A leadership tenet I hold dear: To repair the world
Autumn is especially meaningful for people who are Jewish. This season encompasses both the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement. It is a time for gratitude, reflection, for holding oneself accountable for mistakes. It is also a time for looking ahead to who we want to become and how we can contribute to making the world a better place in the coming year.
A core belief and my chosen profession are highly informed by a tenet of Judaism: Tikkun Olam – To repair the world.
Judaism teaches that each person is an entire world. Any tikkun (repair or improvement) made in this world reverberates through all the rest of the world. Each tikkun has the potential to change everything. In other words, even small repairs add up to something much bigger. This belief gives us great opportunity and great responsibility for every one of our actions.
This complex and unrestful world calls for all leaders to look more deeply at their highest purpose. Tikkun Olam teaches us to see “the spark of the divine” in every person and every action. Through this lens, for example, we could see a mistake (I’ve made many) as a fault or as an opportunity for humble learning and growth. We could hold a meeting as just another way to get work done or as precious time to connect with team members. We could view team members as “here to do a job” or people entrusted into our care. We could see our businesses as a vehicle to accumulate wealth for a select few or as a vehicle for good for all.
The research of neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett tells us that we are emotional beings that think, not thinking beings with emotions. We construct our emotions and we’re responsible for them. She says, “If I were not a scientist using experiments to reveal that emotions are in fact made and not triggered, I too would trust my immediate experience.”
Why does this matter to leaders? We can no longer say, “that was not my intention.” Our constructed emotions, conscious or subconscious, inform how we see the world. They inform the energy we manifest, our reactions, perspectives, beliefs, unconscious bias and decision making—all the ways in which we act and express our leadership.
How would our actions change if we saw each and every human being, of all colors, as an entire world?
How would our attention and behaviors change if we believed that each of our actions reverberates throughout the world?
How would we lead differently if we had a higher purpose, Tikkum Olam? Live values differently? Construct a strategy differently?
As I write this, I am on my way to apologize for a mistake I made. To acknowledge my responsibility and to ask for forgiveness. Even small acts of repair add up. The bigger impact is my internal work to humbly ask myself, how I can be better.
Wishing you peace, safety, and good health.
Sherri McArdle is a wife and mother to adult children and has been a business leader/owner for over 25 years. She is also a Master Certified Coach (MCC) to leaders and executives across the country and a trained mediator.
