We have to wonder what could happen if leaders knew how to think big. The passion that drives greatness, especially from a spiritual perspective, must be nothing short of global.
Nelson Mandela once said, “There is no passion to be found playing small––in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
The challenge of settling for less than what we are capable of is only coupled with the limitations placed upon what God is capable of doing through us…if we only let Him.
We often believe God will not do it because we are convinced we cannot do it.
The “grasshopper syndrome” of the spies in Numbers 13-14 orchestrates our own defeat. The problem was not how the Israelites appeared in the eyes of the giants in Canaan. The problem was in how they saw themselves––grasshoppers in their own sight.
Leaders must not fall prey to this mindset. There must be a passion that is driven by and for greatness––a greatness that is only measured by the power of God to work in amazing and powerful ways.
One of my favorite quotes is from Danie Burnham. He was the architect responsible for the transformation of Chicago in the late 1800’s. The mastermind behind the 1893 Worlds Fair. His quote: Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and our grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.
Thank you, Marty. I love that quote and use it in my seminar now on goal setting. I find it makes a nice conclusion. 🙂