A New Word, An Old Concept

Leaders are learners. I see that as one of the intangibles of leadership: the desire and willingness to grow and learn.  John Maxwell put it succinctly when he once said “if you’re not growing, you’re dying”. In our pursuit of growth and learning, I have noticed a pitfall that has the potential to nullify our leadership if we aren’t aware:

Getting our sense of satisfaction based on what others say or do, instead of who we are.

A common definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I’ve discovered a variant that I call idensanity, which is doing what others do over and over again and expecting their results and approval. As you have probably noticed, that word is a combination of identity and insanity.  Trying to assume someone else’s identity in order to have their results and approval is a temptation every leader faces. 

Here’s a relevant quote from Marcus Aurelius:

Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do…Sanity means tying it to your own actions.”

I think Marcus Aurelius would agree with my word, idensanity, as a description of what he sees as ambition. Let’s commit to being sane in our leadership.