price of greatness

“The price of greatness is responsibility.”

Winston Churchill

Responsibility is a really big word.

But so is character.

And in my mind “greatness” is a simple equation.

Character + Responsibility = Greatness.

Every word in that equation requires massive personal strength and resolve.

So often nowadays I believe people think the path to greatness is having the ability to not make mistakes. Or at least not be blamed for mistakes.

Look. Really talented people make mistakes. And sometimes they make enormous mistakes. That doesn’t make them any less great. The only thing that can truly diminish greatness is not accepting responsibility – for the bad and the good and all that it takes to get to either place.

Oh. And that is character.

Leaders don’t lead by asking or telling people to follow.

It takes this equation.

I guess what I often find interesting is that greatness is a contradiction.

Let’s use Winston as an example. Huge ego. MASSIVE ego. Charismatic speaker. Maybe one of the greatest orators of all time. Made some huge mistakes. HUGE mistakes.

But humble in his responsibility.

It was the people who got credit for success and strength and what needed to be done.

And he was vocal, and sincere, on those issues and the people of Great Britain getting credit.

All despite his ego.

It reflects a unique balance of ego and humility.

Ego to effectively lead and humility to be effectively followed.

I would imagine those with the greatest character reside somewhere on the line between those two things.

Damn. There is that darn equation again.

Oh. One last thought. While I focused on business leaders take a moment and think about the people in your life. The children. For that is where character and greatness truly matters.

Being a great mentor to a child is a responsibility. But. Of all the greatness you can achieve in life I would imagine greatness in the eyes of a child as being the pinnacle of greatness. A height with no peer.

And it took a great man with character to remind us of all of this.

Good ole Winston.