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New heading: PRESIDENT KIM DAE-JUNG

I had the privilege of teaching former President Kim of South Korea and some of his advisors in the Blue House in Seoul, Korea. Near the end President Kim asked me, “Dr. Covey, do you really believe the things you teach?” I was taken aback by this question and sobered by it. After a short pause I said, “Yes I do.” He then asked me, “How do you know you do?” I answered, “I try to live by these teachings. I know I fall short, falter a lot, but I keep coming back to them. I believe in them and am inspired by them and I keep returning to them.” He responded, “That’s not good enough for me.” I said, “I better listen to you.” He asked, “Are you prepared to die for them?” I said, “I sense you’re trying to tell me something.” He was trying to tell me something. He went on to tell his story of many, many years of banishment, of being exiled, of being imprisoned and of several assassination attempts, including being put into a sack with rocks in the bottom, being thrown into the China Sea, and being rescued by a CIA helicopter. He told me of the pressure put upon him to cooperate with the military junta in the north. He was even offered the presidency but declined, knowing he would simply end up being a puppet to a dictatorship. They threatened to kill him if he didn’t go along with them. He said, “Then kill me, because if you kill me I’ll only die once, but if I cooperate with you, I will die 100 times every day for the rest of my life.” I know this now. Every man gives his life to what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and so they give their lives to little or nothing .

JOAN OF ARC

He told me the story of the faithfulness and support of his family during his long, torturous ordeals and of his faith as a Christian convert and of his deep belief in people and in the magnificent power of democracy. He communicated his belief in the value and potential of every person, and in the right of self-expression. He gave to me a very privately held book of letters he wrote to his loved ones from prison, containing his deep beliefs, convictions and commitments.

New heading: MORAL AUTHORITY AS AN ECOSYSTEM

I worked once with the president of a Third World nation filled with corruption, violence, insurgency and warfare that has gone on for years and years. The new president was a person of great courage. He boldly championed the importance of the rule of law and the constitution, and he was courageous in his unwillingness to negotiate with terrorists and terrorist organizations. He was becoming increasingly trusted and very popular. I asked him what legacy he wanted to leave so that his work would go on and on and become institutionalized. As we spoke it became increasingly clear to him that personal moral authority was not enough. He could see the significant need for both visionary moral authority and institutionalized moral authority so that his people would identify with his vision of peace through the rule of law and prosperity through Third Alternative/synergistic communication, and that the underlying principles would be embedded in the structures and systems of the government. Then gradually, a civil society could develop with its own cultural moral authority, where the norms and mores of society would sustain the rule of law, promote preventative thinking and community policing, and meet the welfare and education needs of the general populace. He could sense how the basic model underlying the 8th Habit of Finding Your Voice and Inspiring Others to Find Theirs illustrates these four forms of moral authority.

Cultural moral authority always develops very, very slowly, as has been the case all around the world, including in the United States. Nevertheless, it’s useful to see what an ecosystem the four kinds of moral authority are, how, like a physical ecosystem, they are all interrelated and interdependent. The essence of wisdom is to see the connectedness of all things.

FILM: Gandhi

I would like to invite you to watch a marvelous scene from the movie Gandhi. In this scene, which you’ll find on this book’s companion DVD that you may order free of charge, exclusive of shipping and handling, at www.The8thHabit.com/offers, you’ll observe a person of weakness and pride, but also a person who used his birth-gifts to develop humility, courage, integrity, discipline and vision. You will see a person who subordinated all his intelligences to his conscience, his spiritual intelligence. You will see a person who had to win a relationship victory with his wife before he could develop the freedom, power and moral authority to lift a large gathering of angry Indian people to a Third Alternative, even to the point that they were willing to lay down their lives for the cause they jointly espoused. You will see a person whose life exemplifies that power of the sequence in the ancient Greek wisdom, “Know thyself, control thyself, give thyself.” Though imperfect, Gandhi is a beautiful example of a person who developed enormous moral authority through vision, discipline and passion governed by conscience—and the world is different because of him. India, the second largest nation in the world, with over a billion people, is an independent democracy because of him. Isn’t it truly amazing that he was never elected and had no formal authority? He, himself, said that any ordinary person who used his or her powers could do the same thing.

As you watch this scene from the movie Gandhi, which eventually won an Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year, study the nuances of words and facial expressions, of initiatives and reactions, of the development of mores, norms, values, goals, and vision. This is a video worth buying or renting and studying with your loved ones and fellow workers. Please enjoy the film now.

