Saving the World is over-rated (if you don’t save yourself first)

I have just finished reading the book ‘To Russia with Love.’ No, it wasn’t the James Bond story (“From Russia with Love) by Ian Fleming. But there was still plenty of adventure in this one.  The book details the story of Debbie Deegan, a stay-at-home mother in Clontarf who initially took in a ‘Chernobyl Kid’ for the summer. That decision kick-started a process which ended up with Debbie running a range of initiatives to improve the lives of kids in orphanages across Russia.  It’s a great read and all the profits go to the charity – so go out and buy a copy.  With that  ‘plug’ completed, what has this got to do with you? Quite a lot actually.

Mixed Bag: I never really tire of telling this tale. When I was about 20 (a confusing age for many people), I was a volunteer with the St. Vincent de Paul Society.  The Conference I was attached to visited people in hospital – targeting those who didn’t have regular visitors. It was all a bit chaotic. We didn’t know who had regular visitors and who didn’t and had to figure it out ‘on the fly’.   The people in hospital (some of whom were very sick) had no idea what we were up to. Many thought we were Mormons or some religious cult.  Those of a more suspicious disposition kept an eye on their bedside lockers in case we stole their watch or bailed off with the green grapes.  Perhaps the intention was good. Mark Twain said: “There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.” After some months of ‘mixed success’, I was questioning the whole enterprise and spoke with an older man who’d been a long time member. He listened intently and then relayed the following story…

Battleship Duties: He asked: “Do you know what a Battleship is for?”  I replied: “No, I don’t.”  He told me that the central purpose of a battleship is to protect other ships.  I said: “OK, I get it.”Then he told me that in order of importance, the first 3 duties of a battleship are (a) to stay afloat (b) to stay afloat and (c) to stay afloat.  If a battleship is not afloat, it can’t protect other shipping. In a very empathetic way he suggested that at a time in my life when I was not ‘afloat’ myself, I wasn’t in any great position to be protecting others. In fact volunteering was a distraction from what I needed to do. Go back to college. Learn something in depth. Establish a niche for myself. Later I could return to the core instinct to add value outside of my own immediate interests.

Mind Yourself: In the book Accidental Leadership, I wrote about the difficultly for senior executives and particularly for CEO’s around the topic of ‘self care.’ I’ve seen people in the not-for-profit sector run themselves ragged because of the nobility of the mission and a sense that they have made personal promises to philanthropists and so on.  So, here’s an idea. Let the world take care of itself for awhile. You are not Tequila i.e. you don’t have the responsibility for everyone else’s happiness – they own that one themselves.  Overall, saving the world is a bit overrated.  But, even if you are addicted to this, perhaps start with saving yourself.

Have a good week.

Paul

 PS Lighter Note: A mixed bag of ‘pub jokes’ this week. What do you think?

Q: Why does California have a lot of lawyers and New Jersey a lot of landfills?

A: New Jersey had first pick.

Q: What do you call a three-legged donkey?

A: A wonky!

Q: What do you call a three-legged donkey with one eye?

A: A winky wonky.

Q: What do you call a three-legged donkey with one eye that listens to country-western music?

A: A honky tonky winky wonky!

Lisa:“Do we have any food that wasn’t brutally slaughtered?”

Homer:“Well, I think the veal died of loneliness.”  (The Simpsons)

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