The Importance of Discerning

Are you happy?

Nils Leonard is the co-founder of Uncommon London. Nils has been on the podcast before.

I ask him back pretty regularly because every one of our conversations expands my understanding of leadership.

I think he keeps saying, “Yes,” because each time he learns something about himself.

In this week’s episode, we covered a lot of new ground. In truth, I could have highlighted a number of areas as worthy of close attention.

But this is the one that really stands out for me.

Life is short. Careers are shorter.

I find myself saying this quite often these days as a reminder that within the maelstrom of running a business, we are also, and more importantly, living a life.

Leadership comes at you hard and fast. It is demanding and unrelenting and it is easy - very easy - to get swept along in the expectations that are placed on us.

Managing those expectations are hard when they come from other people. But the more important and consequential challenge is to manage the expectations we have of ourselves.

The first and critical step is to define what you mean by success. In all its forms and attributes.

Personally, I believe that one of those definitions should include the word ‘happy’.

Too many people think doing that makes them selfish.

But in my experience, the people that are clear that they want to be happy are also the ones who have given the most thought to what that means to them.

Often, most often, it includes the desire to help others unlock their potential.

So, are you doing something that makes you happy? And how do you know?