The Jewish holiday of Passover begins
today at sundown. It is a holiday that commemorates the Exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt thousands of years ago. In the retelling of the story of
the Exodus, the text that sets forth the ritual of the service instructs:
“Remember this day, on which you went out of Egypt.” On Passover, every year, in
every generation, and every location around the world, Jewish people observing
the holiday are asked to regard themselves as if they had personally left Egypt
out of slavery and into freedom. There is a profound truth beyond the Jewish
experience as we ask ourselves “what does freedom mean to me?” personally and
on a larger scale, in our community and world-wide.
The gift of freedom comes with the
responsibility to work for the freedom of others. True freedom lies not only in
the pursuit of our own rights but also in fighting for the freedoms of others
who are denied them and living in a way that is respectful towards all people
of different backgrounds and beliefs. Freedom and compassion go hand in hand.
As our own personal freedom increases, our capacity for compassion should grow
outward into the world. We can be truly free when we act with compassion and generosity
toward others. In choosing compassion as our compass, we enrich the human
experience.
“The greatness of humanity is not in
being human, but in being humane” ~ Mahatma Gandhi.
And then, of course, there’s freedom on
an individual level. Freedom means different things to different people, but at
the core, it’s having the autonomy and capacity for self-expression and making
individual choices. Freedom and choice go hand in hand. With the freedom to
make choices, we need to be willing to accept the responsibility for our
decisions, actions, and outcomes. It’s important to recognize that what is
possible, may not necessarily come easy to us. Every new possibility leads to
incredible opportunities as well as some tough challenges. Freedom is the ability
to embrace the challenges along our journey to keep moving forward, to keep
evolving and to become better people.
“Freedom is not overcoming what you
think stands in your way. It is understanding that what is in your way is part
of the way.” ~ Guy Finley.
In applying the concept of freedom to
our work life, we need to ask ourselves: “what does career freedom mean to me?”
On an individual level it means owning our
career, making sure we are in the driver’s seat taking responsibility for our
professional development. Career freedom requires a proactive strategy to
establish and achieve professional dreams and goals. This is an ongoing process
of evaluating what we love, what we want, where we are and where we are heading
managing our career every step of the way freeing ourselves of any limiting
situations and achieving greater professional self-actualization. To achieve
career freedom always remain true to who you are at your best. A brand is a
promise of an experience, what is the experience of people working with you?
If you have any direct reports, I hope
you ask yourself what freedom means in managing people. At the core it is about
understanding that leadership has nothing to do with a position, title, seniority,
authority or pay grade, and everything to do with interpersonal relationship
catering for the freedoms and needs of others. As an HR leader and coach, I
believe that today’s biggest business problems are people challenges: how to
attract top talent, how to engage and motivate people? How to increase
productivity? How to encourage creativity and innovation? How to facilitate
collaboration? How to build a strong positive culture? I also believe that the
answer lies in giving up control and giving others expressive freedom to use
their talent and excel at their work. You are a leader when you offer people
the freedom of choice to fully contribute to the collective knowledge,
experience and success of the tem and the company.
In closing, I’d like to quote Rosa
Parks: “I believe we are here on the planet earth to live, grow up and do what
we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”
May this festival of freedom bring peace and freedom to all of our homes in every aspect of our life and in all that we do!
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