New heading: BIRTH-GIFTS, OUR CULTURAL OVERLAY, AND WISDOM

The thread that weaves itself through both Finding Your Own Voice and Inspiring Others to Find Theirs reveals how, little by little, in spite of our supernal birthday gifts, a cultural overlay is introduced that we, using the computer metaphor, could call software. Just as a tremendously powerful computer cannot operate outside its software, individuals, organizations, and societies cannot operate outside their cultural mores, norms and beliefs—unless you are a Muhammad Yunus (see chapter 1), whose vision of people, discipline, and passion were informed and driven by his conscience until eventually the old software was replaced—not only in individual heads but also in rigid, limiting notions inside the collective heads of families, institutions and society. This is a beautiful illustration of overcoming prejudice or prejudgment. You can feel how Yunus’s humility, and courage are the parents of his integrity, and the grandparents of his wisdom and abundance mentality.

You, too, can do the same thing. You can make Finding Your Voice and Inspiring Others to Find Theirs a deeply engrained habit of KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE and SKILL. Just listen to your own conscience, your own source of wisdom, and watch how you can see through the flawed cultural overlay or software under the various levels of human need mentioned below. Each will come in the form of a dilemma.

At the personal level, would you not agree that people want peace of mind and good relationships, but would you not also agree that people want to keep their habits and lifestyle? What would conscience, saturated in wisdom, say? Would you not agree that a person, in some way, would need to win a private victory by sacrificing what he wants for a higher, more important purpose, for what is right?

Take the dilemma at a relationship level. Would you not agree that relationships are built on trust? Would you not also agree that most individuals think more in terms of “me”—my wants, my needs, my rights? What would wisdom dictate—would it not direct us to focus on trust-building principles and sacrificing “me” for “we”?

Let’s look at two dilemmas at an organizational level. Is it not common that management wants more for less, that is, more productivity for less cost, and that employees want more of what’s in it for them for less time and effort? Is this not a common phenomenon? What would wisdom dictate? What about co-missioning, that is, developing Third Alternative win-win performance agreements through sacrificing control or abdication for empowerment, so that management and employees are on the same page of unleashing human potential and producing more for less?

Take another very common organizational dilemma—think carefully about this—are not businesses run by the economic rules of the marketplace? But think also about this—are not organizations run by the cultural rules of the workplace? In other words, there are two different sets of rules operating—economic and cultural rules. What would wisdom dictate? What if you could bring the marketplace into the culture of the work-place so that every person and team, using principle-centered criteria, would have access to 360-degree and/or balanced Scoreboard information? Wouldn’t this information, combined with both extrinsic and intrinsic compensation, create a natural incentive for them to completely focus on meeting human needs in the marketplace and the needs of all stakeholders?

You could even apply this wisdom thinking to society itself in dealing with its fundamental dilemma. Briefly put, would you not agree that society operates by its dominant social values? But also, would you not agree that society has to live with the consequences of the inviolate operation of natural laws and principles? What if you could align social values, mores, and laws with principles by sacrificing special interest for the general welfare?

Can you see how the larger context of wisdom in serving human needs resolves these kinds of dilemmas? Can you see also why sacrifice is such an imperative? Sacrifice means to give up something good for something better, so that in a very real sense, when your vision is strong about meeting a particular need, you would not call it sacrifice, even though an outside observer would. This kind of heartfelt sacrifice is the essence of moral authority.

PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH A PRINCIPLE-CENTERED MODEL

I said early in the book that if the Whole-Person Paradigm of human nature is accurate, it should give you an uncommon ability to explain, predict and diagnose the greatest problems in your organization. I meant what I said. I really believe that the simple, whole-person model and the simple, developmental process are simplicity on the far side of complexity.

