We recently connected with Lincoln Greenidge and have shared our conversation below.
Lincoln, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
In my opinion, it is not how I found my purpose, but more so how did I realize that we all have the same purpose. Let me quickly explain. For many years I heard people speaking about being in search of meaning and purpose and thought that it made sense to find a reason to be, a reason to be; essentially, a reason to be alive. Then in recent times, it dawned on me that we were all in search of what was already there and looking afar for what was close and right in front of us. I believe that each person’s purpose is to live a life of service to others. However, the key in doing so is to serve using the gifts, skills, and talents that we each possess. Everyone has a gift, skill, or talent, but many seek to live other people’s lives. Lives directed to them by society, their family (parents, siblings, relatives, etc), friends, and persons of influence and power. Very seldom if ever does one live a meaningful and pleasurable life by not using one’s gifts.
First one has to recognize that one’s purpose is to serve others, then figure out HOW one can serve using the gifts which come naturally, but need to be nurtured and harnessed to maximize utility in service to others. This is where I decided to write my first book called ‘NO MORE EXCUSES, Taking the first step to living a life of purpose with meaning”. Around the same time, I was appointed CEO of Sandfire Resources America, where I had to make a choice of staying in a small town of close to 900 people and lead a company with the hopes of being the first copper producer to establish a mine in Montana in over 30 years. Such a mine which is designed at a world class level and considering how best to ensure that the environmental landscape is minimally disturbed, ensuring that the community is at the core of what we do and that we celebrate our accomplishments as a community. This is not an easy thing to do, but I am happy to say that the community of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, is very supportive of us building the mine, and I hope to demonstrate our commitment to the community by serving the community’s needs in the best way possible. Our motto is ‘Doing it right from the beginning” and that is just what we do.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My career started over 36 years ago as a junior audit assistant with Peat Marwick, then onto commercial banking at the National Commercial Bank of St. Lucia. Three years after my banking experience, I moved to Ottawa Canada, where I furthered my studies, gaining my business diploma from Algonquin college, to my Business degree in accounting from the University of Ottawa. Afterwards, I worked for an accounting firm called Coopers and Lybrand (now Pricewaterhousecoopers), and afterwards worked in six different industries over the next 28 years.
During my career, I have been fortunate to be associated with the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) where I have been inducted into their Hall of Fame. I also decided that as part of my life’s journey, to start writing, with my first book NO MORE EXCUSES, and as such established WITL Multimedia Group (short for “Walk In The Light”), which was named after a television program my father had in St. Lucia for over 30 years. I also won other awards from the IAOTP, including Top VP of the Year, Top CFO of the year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Top Business Innovator of the Year, and Top CFO of the Decade. After nearly 30 years as a Financial Executive in six different industries, in March 2023, I was appointed President and CEO of Sandfire Resources America Inc.
Achieving these honors has inspired me to share the secrets of my success with my motivational self-help book, NO MORE EXCUSES: TAKING THE FIRST STEP TO LIVING A LIFE OF PURPOSE WITH MEANING, and now my soon to be released second book titled THINK. With my books, I hope to stimulate thought and seek to inspire people to be better versions of themselves each day as they realize the power to succeed is within them, no matter their personal or professional backgrounds.
I believe that everyone’s success is fundamentally surrounded by their willingness to serve others and most of all first having a positive mindset of taking action, as thinking positively is not enough, if no action is taken.. Not only must people strive to overcome self-limiting beliefs, but they must also strive to serve others using their unique personal advantages. This community standard of excellence makes a clear message: changing oneself and the world relies on mindset, teamwork, and living a life with meaning and an understanding of one’s purpose in the service to others.
