Growing up in the 70s, if you heard someone say “Be who you are,” you would almost automatically interpret it as a statement of personal choice and freedom, being the person you chose to be and ignoring what others and society wanted you to be. The whole generation was caught up in being true to oneself and an attitude of “If it feels good, do it,” basically telling others where to get off if they tried to tell you what to do. While there was some value in having such an independent approach to life and the willingness to stand up for one’s own set of principles, harm was also done as a self-focused and self-serving generation emerged into leadership roles. Much of the greed and ethical relativism of the 80s and 90s was the result of people putting themselves above others, then ushering in what some sociologists call the “me generation” at the turn of the century. Sadly, as time has passed, this level of commitment to self hasn’t let up, and we continue to live in a culture that is mostly “all about me.”
At the same time, one of the great things about the emerging leaders of the millennial generation is that there is the beginning of turning away from purely selfish motives to a more altruistic outlook with the sincere desire by many to make a positive difference in the world, and specifically in the people’s lives with whom they interact on a daily basis. Even with all of the world’s challenges and the rise of evil, there is still a bright spot of hope, as people put themselves aside for the benefit of others.
Contemporary ethicist Joseph Badaracco states, “Become who you are,” which sounds an awful lot like the declaration of self-independence of the 70s, however, his meaning is entirely different. When he says “Become who you are,” he is saying that we should become the best of who we are and that we should live and behave in a manner that is authentic to the type of person we say we want to be. If we speak of caring for the people around us, we must put it into practice. If we say we believe in charity, forgiveness, love and other virtues, we have to show it. We must become the wonderful person whom we say we are, or at least want to be remembered as. The most fundamental principle of ethics is to do no harm. This can be applied to how we treat people individually or as a community, how we spend our money, how we take care of the resources around us and in many other ways. The point is that many leaders will make grandiose statements about their values and commitments, only to behave in ways that are contrary. We see it in organizations of all kinds.
As leaders, we must take the time to seek out who we really want to be, make commitments to ourselves and the people we are leading to take it seriously, and then behave in a manner that upholds our commitments. We must know who we are and act like it.
Lead well.