Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 5/22/2023
I believe it’s just fine to think well of yourself, to have high self-worth, to believe you’re exceptional. We’re all unique and have particular talents to contribute to others.
Someone wrote once that if cows and horses were asked to draw pictures of God, they would draw a cow or a horse.
President Obama has often been criticized for saying he didn’t believe in American Exceptionalism. However, what he actually said (and I’m paraphrasing) is that he did believe in it, just as Greeks would believe in Greek exceptionalism or the French in French exceptionalism. And he said he was very proud of the accomplishments of our country.
No one would rationally argue that all of us, in any country, can’t improve still more. (That’s why I think the search should be for “better practices” at all times, and not “best practices,” which tend to halt further exploration.) But there’s nothing wrong with feeling pride in individual, group, and/or social accomplishments.
There is something wrong with walking around feeling “guilty.” Guilt is something for which we must atone. The major religions even recognize formal periods for doing this, but don’t require it be constant. Guilt, along with fear and stress, “mask” talent and prevent us from doing our best and reaching our full potential.
In other words, guilt undermines exceptionalism.
Guilt has become a verb in these convoluted times: “They guilted me.” I’ve been responsible for bad behavior and egregious errors in my life, and I’ve apologized when possible, changed something where permissible, and always learned from the experience so as to be better in the future (and not repeat it).
But I don’t walk around feeling guilty and I won’t accept attempts to cite me as guilty.
I believe in exceptionalism when it means that I’m trying to make others exceptional and helping them to seek their full potential.
Consistency of performance is essential. You don’t have to be exceptional every week but as a minimum you need to be at a level that even on a bad day you get points on the board. — Sean Dyche
How glorious it is—and also how painful—to be an exception. —Alfred de Musset
My goal is always to create something exceptional that enhances cities and enriches the lives of the people who live and work in them. —Santiago Calatrava
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