What is the essence of your character? Are you a human being? or a human doing.