Our Real Work as Leaders
July 2006
In the June 16th edition of USA Today an article about Bill Gates' retirement plan calls out a few interesting questions for all of us.
"...the deeper focus on his foundation is likely to impact...how philanthropy itself operates. Gates is on a path that could mean his biggest contribution will be on philanthropy rather than technology...investing in pharmaceutical companies that otherwise might not pursue cures with little profit potential. Last year, for example, the foundation earmarked $258 million for advanced development of a malaria vaccine to fight a disease that kills 2,000 African children every day."Hats off to Bill and Melinda Gates - they have the hearts of true leaders. But what about the rest of us who do not have a spare $29 billion in assets to invest in socially responsible causes? What do we do? We believe the LionHeart definition of leadership begins to provide answers.
Leadership is:
- Knowing your unique talent and the contribution that is yours to make
- Contributing it completely, powerfully and with humility
- Having your contribution make your corner of the world a better place for everyone.
If each of us does our part to make the difference that only we can make, we all move up to higher ground. Some of us have money. Some of us have expertise. Some of us have time. It's all needed somewhere. But we all have to find a way to put our money, expertise and time to good use in a more thoughtful and collaborative way. Instead of giving our money to our favorite cause or charity in our usual way, what if we chose a problem to solve and really went after it as a group? Instead of serving on a board and adding value as an advisor, what if we really rolled up our sleeves to get into the details of solving that problem? It may take more time than we thought we wanted to give, but if the problem was an important one to address, we'd feel satisfied we were using our time wisely.
LionHeart is partnering with Illahee, a non-profit environmental science organization, to address Oregon 's Oil and Water issues so that we will be able to meet our needs for basic resources in a sustainable way for future generations. This is a problem that will affect every business leader with alarming environmental and financial consequences unless we take action immediately. At the recent Oil and Water in Oregon Symposium the featured speakers, as well as the regional industry leaders all pointed to a common theme regarding what's missing: leadership. We need to undertake a collaborative effort as business leaders to create the political will to minimize the adverse consequences that are already underway. That's where LionHeart comes in - we have the expertise to facilitate change when we can get the right people in the room for a year or longer. We had 20 participants in the symposium express interest. Early indications show we have sufficient interest in this topic to get the right people in the room. Some of them can pay for their share of the costs of putting this program on and others can not. In the emerging paradigm of "business leaders as change agents" perhaps there are some of you who would underwrite the tuition for a qualified expert to participate in this process. Or perhaps you'd prefer to roll up your sleeves and invest your time. There are many ways to give. If you'd like to hear more about these efforts or get involved, contact our office at 503-632-8572. It's time business leaders understand what our real work is about. We have too much at stake to focus only on our own organizational success. And if we pool our money, expertise and time in the right way, we'll discover we have the resources to solve our most perplexing problems.