Frankl also discusses at length the concept of “responsibleness”.  He says, “it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.  Life ultimately means taking responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”  He even goes so far as to recommend that “the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.”

    He must have foreseen much of the recent American culture in which taking responsibility for one’s actions has become an increasingly foreign concept.  We are prone to blame others or our institutions for everything that happens to us, without asking what we can do to improve the situation.

    This book should be required reading for everyone—and certainly for all leaders—because it speaks to how we can find meaning not only for our own lives but also how we can help others find meaning.  Frankl relates how some senior block wardens in the camps were able to exert an effective influence on their fellow prisoners by how they behaved:  “The right example was more effective than words could ever be.”  In the March/April issue of Motto, Peter Dunn, president and chief executive officer of Steak ‘n’ Shake talked with Sylvia Lafair about how Frankl’s book influenced his life and the leadership of his company.  Dunn states:  “I believe that everyone deserves to have meaning in their lives, and work can be a major place to help people discover what matters to them.”  His words inspired me to reread and reconsider this timeless book.