While achieving these honors and on my life’s journey, my son overcame a rare form of cancer called bilateral retinoblastoma. This was one of the moments that I realized how the way you deal with challenges of life is what highlights your character and how successful you will be. We all have choices and these choices we make lay the roadmap to our future. Challenges will come, but how we deal with such challenges makes the difference. A year after my son’s cancer diagnosis which he was able to beat, he was also diagnosed with autism, which continues to be his challenge and his superpower in showcasing his genius; yet another reason why having a positive mindset is so important, as it is easy to play the victim and to complain and use such challenges to remain imprisoned in inaction. Overall, with such experiences, I have grown to realize more and more how important it is to understand that everyone has a story to tell and you never know what anyone is going through in life, which is why living a life of service to others as one’s purpose is fundamental to living a happy and sustained life.
As a leader, my philosophy is to lead by example and take full responsibility for my actions and hold myself accountable for the consequences of such actions. My excitement in leading Sandfire Resources America, is inspiring all employees to do the things that they otherwise thought they could never do and see the amazing results of doing so. Many people never go beyond their comfort zones, unless they have people in their lives who are willing to help them see that the only failure is not even trying. Too often we are so harsh to criticize those who try that many fail to do so, for fear of being reprimanded. No true success has ever occurred without failure. The key is to learn from failures, or else one would be considered ‘insane’, as Einstein described insanity as “doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results”. Inspiring people to not make excuses, and to plan and execute and continue trying, even if a change in HOW things are done are necessary, but NEVER giving up. That is in a nutshell the joy I get from inspiring people to act and witness the joy of achieving.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The number one quality for me is one of having a positive mindset. I have always been one to believe if I set my mind to do something, I will achieve it. In my mind, there is never a doubt or fear of not achieving. Actually, doubt and fear always exists, but it is my courage to proceed in spite of such fear and doubt that has made the difference. One example was my first time in high school, I participated in high-jump and came second. Afterwards, I was determined to persevere, as second was not good enough for me. Consequently, all the other years of high-school, I got the gold medal in high-jump, even when I jumped against taller and more experienced and older athletes, as I believed I could and I did. This is not to say that it could not have turned out differently, but the point here is that I was determined and did not give up on my goal of achieving GOLD.
In short, my advice is to follow your dreams, but ensure such dreams are aligned with your skills, talents, and gift, which should be nurtured and harnessed. Once you have done so, one should never listen to those who fail to see one’s vision or be aligned with the goals one sets. The reason being that at the end of the day, all what it takes to succeed is within each one of us, if we only have the courage to believe in ourselves and act accordingly towards our goals.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My father was one of the funniest, kindest, and most God fearing men I have ever known. My Dad passed away, at 70 years old, in 2014 and he is the only individual I have been directly acquainted with who lived a life of purpose. He was kind to everyone and unapologetic in his deeds of service to others without wanting, expecting, or requesting anything in return. Though his life experience saw him become a Senator (twice), a union leader, a humanitarian, a business man, a television evangelist, and a lay preacher, he was more spiritual than religious, demonstrating his purpose in his deeds and not just his words. He lived what he preached; he was what he preached.
I will be forever grateful for his legacy and the example he set for me and everyone else to follow. Naturally, I will never be my father, but I thank God that my Dad left a legacy for myself and others to be ourselves and fulfill the same purpose, with the skills, gifts, and talents with which we have been blessed.
It would be remiss of me not to share one of many stories that encapsulate the kind of man my father was.
One day after arriving home from school, I entered my room and, for some reason, my eye captured the fact that a pair of my shoes was missing. I did not have many shoes, and it was apparent that the space between my church shoes and house shoes was empty. I first wondered whether I somehow had misplaced them but realized it was not possible, so I called out to my Dad, who was in the other room, and asked whether he had seen the shoes.
He came into my room, with his normal smile and pleasant demeanor, and said, “I noticed that you had not worn these shoes for some time now, and on my way home, I saw a man walking down the road who had no shoes. Remembering that you did not need the shoes and thinking they might fit the man, I rushed home, then returned to the man and gave them to him.”
What does a son say to such an act of kindness? Clearly my father’s life has been important in my journey. His values and morale code has made a mark on me that has guided me throughout my life’s journey to date.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://awalkintothelight.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/witlmultimediagroupllc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/witlmultimediagroupllc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lincolngreenidge/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/witlmultimedia