Over the years I’ve asked hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to identify their single greatest personal challenge—the kind that keeps them up at night. Then I asked people to identify their single greatest professional or organizational problem. Here is a summary of the responses given most often (notice the similarity with the pain and challenges mentioned at the beginning of the book): Again, I’m confident that you could take any one of these personal or organizational challenges and, with the framework of principles in this book embodied in the three models of greatness, you would know how to begin to solve the problem. Simply take any challenge you face and think about what you could do through vision, discipline, passion, conscience and The 7 Habits on the personal side, through modeling, pathfinding, aligning, and empowering as a leader, and through clarity, commitment, translation, synergy, enabling and accountability in the context of mission, vision and values in an organization. Like the ecological relationship between the four dimensions of moral authority, you will find a profound ecology and sequence between the models of greatness and their various elements in solving your challenges. See again the model of principle-centered focus and execution that follows (figure 15.6) You may also be interested to see how practical the leadership framework of this book is by going back to Max & Max and thinking like a trim-tabber. Appendix 7—Max & Max Revisited, shows how Max and Mr. Harold can use the problem-solving lens of the 4 Roles of Leadership to transform the way they work and solve their toughest challenges.

Consider further the comprehensive power of this whole person (body, mind, heart and spirit) model. It deals with the four intelligences/ capacities—IQ, EQ, PQ and SQ. It represents the four basic motivations/needs of life to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy. It represents the four attributes of personal leadership—vision, discipline, passion, governed by conscience. Finally, it represents these four attributes at large for organizations (including families) in the form of the four roles—modeling, pathfinding, aligning, and empowering.

Finding Your Voice is a synergistic concept of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts, so that when you respect, develop, integrate and balance the four parts of your nature, you’re led to realize your full potential and lasting fulfillment.

Open your heart. Take the whole-person approach, body, mind, heart and spirit, and see what a powerful expression “open your heart” is. Physically, keep your arteries clean through proper diet and exercise so that your heart is strong and healthy. Open your heart emotionally so that you are willing to involve people in the problem and work out solutions together, and listen deeply for understanding. Open your heart mentally so that you are constantly learning, see people as whole people, and free yourself of “quick-fix” thinking, so that leadership indeed becomes your choice. Open your heart spiritually so that your life is driven by a higher wisdom, by a divine conscience whose ethic is finding yourself through losing yourself in the service of others, doing well by doing good.

Bring together all of your intelligence and resolve, and go to work in the spirit of Winston Churchill: “To every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.” CONCLUSION

This book has primarily attempted to teach one basic paradigm: that people are whole people, body, mind, heart and spirit. As a person engages in the sequential 8th Habit process of finding one’s own voice, making the choice to expand her influence by inspiring others to find their voice, she increases her freedom and power of choice to solve her greatest challenges and serve human needs; she learns how leadership can eventually become a choice not a position, so that leadership, the enabling art, is widely distributed throughout organizations and society, and therefore, while we manage or control things, we lead (empower) people.

Regarding the people paradigm, we have learned that every human being is precious in his or her own right, endowed with enormous, almost infinite potential and capacity. We’ve learned that the pathway to enlarging that capacity is magnifying our present gifts and talents. Then, almost like a flower blooming in the spring, additional gifts and talents are given or opened up to us and our “hardwired” capacities in all four areas are unleashed to lead a balanced, integrated, powerful life. The opposite is also the case. If we neglect our gifts and talents, they, like an unused muscle, will atrophy and waste away.

We’ve also learned that the culture we live and work in has “softwared” us for mediocrity, or in other words, to fall far short of our potential. Anything less than a whole person is a thing, and things have to be controlled or managed. This command-and-control Industrial Age software has driven the workplace to believe that the greatest source of wealth lies in capital and equipment, not in people. We’ve also learned that we have the hardwired power to rewrite that software, and that this power inspires us to lead (empower) people, who have the power of choice, and manage things, which do not.

The developmental process paradigm answers the “how” and “when” questions and teaches us to conquer ourselves first by subordinating what we want now for what we want later. The process is increasingly exciting because it is increasingly powerful in expanding our choices and capacities. If we follow principles (symbolized by a compass) that always point north, we gradually develop moral authority; people trust us, and if we truly respect them, see their worth and potential, and involve them, we can come to share a common vision. If, through our moral authority (primary greatness), we earn formal authority, or position (secondary greatness), we can together institutionalize these principles so that body and spirit are being constantly nourished, leading to unbelievable kinds of freedom and power to expand and deepen our service. In short, the kind of leadership that inspires followership comes only when we put service above self.

Organizations, both private and public, learn that they are only sustainable when they serve human needs. Again, service above self. This is the true DNA of success. It is not about “what’s in it for me,” but about “what can I contribute?” I sought my God and my God I could not find.

I sought my soul and my soul eluded me.

I sought my brother to serve him in his need, and I found all three—my God, my soul and thee.

