Striving to be the best is sometimes not the right goal

I was thinking about leaders in our midst as Americans. I was also thinking about how, for some, striving to be the best is more of a detriment than an asset.

When we strive to be the best in an ego-driven way, we may do what may look good, but not truly be good This is the case when ambition trumps mission--you allow your will to be the best to get in the way of what is right and good for the mission of your endeavor. An example of this might be an educator who spends hours decorating a classroom so it looks good, but does little to truly support the children in the classroom. The mission of the job is to support the children. Yes, a welcoming classroom supports that mission, but there are many other efforts that support that work too.

We all have to check ourselves continuously to make sure that our ambition supports mission rather than trumps mission. For example, in my opinion, Donald Trump lets ambition trump mission. He's so ego-driven and apparently, with his will to be the best ruler of all time, he often goes for the show rather than the substance. It's like building a beautiful house out of shoddy materials--it may look good for a few years, but in the end, the poor foundation and weak materials will destroy the home.

Substance is better than show when it comes to the good work we do, and to gain real substance is typically a group endeavor in most areas of work. When we work together for collective goals, we more often let ambition serve the mission rather than work with ambition alone in mind. Of course, you have to be mindful of who makes up your collaborative group. If you surround yourself with ambition-driven individuals who don't care about the mission, then your collective work will be no better than your ego-driven singular efforts.

So, in summary, you want to be the best that you can be, but you don't want to do it with regard to ambition alone. You want to work with the mission as your goal, and let your ambition serve that mission rather than dominate it. Onward.