“If you don’t lift as you rise, you will sink.” - Wendy Lewis
During the 2019 Ajilla Conference, Wendy Lewis, VP, Global Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement Officer at McDonald’s, shared a little bit about both her personal and professional journey and how paying it forward has made an impact. Here are 5 key takeaways from the keynote presentation:
“When you learn teach, when you get give” - Maya Angelou. The true nature of how much power you have is how you use it to pay it forward. Giving back and helping others is the only way to sustain the power that you have.
Appreciate where you are in your life journey and remember that you get to your next before you get to your finish. Every season serves a purpose and the goal should be that you don’t move to your “next” by yourself. If you don’t lift as you rise, you will sink.
Paying it forward doesn’t always have to be monetary. Money cannot replace trust, time, hospitality, support, wisdom, prayer or a simple smile. Use what you have to pay it forward.
Sometimes there are things that you don’t want to do, but you will need to do it because its uniquely yours to do. Paying it Forward requires you to be unselfish and honest about what you know needs to happen vs what you want to happen. It means letting go when you really want to hold on.
Passion, Purpose, Potential, Paying it Forward and PERSISTENCE are essential to any individual's success. Wendy shared the values of Ray Krok, founder of McDonald’s: "Nothing in the world can take place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Identify your passion. That could lead to your purpose. Once you’re walking in your purpose, pay it forward. In all that you do, be persistent.
Paying it forward is one of your powers. Use your power to empower. There is no day or time that you don’t pay it forward. You live to pay it forward.
