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!
