“my identity as a person shouldn’t be defined by a single goal”. I think that was well said in your Light from Many Lamps II post. When I was younger, my identify was tied to many goals that I had set for myself. Unfortunately many of my goals were not realized and I underwent a crisis in identify. I slowly came to the realization that my identity is defined by more than the achievement of goals, but it is a lesson I continue to learn.
Upon reflection, it occurs to me that this understanding is also crucial for a leaders to know because every leader experiences failure at some point. How this impacts my self-identity as a leader will be determined by how I process each failure and the learnings I take from them. In my observation of leaders that I interact with, those who acknowledge their failure openly and honestly win the respect of others far more than those who hide them. Learning from your mistakes is a difficult thing to do when it is done in the public eye. The motto “this too shall pass away” may well be a personal motto that I repeat to myself during those difficult times. Thank you for your thought-provoking post.