Am I ready to be a leader?

What attracts people to leadership positions? Is it the power that can be wielded? Is it the prestige and recognition that comes with reaching the upper echelons? Given the image many leaders have these days, it seems that responsibility, humility and the search for excellence are not among the virtues that are given priority to. I think that so much effort goes into getting to the top that leaders sometimes forget that with power comes great responsibility and not just personal gain. Being a leader requires making the vision a reality and taking responsibility for the failures as well as the challenges that may stand in the way of attaining success. Overcoming the difficulties requires a lot of self-knowledge and self-control to ensure that our personal demons don't get in the way of resolving the issues at hand. In this sense, as leaders we must keep an eye on:

• Our leadership style.
• Our criteria for decision making.
• The implementation of the vision.
• Measuring our progress.
• The participation of stakeholders.
• Selling our ideas.
• Communication.
• Ethics.

What is the meaning of my life?

What has changed when we have come and gone? Our birth and eventual death mark the duration of our lives. For some of us there is nothing more to it. But what gives it meaning? Maybe nature can give us some hints. Imagine being in a drop of water falling from the sky and somehow you end up in the stream of life on a mountain high. Here the flow of water is quick, vibrant and full of energy. Yet the stream is small and erratic. This flow of water may seem trivial on the surface however when we look in detail at all the things that it helps to sustain such as plant and animal life, it gains greater meaning. In this sense, if we abstract the definition of our lives beyond our biological presence it is possible to see that we can find greater meaning in our existence.

If we follow the stream we find it feeds into a river which is bigger but more coherent in its flow. Somehow by simply flowing we can shape rocks and transform the landscape. In much the same way we as humans work together to create things such as homes, relationships and life in the form of children. They are part of our legacy and yet I think there is more to life than perpetuating our DNA. As any step-child can attest, being a biological parent is not enough. I think our true legacy lies in the memory of our loved ones, friends and acquaintances. In this sense by observing and learning from ourselves and our surroundings we can cultivate true knowledge and meaningful relationships as we progress on our paths of life.

There are drops of water that are captured by man-made objects. As a result this water ceases to flow. When we focus on the temporary and base our lives around it, we are exposing ourselves to suffering. Thinking constantly about our physical assets and our mortality makes us dependent on them and can stop us from progressing in our lives. Even though the physical and the temporary are important for our physical survival, we would do well to pay attention to those aspects of our life which are eternal and meaningful.

Eventually the river reaches the vast ocean. At this stage a lot of people reflect on what they have done with the time given to them. There the flow of water and its energy are different. The drop has become part of something far greater and yet that is not the end for the drop of water. Eventually it will evaporate and be part of some other life cycle. In nature it doesn't matter if you are rich and powerful or poor and destitute, our bodies eventually die and we become part of something else. It is my belief that you can pursue whatever temporary objective you wish but you will truly benefit from those things you can take on your transcendental journey.

Am I the owner of the truth?

The absolute truth encompasses those things we believe apply universally, like natural laws. If we believe a statement or idea to be true we sometimes expect others to follow and enforce it. What do I believe to be true and just? Is it that we are all equal? Does that mean that we all have equal rights and obligations? Must everyone follow the ideas and laws I believe to be true? In the same way many of us expect the light to turn on when we flick the switch, so we have come to believe that written laws control everything we do. In a sense, written laws are usually designed to define expected behavior and regulate our freedom of action.

So why are there so many people breaking written laws? Maybe it is because we are unaware of them or because each of us have different views on how those laws apply to us. For example, history has shown us time and again how certain laws that forbid killing other people have been bypassed for some "superior" motive. As any lawyer will tell us, laws are usually open to interpretation. Those who create them envision situations in which they apply and reasons for applying them. Somehow each of us must interpret these laws and take them into account in our everyday lives. In case we break the law there are others in charge of enforcement and applying penalties as required.

In many respects we must earn our freedom. When we live in society there are laws that we must understand, accept and apply that will help us operate with greater transparency. It is clear to me that those societies where respect and trust for the law and for each of its citizens are upheld, the costs of maintaining law and order are much lower. Even if we were to live alone in a forest, natural laws such as survival of the fittest and gravity would affect us. In the end we would operate best in harmony with nature and its laws.

There are schools of thought that predicate a set of laws and rules that apply to everyone. For me the mere existence of a multiplicity of schools of thought of every kind makes me think that it is natural for humans to interpret ideas and laws, and adapt the way they apply. Even laws such as those expressed in human rights or "thou shall not kill (under any circumstances)" seem to have many exceptions with respect to our local behavior. For these types of laws to apply effectively, each individual must have respect and trust for his fellow man and for the society he belongs to.

Natural laws tend to be universal and apply to us independently of our interpretation. On the other hand, written laws tend to apply to defined groups and require interpretation and acceptance. In this sense written laws must respect our individuality as much as we accept our responsibilities towards the collective. In our everyday life we must balance our rights with our obligations as citizens and participate actively in the definition of laws to ensure that they are representative and will not be open to abuses. It is natural for us to apply the laws we believe in and any idea or law that is imposed unilaterally will surely meet resistance.

What do I know?

Socrates once declared, "All I know is that I know nothing". This observation gains special meaning in our modern world where we are so reliant on information and knowledge. In many respects we have developed a faith in science and technology that has allowed us to progress and achieve things we could only dream about. The tools and knowledge we now possess have amplified our capacity to create and destroy to the point where we have developed a sense of arrogance.

Yet, a lot of the knowledge we have developed is dependent on observation and experimentation that have generated more questions than answers. This begs the question of how reliable our observations are in terms of yielding everything there is to know. If we look at the scale of the known electromagnetic spectrum it is impressive to see how small our field of vision is. A lot of the phenomena we observe are actually secondary and always open to interpretation. This explains in part why we have had a history of changes in the way we conceive the universe, and these paradigm shifts are likely to continue for a very long time.

I think it is safe to say that there is so much we do not know about, that a sense of humility would be more appropriate. Our knowledge is very dependent on how we understand and see our environment, and in many cases only applies to specific conditions. In fact, a lot of our effort goes into reproducing the conditions in which we can apply our knowledge more easily. For example, computers require electricity and we have dedicated a lot of resources to installing and maintaining the infrastructure required for them to function. In terms of communications, medicine and education we have made a lot of progress extending our influence and well-being to a lot of persons around the world.

If we assume an attitude of arrogance towards our knowledge I think we would be limiting ourselves. I say this not only in the sense of limiting the scope of knowledge, but also in closing our hearts and minds to other possibilities. In this sense the Internet is a testament to how openness can help us learn about our environment and progress.

The more we are open to consider other points of view, the more we reduce the risk of skewing our knowledge with our particular bias. It is also important to be vigilant of the context and situations in which we apply our knowledge. Sometimes we have a tendency of wanting to apply knowledge universally without thinking through the consequences. I believe that we must complement our limited knowledge with a vision of that which is eternal and meaningful. True knowledge comes from accepting that there are many things we do not know about. Assuming an attitude of continuous search for the truth can be our way of accepting this.