What will you tell the world, that it’s not ready to hear?
Galileo Galilei spent the end of his life under house arrest, after violating the belief system of his time.
The Roman Catholic Church imprisoned him as retribution for his scientific findings of heliocentrism — that the earth revolved around the sun.
It defied what people at the time believed.
I write of The Eiffel Tower Principle — the historic landmark also faced kickback and criticism from the French community who couldn’t forsee what a wonderful gift it would be. I use this example to break down how and why people resist innovation at first.
It took Einstein years to have his ideas adopted. In more extreme examples, revolutionaries like Jesus of Nazareth have been crucified and murdered for defying their times and being the first to demonstrate a new or better way of doing things.
If you scroll LinkedIn and Twitter you’ll be bathed in plenty of wisdom about how to improve whatever you’re doing this year, this month, this week… but on a grander scale, if we don’t question the size of our vision we become content to excel at playing small — to celebrate the conquer of a small hill.
The real contributors of history don’t get employee of the month or win salesman of the year. Their triumphs aren’t a promotion or Porsche.
Theirs is the business of moving things forward. They speak ahead of their time, and they do it bravely.
That’s leadership.
So what will you tell the world, that it’s not yet ready to hear?
