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APX-V-0021

“Someone I poured into just surpassed me and I'm proud, not threatened.”

APX · Pillar II, Apex APX-V · Protect Those Beneath You.

There is a small man's reflex to feel eclipsed when the person you raised passes you. You don't feel it, and that absence is itself a victory. The strong exist for one another, you teach them or you bear with them, and the highest form of teaching is making someone capable of leaving you behind. Their height is your work standing up and walking.

Your Practice

  1. Tell them directly that you see how far they've passed you, and that you're glad.
  2. Resist any urge to remind them where they started. The point was never to stay above them.
  3. Ask what they've learned that you haven't, let the student teach the teacher now.
  4. Find the next person to pour into. A mentor's strength compounds across people, not over one.

The Architects

“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in if it is not a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.”

Theodore Roosevelt, 'What a Progressive Is', speech at Louisville, Kentucky, 1912

More under APX-V

APX-V-0001“Someone weaker than me is getting crushed and I'm just watching.”APX-V-0002“I'm finally using my strength to lift others up.”APX-V-0003“I'm mentoring someone and watching them grow.”APX-V-0004“I realized I've been protecting the wrong things.”APX-V-0005“I'm stepping into a leadership role for the first time.”APX-V-0006“A child or young person in my life is struggling and needs guidance.”
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