Thursday, February 26, 2009

Leaders Choose Responsibly

Sisyphusj0334250jpg The Greek mythological figure Sisyphus was condemned to roll a rock to the top of a mountain, only to see it roll down again... forever. In the final chapter of his philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus compares the absurd nature of life to Sisyphus’ predicament. Yet, the essay concludes, "The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

How could endlessly rolling a rock up a mountain culminate in happiness? Because Sisyphus made rolling his rock "his thing." He accepted the absurd nature of his being and became one with his rock. He threw himself into his work and became happy.

Sisyphus is teaching us that there is no “meaning of life,” only the meaning you choose to give life. Moreover, since life is a series of successive years, which consists of months, containing days, full of minutes... The meaning of life is the meaning you choose to give the minute grains of sand slipping through your hourglass of life. Sisyphus chose to make meaning out of his minutes and work. How about you?

Keep pushing your rock,

Dave

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh ! Really I like your post.
Leadership is not how many people are reporting to you,how many departments are under you,but it is the amount of RESPONSIBILITY that a person is taking on his shoulder and his courage to inspire others to follow him.

He is the person who shows the path, set the direction, other follows.

Be it political or managerial it's the leadership which matters the most.

Be it George Washington,Abraham L, Gandhi,Mandela, all these people took huge responsibility on their shoulder.
Similarly Rockefeller,Morgan,Ford, Carnegie were business leaders who took
responsibility in building the backbone of U.S. economy at the end did seizable philanthropic job by forming trust.

Regards,
Debashish Brahma.
http://debashishbramha.blogspot.com

Dave Jensen, Leadership Expert said...

Hi Debashish,

Thank you for your comments. All the leaders you mentioned refused to play the role of victim. They CHOSE to respond, not react, to circumstances. Something leaders need to remember, practice, and teach today!

Dave

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