Can you imagine yourself saying (and meaning) the following words to someone at work: a colleague, a client, a direct report, your boss? This, in effect, is the Greater Than Yourself Pledge. Words, as you will see, that are not to be taken–or given–lightly:
I promise to pass along my knowledge, give my time, deliver to you my connections, life lessons, insights and counsel.
I promise I will commit to a percentage of my weekly time to meet with you and counsel you.
I promise I will make a difference in your life by promoting your welfare, fortune, success and capacity for achievement.
I promise I will invest in our relationship, share my “personal inventory” and ask you to do the same. I will discover your hopes and dreams, and demand of myself a commitment to the achievement of your hopes and dreams at least as much as my own.
I promise you my confidence, genuine words and gestures of encouragement, and a healthy dose of tough and honest feedback.
In short, I hereby dedicate myself to you and your success.
Try writing a GTY pledge of your own. What would you change? What would you add?
And, most important, what will you do with it?
(If you’d like to give a copy of this pledge to someone you know, you can download it as a certificate here.)
Great post, Steve. A while back I wrote my mission statement “To use creativity, strategy and will to promote and achieve excellence in and for myself and those around me”, which I immediately thought of reading your post. I think the key is that you have to raise up others for you to get the maximum benefit out of everything you do. I love that you are spreading that message!
Very nice article. particularly GTY = Greater than yourself.
Thanks Steve