ANONYMOUS

A FEW FINAL WORDS

To you as the reader, I affirm your worth and potential. My sincere hope is that the principles in this book have been communicated clearly enough so that you have not only come to see that worth and potential in yourself, but so that you will Find Your Voice and live a life of greatness by inspiring many other people, organizations and communities to find theirs.

Even if you live in horrible circumstances, it is in those circumstances that you will find your call to choose your own response. It is then that “life calls out to us” to serve those around us whose needs we become aware of. It is in so doing that we find our true “voice” in life. Haddon Klingberg, Jr., author of the insightful biography of Viktor and Elly Frankl, When Life Calls Out to Us (one of the two projects he worked on prior to his passing), articulated this central theme of Frankl’s life in this way: For Frankl, since spirituality is in its essence self-transcendence, it brings with it human freedom. But it is not freedom from as much as freedom to. We are not free from our biological nature, whether instinctual drives, genetic legacies, or the functions and malfunctions of our brains and bodies. Nor are we free from the grasp of social, developmental, and environmental influences. But we are free to take a stand toward these, even against them. We are free to do what we will with the cards we are dealt, to choose what response we will make to fateful events, to decide what cause or persons will receive our devotion.

And this freedom to carries an obligation to. Each of us is responsible for something, to someone. By using our freedom to act responsibly in the world, we uncover meaning in our lives. It is only when our will to meaning is frustrated that we settle for the pursuit of personal pleasure (Freud), or for financial and social success (Adler).

When a person exercises spiritual freedom and responsibility, there follows a host of effects: peace of mind, good conscience, and contentment. But these occur naturally—as by-products, so to speak. But pursuing any of these directly makes their attainment improbable or impossible, he said. There is nothing quite like striving for peace of mind to keep one edgy. To center one’s effort on achieving a good conscience may lead to hypocrisy or guilt—or both. To make health one’s chief aim may bring on something akin to hypochondria. For Frankl, these are not ends to be pursued for their own sake or even for one’s own good. Instead, they ensue naturally for persons who live for something else, for something greater.16 With my deepest conviction, I affirm you with the words of General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain:

The inspiration of a noble cause involving human interests wide and far, enables men to do things they did not dream themselves capable of before, and which they were not capable of alone. The consciousness of belonging, vitally, to something beyond individuality; of being part of a personality that reaches we know not where, in space and time, greatens the heart to the limit of the souls ideal, and builds out the supreme of character.17 MY GRANDFATHER, Stephen L Richards, was one of my most influential mentors. My love and respect and admiration for him is boundless. His life was totally dedicated to serving others. Those who knew him considered him to be one of the wisest people they had ever known. I close in gratitude for the life motto he shared with me: Life is a mission and not a career, and the purpose of all our education and knowledge is so that we can better represent Him and serve that mission of life in His name and toward His purposes.

QUESTION & ANSWER

Q: Why is sacrifice so central to moral authority?

A: Sacrifice really means giving up something good for something better. It could really even be called up-leveling. When a person has a vision that transcends himself, that focuses on an important cause or project that he is emotionally connected to, then the real course of least resistance is to put service above self. To such a person it is no sacrifice. To an outside observer it would appear to be a sacrifice because he is denying some present good. Happiness is essentially a by-product of subordinating what we want now for what we want eventually. Rather than being the course of most resistance, sacrifice is the course of least resistance to one who is deeply, spiritually and emotionally connected to a cause or a calling or the serving of another. Service above self is the ethic of all great religions and of all philosophy and psychology that has endured. Albert Schweitzer said, “I know not what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” Q: The buzz used to be about TQM and quality; then it became empowerment; the new buzzword today is innovation. What will it be tomorrow?

A: I suggest it will be wisdom. Unless you have principles at the center of a person’s heart and soul and in the relationships and culture of an organization, you cannot build high trust. And without high trust you cannot have empowerment. When rules take the place of human judgment, you can’t nurture a climate of innovation and creativity; instead you will nurture a kiss-up culture. Without high trust and aligned structures and systems based on an abundance paradigm, you cannot get TQM or quality. Of necessity, the Age of Wisdom, in my opinion, will follow the Age of Information, where the essence of leadership will be to be a servant leader.

Q: I like the concept of a principle-centered organization. Is it possible to take this to a community?

A: Absolutely. If you can get together enough caring people who are the natural and formal leaders in education, business, government and other professions, and even people without formal authority who have a lot of moral authority but a strong interest, and you get them involved in the process of teaching the 7 Habits and the four roles to organizations and families throughout the community, it’s amazing what good can come from it. We have done this in many, many communities around the world.

