How should help be defined? A quick look in the dictionary reveals a number of thoughts: “making it easier (for someone) to do something by offering one’s services or resources; improve (a situation or problem), be of benefit to by assisting, serving, and the list goes on.”

The challenge has never been the definition, but the application. There is a difference between helping and enabling. There is also a difference in how we perceive helping and the reality of our actions.

Remember the proverb defining the contrast in giving someone a fish to feed them for a day and teaching them how to fish and feed them for life. Which one is really helping?

Our leadership needs to be based on the same idea. When we strive to help someone, it should be considered beyond the temporary need of the moment, lest we find ourselves placing a bandaid on an open wound.

Let us lead with the conviction of helping others long term, perhaps eternally. Here is where the legacy of our leadership will be determined.