The average doctor saves over 10,000 lives during his or her career. This is a real statistic from the New England Journal of Medicine from a study they did in the 1990s. Think about that for a moment. One person dedicates their life to the medical profession. They study, go to medical school, intern, begin their practice and see patients for years upon years. At the end of their career they look back and realize that because of the work they did, more than 10,000 people enjoyed longer, healthier lives.
But what if I told you there were doctors who didn’t save 10,000 lives in their careers? In fact, some doctors save a million lives. And others save tens of millions. One person in that same profession saved the lives of more than ten million people. Do you wonder what the difference is between the two of them?
Meet Ignaz Semmelweis. Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis was born in 1818 in what is now part of modern day Budapest. He started out to be a lawyer, but a year into college he decided to devote his life to medicine. He was alive during the golden age of medical discovery, where doctors were moving from theories of “evil spirits” and “bad air”, to the science of the body. Semmelweis was a physician-scientist, collecting data, examining autopsies and basing his work on scientific modeling.
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis pioneered many sterilization and sanitation practices still used in hospitals for the last 150 years.
Early in his medical career Semmelweis became interested in puerperal fever, a disease that infected babies after childbirth with a mortality rate of 30%. In the hospital where Semmelweis worked there were two maternity wards. The morality rate was higher in one of them even though all of the same basic procedures were used. Semmelweis noticed that one ward had students constantly entering and exiting, and was next to the infectious disease department and morgue, while the other was not. In 1847, Semmelweis’ friend ,Jakob Kolletschka, accidentally cut himself with a scalpel during an autopsy and died. Semmelweis observed that Jakob had the same symptoms as the women who were in labor that were suffering from puerperal fever. He assumed that the students who assisted during deliveries in the first maternity ward had “corpse particles” on their hands—contamination from the morgue. The young doctor had an idea. He forced all students to treat their hands with a chlorine solution after helping to perform an autopsy. The method was effective: the mortality rate was reduced an astounding tenfold.
The idea that dirty hands were the only reason that was causing puerperal fever was not received by Semmelweis’ colleagues. In 1855, Semmelweis was appointed to a role as professor of Obstetrics at the University of Pest. He was practicing “on the outskirts” as it were, but there was no doubt his methods were highly successful. In 1861, Semmelweis published his main work but it was criticized by noted obstetricians. The doctor wrote open letters and even asked to conduct conferences, but all of his attempts failed. Semmelweis moved to Pest, the eastern side of modern day Budapest, and served as the head of their hospital’s maternity ward for 6 years. Thanks to him, their maternal mortality rate was almost completely eliminated.
Despite his persistent attempts to tell every doctor he could about simple antiseptic procedures, he continued to be rejected, leading him into deep depression and alcoholism. His colleagues had him committed to a psychiatric institution in 1865, where he was carted off in a straight jacket after trying to escape. He died of sepsis two weeks after being committed—an infection that was basically the same disease he fought so hard to prevent in those children that died of childbirth fever. There was no mention of his death, and for years he was a footnote in medical history.
But Semmelweis has saved millions of lives. During his time in medicine it is estimated that Semmelweis saved over 10,000 babies by using antiseptic procedures at childbirth. Today Semmelweis is considered to be one of the founders of modern antiseptic procedures. The Budapest University and a clinic in Vienna were named after him. In 1906, a monument with the sign “Savior of Mothers” was sculpted in his honor. “There really is no telling just how many lives Semmelweis’ basic research has saved,” comments Justin Lester, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. “Everyone who has been in a hospital and had a medical procedure probably owes their sterile treatment in part to Semmelweis’ research. His impact is easily in the millions.” An obscure Hungarian doctor with a sharp observational mind and a simple sterilization procedure has impacted the lives of millions of medical patients, even to this day.
As a leader in your own field, and in your own family, you too can live a life of impact. By impact, I mean you can model and share aspects of your life with others that will make their lives more successful and equally impacting. Consider that your most important and long-lasting leadership responsibility is not to make decisions for your family or organization. Rather, it’s to build and equip others to be leaders—to reproduce yourself. This concept of reproduction is, in fact, the leadership philosophy that Jesus Christ demonstrated throughout the New Testament. Today in religious circles we call this disciple-making. But this philosophy doesn’t have to be limited to what you choose to do on Sundays. It’s a highly practical life-practice that can exponentially increase your influence.
By just giving your best effort, you might impact your spouse, your children, people around you at work. But imagine if through a few simple principles your life could impact hundreds, even thousands? Here are three suggestions from Scripture, and reflected in the life of Dr. Semmelweis, that could greatly increase your potential impact.
Live something worth sharing. Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The Bible clearly tells leaders in all walks of life to live by example. The life you share doesn’t have to be especially profound or revolutionary. For Semmelweis, it was a simple admonishment—sterilize your hands to protect the patients. As you examine your own life, what have you learned or experienced that is worth passing on to others? Think about things like your business practices, work ethic, moral foundation or management wisdom. What is it about what you do or how you behave every day that could contribute value to others’ lives?
A study by familywealthlibrary.com asked leaders of family businesses what they wanted to pass down to the next generation. Research showed it’s overwhelmingly “values and life lessons”. Financial assets or real estate always comes in last. In between, you’ll find things such as instructions and “wishes to be filled” and “personal possessions of emotional value.” The way one generation passes on its values to the next usually reflects the same philosophy as the transfer of wealth. If someone passes on the values of compassion and service, for instance, they also will pass financial assets to charity.