TWENTY MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q1: I find it’s almost impossible for me to change my habits. Is this realistic? Am I unique?

A: You are not alone. Let me explain why.

Perhaps you remember, or have seen in a more recent video or movie, the film clips showing the lunar voyage of Apollo 11. Those of us who witnessed it were absolutely transfixed. We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw men walking on the moon.

Where do you think the most power and energy was expended on that journey into space? Going a quarter of a million miles to the moon? Returning to Earth? Orbiting the moon? Separating and redocking the lunar and command modules? Lifting off the moon?

No, not any of these. Not even in all of these together. It was lifting off from Earth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of liftoff from Earth—in the first few miles of travel, than was used in half a million miles for several days.

The gravity pull of those first few miles was enormous. It took an internal thrust greater than both the pull of gravity and atmosphere resistance to finally break out into orbit. But once they did break out, it took almost no power to do all those other things. In fact, when one of the astronauts was asked how much power was expended when the lunar module separated from the command module to go down and survey the moon, he answered, “Less than the breath of a baby.” This lunar voyage provides a powerful metaphor for describing what it takes to break out of old habits and create new ones. The gravity force of Earth could be compared to deeply embedded habits, tendencies programmed by genetics, environment, parents and other significant figures. The weight of Earth’s atmosphere could be compared to the wider societal and organizational cultures we are part of. These are two powerful forces, and you must have an internal will that is stronger than both of these forces in order to make liftoff happen.

But once it does happen, you will be amazed at the freedom it gives you. During liftoff, astronauts have very little freedom or power; all they can do is carry out the program. But as soon as they pull away from the gravity of Earth and the atmosphere surrounding it, they experience an unbelievable surge of freedom. And they have many, many options and alternatives.

If you will simply start down the pathway of Finding Your Voice and Inspiring Others to Find Theirs and stick with it, you will develop the power of this new habit to grow and change in today’s world of tremendous challenge, complexity and opportunity.

Q2: In one sense I’m very excited and intrigued by what you’re teaching. But in another sense, I question whether I can really do it.

A: That is very honest, but I suggest you ask two other questions first before attempting to deal with the competency question. The first one is, Should I do it? That is a value question. The second one is, Do I want to do it? That is a motivation question and deals with your unique voice and passion. If you can answer yes to those two questions, then look at the question Can I do it? That’s a competency question, and that deals with getting the proper training and education. Do not confuse the three questions. Don’t try to answer a value question with a training answer, a motivation question with a value answer, or a competency question with a motivation answer. Think clearly and carefully about the three questions: Can I do it? Do I want to do it? Should I do it? Keep them separate so you can identify the best starting point.

Q3: Why is leadership such a hot topic today?

A: The new economy is based primarily on knowledge work. That means that wealth has migrated from money and things to people—both intellectual and social capital. In fact, our greatest financial investment is in knowledge workers. Knowledge work has gravitated from arithmetic to both exponential and geometric contribution potential, and this kind of intellectual and social capital is the key to leveraging or optimizing all other investments. Furthermore, the Industrial Age management control style and “people as expense” systems are becoming increasingly obsolete and/or dysfunctional because of the competitive forces of the marketplace. There is also a growing awareness that the human dimension, particularly the trust level, is the root source of all problems. The soft stuff is the hard stuff and everyone is coming to know it. That is why leadership is the highest of all arts; it is the enabling art.

Q4: This all seems so idealistic and moralistic to me. With conditions the way they are, I don’t know if any of this is really possible.

A: The deeper question you need to ask is, Is there a space between stimulus and response? In other words, Do we really, truly have the power of choice, regardless of circumstances? If you can honestly say yes to that question, you will come to see that idealism is realism. You can’t “see” electronic marvels of today, yet you rely upon them and know that they are real. Before they were discovered or invented, they were not “real,” they were only idealistic. When you say that these things are too moralistic, this implies right and wrong. In your heart of hearts, you know there is a difference between right and wrong, and if you choose the right, different consequences follow than if you choose the wrong. That’s why these ideas are idealistic and moralistic, both of which are very realistic.

Q5: You say that cultural moral authority is the most advanced form of moral authority, what do you mean?

