My copies of Strategy Driven Leadership arrived at my door this week.

Dr. Jonas Salk, the pioneer researcher who developed the polio vaccine while working here at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine was once quoted as stating that “our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.”

Forebearers of the Iroquois Nation understood the importance of how their actions today would impact their world going forward 7 generations from that moment.

We’re usually so caught up in our own day-to-day life that it is difficult to sometimes look forward just a few days or weeks or certainly years. Looking back is equally challenging as I often ask people what they were worried about a year ago, which in our case today, was November 20, 2018.

Work in resilience goes beyond just managing our personal stressors and must take into consideration larger societal challenges like climate change, education and economic inequality, as well as how we handle natural and man-made disasters.

It may seem like small actions if you volunteer to fill boxes at the Food Bank or are a mentor to a young man or woman who needs the support of an adult. Accompanying an older family member to a medical appointment or genuinely being interested in a colleague’s concerns about their career may only take a small bit of time but can make a difference to them that will ripple in their lives for hours, days, weeks, years and possible across generations.

We never know what the future holds but if we think beyond today, we may take some actions that will change it for the good

Your Challenge This Week: Think back to what life was for seven generations of your ancestors (~300 years) and what 7 generations going forward would look like and what you can do to change the world for good.