​​​​​​​​​​LEADING WITH CHARACTER!

​“The man who practices unselfishness, who is genuinely interested in the welfare of others, who feels it a privilege to have the power to do a fellow creature a kindness … will be an elevating influence wherever he goes.” Orison Swett Marden

Listen to Story 1.

Introduction

The realization that many people have it much worse than we do is a great reminder to all of us. It is easy to get so deeply involved in our own challenges and forget that fact. 

Many of us intend to be unselfish, but we allow ourselves to become so self-fixated that we often miss daily opportunities to serve others. We walk by those opportunities because it is inconvenient at the moment to stop and serve the needs of someone else. 

Even though it is rarely convenient to exercise true unselfishness, we must learn to pay the small personal prices that will produce potentially large gains for others. Remember – We’re all on the same team! 

Unselfishness

The dictionary defines unselfishness as “the quality of not putting yourself first but being willing to give your time or money or effort, etc. for others.” 

According to the Marine Corps, unselfishness means that “we avoid making ourselves comfortable at the expense of others, that we are considerate of others, and that we give credit to those who deserve it.” 

Unselfish leaders make decisions that benefit as many as possible, without worrying too much about themselves. They look out for the welfare of their teams beyond simple job descriptions, legal concerns, and even their own personal comfort. And they do this most particularly in difficult situations. 

In order to become more unselfish in our approach to the “game of life”, it is the perspective of One Marine that we should pay particular attention to the following three areas: Mindset, Choices, and Actions. 

Mindset - We need to broaden our perspectives. What central issues are affecting our communities? We need to pick something we want to learn more about, then read as much about it as possible so we’ll gain a deeper understanding, and search our minds for ways to help better the situation. 

We can also practice imagining ourselves in other people’s situations. If we were the one’s experiencing the challenge, how would we feel? How would we want to be treated? The answers to those questions should help mold our mindsets – our attitudes toward helping those in need. 

We can choose to model ourselves after someone we consider unselfish. Being unselfish isn’t always pleasurable, but when we realize that someone we respect has made the choice to put others first, we can become more willing to make the sacrifices associated with those choices ourselves. Next time we are struggling to make an unselfish choice, we can ask ourselves what that person would do, and try to find motivation for our actions in the answer. 

Listen to Story 2​.

Choices - We should choose the option that helps most people. How can we best meet the needs of as many people as possible, rather than just helping out those closest to us? We should always strive to be good role models to those around us and go for the option that’s best for most of our team in the long run. 

We should choose to consider other people’s time at least as valuable as our own time. We often keep other people waiting for us, or we become impatient if we are waiting for others. The truth is that everyone’s time is valuable to them and it is not our prerogative to squander the time of someone else. 

​We should learn to forgive and forget. Holding grudges or seeking payback for wrongs done to us is not only energy draining, it is selfish. We should find better approaches than to waste time and energy on those things in the past over which we no longer have control. 

Listen to Story 3​.

Actions - As is always the case, we are judged by our actions. We may have every intention of being unselfish and putting the needs of others before our own but, unless we put those intentions into actions, we are not being unselfish. 

We can unselfishly do such things as: volunteering our time and skills to deserving causes, donating our “extra stuff” to charity, or donating money to needful organizations – just donating what we can. 

We can be unselfish in everyday ways – give our seats on the bus to the elderly and infirm, hold doors open for people coming in behind us, or pick up the tab when we notice the person at the next table is short on cash. It may be impossible to be completely unselfish all the time, but we can try to find several meaningful ways to be unselfish on a daily basis. 

Listen to Story 4​.

Conclusion

Unselfishness means putting the community’s needs above our own instead of always acting in our own interest. Being unselfish isn’t easy, but the more we practice the better we get at being kind and generous.

The better we become at having an unselfish Mindset, making unselfish Choices, and taking unselfish Actions, the better teammates we become in “the game of life”. Putting other people’s needs before our own is usually worth it in the end.

By the way, if we like to get recognition each time we exercise unselfishness, we may not be that unselfish. 

Listen to Story 5.

“Truth, purity, and unselfishness, wherever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition.” Swami Vivekananda

​Unselfishness

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