A: Take, for example, the Declaration of Independence of the United States. The sentiments in that document represent visionary moral authority. The Constitution attempted to institutionalize the values that “all Men are created equal” and that they are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The Constitution was in alignment with the vision and value system of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration said “all” men, yet women didn’t have the right to vote for decades, many of the founders were slaveholders, the Emancipation Proclamation did not pass for over eighty years, and still today there are profound pockets of racial prejudice. Cultural moral authority always develops slower than institutionalized or visionary moral authority. But ultimately, it is the key to developing a harmonious society. The key lies not in government, which represents force or law, nor in private individuals or private business organizations, which represent freedom. It lies within individuals and groups adopting common meanings and values that are truly connected to their hearts and minds. This level of volunteerism creates a civil society, which is the higher Third Alternative between law and freedom. This is the underlying assumption behind the thinking and writing of Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations. Long before he wrote this classic he wrote a book called The Theory of Moral Sentiments. This work, which was foundational to his later works, including The Wealth of Nations, was based on the idea that intentional virtue and goodwill are the foundation of both an economic system of free enterprise and a political system of a representative democracy. He acknowledged that if individual virtue deteriorated, neither the free market nor a democracy could ultimately survive.

Q6: You say that one of the basic problems is that we are using the industrial model in a Knowledge Worker Age, but aren’t we still an industrialized nation? Everywhere we look there is industry.

A: That’s true, but the nature of the value-added work done in these various industries is more and more being done by knowledge workers, not manual workers. So, we are not talking about doing away with industry. We are talking about using a different leadership paradigm inside those industries. In fact, this paradigm can go back to the agrarian or farming era. Outside cities, farms are everywhere. They add increased value through the strengths of the Industrial and Information Ages. We are talking more about a mental framework than a physical environment.

Q7: How do authoritarian cultures create codependency?

A: Think about it. If you have an authoritarian leader who controls, what do the followers do? Most passively obey; they wait until told and do what they’re told. The behavior confirms the perception of the authoritarian leader to continue to command and control, which, in turn, justifies the passivity of the followers. In other words, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. All of this disempowers people’s capacities and intelligences. It underutilizes them. It turns people into things to be managed or controlled. The cycle of codependency eventually nurtures a politicized kiss-up culture where right is defined by compliance or by loyalty, and where wrong lies in getting caught.

This dynamic also spawns dysfunctional agreement where people say yes when they really mean no. It eliminates healthy conflict and spawns resentment, anger, malicious obedience, low trust, low quality and low performance. Such unexpressed feelings never really die—they’re buried alive and come forth later in uglier ways.

The authoritarian then carries the responsibility for results and focuses upon efficiency—that is, methods, process and steps so that rules begin to take the place of human judgment. All this reinforces leadership as a position, not a choice; it becomes part of the cultural DNA. Little by little you see the truth of Lord Acton’s statement that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Everyone then becomes self-serving and subordinates their integrity to pleasing the boss.

The problem is, in the new economy, institutionalized codependent cultures can only survive through market ignorance, artificial subsidization, terror, or by heavy tradition that is sustainable only because the competition is also codependent.

The whole cycle can be broken by one person who sees leadership as a choice, who begins to trim-tab a larger Circle of Influence, and who relies upon the pragmatics of a competitive marketplace to break the self-fulfilling downward spiral. This leadership represents moral authority, which comes from choosing to live by principles and which almost always involves some form of sacrifice. But in a free market economy, it will come out on top simply because it is pragmatic—it works; it produces more for less.

Q8: How does all of this apply in a bad economy, or, let’s say, in a good economy but a declining industry?

A: It applies all the more, simply because the greatest resource is the creative capacity of people who come up with Third Alternative solutions in bad times. However, the natural tendency is for people to go back to the command-and-control transactional industrial model, which is not sustainable in the long run. In a short-run crisis situation, where the culture has a common purpose of survival, the authoritarian approach may turn the corner. As Eisenhower once put it, “You don’t speak democracy to the man in the foxhole.” But, eventually, you need deep involvement of everyone to make significant changes sustainable. This takes trusted moral authority leadership.

Q9: How do the 7 Habits tie in to The 4 Roles of Leadership? We’ve invested significant amounts of time and money in 7 Habits training.

A: Remember, the 7 Habits are based on principles. The 7 Habits are character principles that shape who and what you are; the four roles are what you do to exert leadership influence in an organization. When you put the 7 Habits in the context of the four roles, they are the modeling role. This makes the 7 Habits strategic because they are the modeling you do while doing the other three roles. The principles underlying the 7 Habits are like a deep well or an aquifer that feeds all other subsurface wells, such as TQM, team building empowerment, innovation, etc.