Ellen Perry, founder and principle at Wealthbridge Partners, comments, “If the family is to flourish for multiple generations, the attention to human capital should be as serious as that of financial capital. Too many leaders focus their lives on how much they are leaving to the next generation, while paying too little attention to the lasting values they can pass down that will help the next generation lead and use those resources to their greatest benefit. I believe that if a family is to avoid the ‘shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations’ problem associated with wealth, the second or even the third generations must fully commit to the enhancement of the family members—their human capital. To do this intelligently and successfully, they must work hard to maintain healthy family relationships. They must use their financial resources to enhance the life experiences and opportunities of each member of the family.”
Commit to the bigger picture. Philippians 4:9 says, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things…” The Apostle Paul made a number of bold leadership statements in his New Testament letters. He clearly believed a life was to be a living example to others. In several instances Paul actually said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ…” In other words, if you want to look like Jesus, look no further than me. How many of us would dare to say something that audacious? In order to live a life of impact, we have to commit to live for something bigger than ourselves. And that’s a tall order.
Once Dr. Semmelweis found his antiseptic methods produced positive results, he wanted to tell everyone. He published his work. He put policies in place in the hospital wards he was charged with. He even asked to speak at various schools of medicine. His mission was clear: I have something worth knowing and I want to share it with everyone I can. Semmelweis was able to easily make the leap from caring for his own patients to passing on knowledge that could benefit every patient.
Semmelweis’ experiments in maternity wards reduced infant mortality by an order of magnitude. The lives his techniques have saved over the years count in the millions.
Too few business leaders step back to consider where they are really going in life. Goals may be clearly defined in terms of quarterly growth and expanding organizational footprint. But in the end, what does that mean? What will be your life impact in 50 years? 100? Long after you are gone, your business may still exist, led by another person or team, evolving year to year. What did you leave behind, and how was the world, your community, your close circle of friends, truly impacted by your time with them? Consider developing an impact statement for your life—a few sentences that help define what you most want to pass down to others in your sphere of influence (see Developing An Impact Statement in a few pages for directions on how to do this). More than an exercise in leadership, it may help you to “see the forest for the trees” as you build relationships, make decisions and begin to pass along wisdom. A key question to keep in mind as you interact and lead: Are people’s lives being influenced and/or changed for the better as a result of their interactions with me? This is an “Apostle Paul”-type statement. If people imitate you, what kind of person will they turn out to be?
Be consistent and persistent. Live to a personal standard, and don’t quit. In Dr. Semmelweis’ practice, persistence didn’t pay off while he was alive. It wasn’t until after his death that other doctors began to look more seriously at his practices and discover for themselves the wisdom of his policies on hand cleaning and sterilization. When it comes to impacting people, you must take the long-term view.
1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” The word steadfast means “resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.” In today’s world of shifting moral foundations and right and wrong often decided by a cycle of Twitter posts, a life that is firm and unwavering is a rarity. Yet the simple example of a doctor advocating the washing of hands, year after year, for his entire medical career, impacted not only his own patients, but later on, all of medicine.
Just how big is your impact potential? Get ready, because this will blow your mind. Harvard Business Review did research some years ago to determine the number of people a business leader influenced in a given timeframe. Their research showed that the average business leader or manager impacted 72 lives per year for each year they were in a leadership role. For a leadership career lasting 35 years, you’ll have the opportunity to impact 2,520 people. But what if, say, 20% of those people grew to be leaders themselves? That’s 504 people influencing 72 people per year for their 35 year run. Consider that your life, lived in a manner to be a persistent and specific influence on those around you, could impact and influence 1.27 million people. Yes, really. But, not by happenstance.
The average doctor will impact 10,000 lives in their career. The reality is that their potential is so much greater. And your potential as a leader is also tremendous. How would your life and leadership change if you knew that your words, actions, attitudes, values and methods—systematically practiced personally, and then passed on to your colleagues, family, friends and acquaintances—could impact more than a million lives?
The truth is that you as a leader can have a seven-figure impact. Not financially, but relationally. Leadership Ministries and Friday Morning Men’s Fellowship has this very idea of impact in mind each week as we gather to hone our leadership skills, share our experiences and build the next generation of leaders. For over 40 years we’ve practiced this profound idea around restaurant tables. But those tables aren’t the end of the impact. They’re a launching point.
Before you can be of impact, there’s one more thing you’ll need. Even if you have something of value to share, and you grasp the big picture of your leadership potential, and you’re ready to go the distance—there’s one nugget that needs to be in place. You’ll need to know that your life was meant to make a dent in the universe. Believe that impacting others is what you are meant to do, equipped for, and in a position to make it happen.
Frankly, anyone with a modest income and a calculator can leave behind an inheritance for their children and family. Money really isn’t all that impressive a legacy. A more meaningful life impact is to leave behind another generation of leaders, equipped with your values, knowledge and experience. Men who, by your life example and intentional instruction, are engaged in improving the condition of their families, workplaces and communities. What made Ignaz Semmelweis a great doctor was not his surgical skill, or a breakthrough medication, or a radical discovery. It was a simple observation that turned into a modest practice. It was something he was passionate about passing on to every doctor he came into contact with. And so he impacted all of medicine, and millions of lives, far beyond his lifetime. Perhaps the next Ignaz Semmelweis is close by. You never know, just maybe he is, right at this moment, reading a leadership newsletter.