Q10: Corporate scandals frequently make all business “guilty by association.” This brings into sharp focus the topic of character. How do you develop personal and cultural character; how do you avoid these kinds of problems?

A: I had the opportunity of working on the aftermath of the Three Mile Island situation, the Rodney King riots and the Exxon Valdez situation, and I basically found that all of these disasters were acute manifestations of a deep cultural phenomenon, the tip of the iceberg of people doing wrong things, closing up, shredding stuff, ignoring bad things, getting caught, then having the media broadcast it.

I think it’s a valuable lesson for all organizations. Revisit what matters most to you—your vision and value systems. Reexamine all your procedures and practices, structures and systems, to see if they have institutionalized those visions and values. Feedback should reflect the honest judgments of advisors, suppliers, customers and the entire value chain. You cannot talk yourself out of problems you have behaved your way into. Eventually, the hens will come home to roost. Loyalty must not be a higher value than integrity; in fact, integrity is loyalty. You want your doctor to tell you the truth even if you don’t want to hear it. You want the doctor to be true to his or her profession as the highest form of being true to you. So also with your organization, see yourself as a professional whose highest loyalty is to moral and professional principles, not to your institution. This is the clearest way of being loyal to your institution.

The best way I know of to develop character in an organization is not to put it on some checklist where people judge others, but rather to hold people responsible for results, measured by a balanced Scoreboard, that require a higher level of character development. This way you’re not judging someone’s character; you’re only giving them responsibility that requires character growth.

Q11: How do you maintain a positive, high-trust culture after downsizing?

A: You know why cultures deteriorate after downsizing? Because principles are not followed, people are not involved, people are not informed, and people do not know when the next shoe is going to drop. They don’t understand the criteria for the decisions that are going to be made; they may not be economically literate about the industry, the economy, and the company. I have personally seen many organizations go through very, very difficult times requiring tough decisions but manage in a remarkably principled way. Through transparent and open communication, through sincere and meaningful involvement and participation, through adhering to a set of fixed principle-based values and by going the second mile, the people who were negatively affected and their families knew the organization went the extra mile in their behalf, and goodwill in the community actually increased.

Q12: We often have leadership development academies, off-sites, special sessions, outside resource people come in to the organization. They are very helpful, uplifting and inspiring, but within a few days, it’s business as usual. What do you recommend?

A: To know and not to do is not to know. You can be temporarily inspired and emboldened with new and important knowledge and skills, but unless you apply them, you don’t really know them. If the structures and the systems of the environment do not give you the incentive to apply them, you won’t apply them and you won’t know them. Eventually, these kinds of experiences take a toll and breed cynicism throughout a culture. Change efforts and all the new management buzzwords will get to be like cotton candy, which tastes good for a second and then evaporates. The key is to take the material, teach it, discuss it, and try to institutionalize it by building the fundamental principles right into the daily processes of how the daily work gets done and how people get rewarded. Then it will take. No longer will it be a sideshow; it will be under the main tent.

Q13: What if this approach simply doesn’t work?

A: If people won’t apply it, it won’t work. There is no silver bullet. It takes deep commitment, patience and persistence, particularly in making changes or transitions from one mind- and skill-set to another mind- and skill-set. The associated tool-set will help enormously, but, in the last analysis, people must be committed to go to work.

Q14: What is the best way to initiate these changes, assuming you have made them inside yourself?

A: If you were driving a car with your foot on the brake, what would be the fastest way to move forward—to floor it or to release the brake? Obviously, to release the brake. Similarly, with cultures in organizations, there are driving forces and restraining forces. Driving forces are usually the logical, economic realities, which would be equivalent to flooring it, pushing the gas pedal down. Restraining forces are usually cultural and emotional and would represent the brake. Through Third Alternatives and synergistic communication, restraining forces are converted into driving forces. Not only do you make significant advancements but also they are culturally sustained because of this involvement and commitment. Kirk Lewin’s force field theory is embodied in this answer.

Q15: Is all this material that new? I have heard these ideas from my youth. I see them everywhere in our history.

A: That’s true. In fact, to further make your point, it’s because of a principle-centered constitution and a free market that we see the unleashing of human potential inside the United States, where 4.5 percent of the world’s population produces almost a third of the world’s goods. The evidence of the power of these paradigms and principles drive dramatic results. Remember, principles are universal and timeless. The significant principles are probably best learned, or, better, earned by farmers, simply because they are so close to nature and to natural laws or principles. They know you can’t cram on the farm like people attempt to do in socially organized institutions such as schools. Competitive, top-level athletics is another excellent metaphor because, again, there is no cramming. The price has to be paid to become a contender.

What is common sense is not common practice. That’s why there is a need for renewal and recommitment and a restoration of the character ethic and of principle-centered leadership.

Q16: Is this material based on research?

A: If you mean double-blind, empirical studies, no—that is, with the exception of our scientific execution gap studies. If you mean historical analysis, literature review and drawing upon extensive action research, yes.

Q17: What organizations are models of these kinds of ideas?

A: You will find such models in every field of endeavor. They are all around you: organizations like the A. B. Combs School and the USS Santa Fe submarine are all around you. The litmus test is, How empowered is the workforce? How much do they focus on and execute the organization’s highest priorities? Companies that were researched in Jim Collins’s work Good to Great are empowered organizations with humble, fiercely determined leaders and high levels of empowerment. Empowerment, of course, is not the whole answer. Most of the top organizations have moved or are moving toward a balanced report card. Aligning operations with strategy, with the market, requires great judgment. Many organizations that were once very successful have gone into decline. It takes constant vigilance in attracting and developing the best people, building the leadership ethic into the cultural DNA, as well as a great deal of personal, visionary, institutional and cultural moral authority to keep sustaining the road to greatness.

Q18: Is this basically religious material?

A: Principles definitely have a moral and spiritual foundation, but they are not unique to any particular religion. I have personally taught them all around the world in the context of different religions, and have quoted their different scriptural texts. Principles are truly universal and timeless. I used to be shocked, but I am no longer, to see what happens when you get people anywhere in the world at any level in an organization significantly involved in developing their value systems. When the spirit of genuine openness and synergy is present, and when the people are truly informed, all of the selected values become essentially the same. Different words are used, different practices reflecting those values come out, but the underlying sense always deals with the four dimensions spoken about throughout this material—the physical/ economic, the relationship or the social, the mental or the talent development, and the spiritual, having to do with both meaning and integrity. If you want to have an interesting experience yourself, just study the mission statements of a few organizations that have produced those mission statements through involvement and identification over time. Different words will be used, but you will find they are basically saying the same things, even though they may not be living them.

Q19: I am both discouraged and impatient. Is it ever too late for me to change?

A: Great question. In fact, I find that the fundamental problem that people have in doubting the validity of these ideas is not the ideas. They make eminent sense to most everybody. It’s that they doubt themselves. All I can say is, start slow, and, in small ways, make and keep promises to yourself. Let your conscience be your guide regarding what promises to make. Once you make them, however small, keep them. Little by little, your sense of honor will become greater than your moods. As you acquire an increasing sense of self-control, self-mastery, security and competence, you will be able to make larger promises and keep them, go into new fields, leave your comfort zone and take more initiative. Remember, again, the story of the Chinese bamboo tree. There is a certain species of the Chinese bamboo tree that, when you plant it, you see nothing for four years. Just a little shoot out of the ground and that’s it. You weed, water, cultivate, nurture and do everything you can to make it successful, but you see nothing. In the fifth year, this particular species of the Chinese bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet. In its initial stages, all of the growth went underground in the root. Then, once it had its roots in place, all of the growth went above the ground and was visible, giving evidence to the cynics of the growth that had been occurring all along. This is why the personal level of character development always precedes the trust building in interpersonal relationships, which precedes the creation of a culture in an organization that truly executes on its highest priorities. It is never too late. Life is a mission, not a career.

Q20: How do you know this works?

A: You only really know by working it. To know and not to do is really not to know. Another confirming source of evidence will be getting the pragmatic results that come from those that are being served—clients, owners, employees, citizens or customers—and with getting good information on the entire supply team and your own culture. In the last analysis, I put more faith in discernment through the conscience, combined with observation and measurement, than I do in observation and measurement without discernment. I find that most people intimately (“in-to-me-see”) know many things they should be doing and many things they should not be doing. If they will simply act on that knowledge, their other questions will be simply academic. Eventually, those questions will also be answered, not just from learning the answers but also from earning the answers.