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Chapter 7

THE VOICE OF INFLUENCE—BE A TRIM-TAB

GANDHI taught we must become the change we seek in the world.

Again, We must become the change we seek in the world.

MODELING is the spirit and center of any leadership effort. It begins with Finding Your Voice developing the four intelligences and expressing your voice in vision, discipline, passion and conscience. Modeling these characteristics of personal leadership alters and changes the other three roles at their very core.

Modeling is primarily done during the other three roles. It is also done before, which brings a sense of confidence and trust in the leader. But it is only when people actually experience for themselves how a conscience-driven person models pathfinding, aligning and empowering that leadership actually takes place. People then come to know for themselves how respected, appreciated and valued they are. Why? Because their opinions are sought. Their input is respected. Their unique experience is valued. They are genuinely involved in the pathfinding process. They are participants. They don’t just hear about the mission statement and the strategic plan. They help develop them. They own them. Or if the mission statement and strategic plan were developed beforehand, they identify with them either because they made a conscious choice to do so before they came on board, or because of their admiration for the model leader.

Sometimes mental and emotional identification is a more powerful force than involvement. You see this with the followers of a Gandhi, a Martin Luther King, or a Nelson Mandela. Perhaps you, yourself, have so admired someone that you buy deeply into their vision, even though you were not involved in creating that vision. This is identification. It is a very powerful psychological force, sometimes even more powerful than actual participation. This is particularly the case with vision and strategic planning, more than with values. Brilliant visionaries and strategists are often in a class by themselves, and this is often recognized by the culture itself—but again only if trust and personal trustworthiness are there. Ultimately, however, identification is based on involvement of some sort, directly or indirectly.

Modeling is also not the work of just an individual; it’s the work of a team. When you have a team of people that builds on each individual’s strengths and organizes to make individual weaknesses irrelevant, you have true power in an organization. So when you think of modeling, think of an individual and a complementary team. The spirit of a complementary team is that you are there to play a unique role that compensates for the weaknesses of others. You’re not there to find and focus on their weaknesses or to bad-mouth them behind their backs. You’re there to make up for their weaknesses as they make up for yours. No one has all strengths, and very few people can be excellent in all roles. Mutual respect becomes the moral imperative.

THE ATTITUDE OF INFLUENCE

The habit of responding to the inner desire to make a difference, to matter, to extend our influence to the people and causes we most value all begins with a mind-set or ATTITUDE, a choice—the choice to use the voice of influence.

WHEN I TEACH the principles you find in this book, I like to open up for questions either privately or from the audience throughout the day. Inevitably, someone will raise their hand and say something like this: “Dr. Covey, these principles are great. I believe them. How I want to live them! But you have no idea what it’s like to work in an organization like mine. If you had a boss like my boss you would understand that there’s no way I could ever pull off what you’re talking about. What do I do?” You can just see their thinking. They see only two alternatives. “My boss is a jerk and he’s never going to change. I can either quit (which I can’t afford to do) or I do the best I can and just live with it.” When I teach how these principles apply to marriage and family, I have women come up to me and essentially say the same thing about their husbands, and husbands say the same about their wives: “If you only knew what my husband is like you’d know what I mean. There’s no way this will work.” Again, two alternatives: leave or just bear with it as long as I can.

How easy it is for people to think and feel, “I’m a victim; I’ve tried everything; there’s nothing more I can do; I’m stuck.” They’re frustrated and miserable but don’t see any other option.

Victimism gives your future away.

My response to their question usually shocks them a little. I can see by their widening eyes that some are even offended to begin with. This is what I say: “Any time you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem.”

“So you’re implying that this is my problem?” some reply.

“What I’m trying to say is that any time you wrap your emotional life around the weaknesses of another person, you give away your emotional freedom to that person and give them permission to continue to mess up your life.” Your past holds your future hostage.

Obviously, this is a relationship problem, but until people have found their own voice, there is no way they will have the maturity, inner security or character strength to apply the principle-centered solution with the “jerk” boss. Or it could be that they have the inner strength but haven’t yet developed the skills that come from patience and persistent practice.

The continued interaction during teaching is usually very sobering to them, but eventually we come to the point that they recognize they are not a victim—that they can choose their response to the other person’s behavior. Society so manufactures and reinforces the mind-set of victimism and blame. But you and I have the power to use our birthgifts to become the creative force of our own lives and to choose an approach that will increase our influence in an organization. We can become the leader of our own boss.

THE GREEK PHILOSOPHY OF INFLUENCE

The Greek philosophy of influence called ethos, pathos, logos, is an excellent summary of the process of increasing your influence (see figure 7.2).

Ethos basically means your ethical nature, your personal credibility, the amount of trust or confidence others have in your integrity and competency. When people consistently come through in a principle-centered way on those things they have promised and what is expected of them, they have ethos. SQ.

Pathos is empathy—it’s the feeling side. It means that you understand how another person feels, what his needs are, how she sees things, and what he is trying to communicate—and she feels it. EQ.

Logos basically stands for logic. It has to do with the power and persuasion of your own presentation, your own thinking. IQ.

The sequence, of course, is supremely important. To move to logos before people feel understood is futile; to try to create understanding when there is no faith in your character is likewise futile.

ONE TIME I was teaching a Twenty Group—a group of twenty professional insurance general agents who gather together every quarter in a learning forum for an idea exchange. For two years I was their resource person. One January in our meeting they were all complaining and murmuring about the lousy training and development program in the company. And the straw that broke the camel’s back took place just before Christmas at the big international awards ceremony held in Hawaii, where part of the time was spent in training. The training involved no idea exchange or learning from one another. At best it was an expensive and impressive laser show. They complained that this was typical of the training they received and that it was essentially short-lived and useless.

I asked them why they didn’t change it. They responded, “Well, that’s not our role; we’re not in charge of that.” I told them they were copping out, that they could change the training program if they had the mind to. They were among the top general agents in the entire company and had enormous credibility, or ethos. They could visit with anyone in the company they chose. I encouraged them to make a presentation to the decision-makers and to make sure to begin by describing the decision-makers’ point of view (pathos) as well as or better than they could themselves—including all their potential concerns about making changes to the training program and beautifully orchestrated annual celebrations. The goals would be to describe these concerns until the executives felt so deeply understood that they would then be open to the logos, or logic, of the agents’ recommendations.

So they sent two representatives to see not only the president and CEO but also the person in charge of training and development. They allowed for whatever time they needed to describe the company’s approach and the reasons for it, as well as the economic, political and cultural struggles of making a change. They continued this description until it was obvious that the decision-makers felt deeply understood. As soon as they felt understood, they became very open to influence (the key to influence is always to first be influenced, that is to first be open and seek understanding). They literally asked for the recommendations of these two general agents, who gave not only the recommendations but also a plan of action that dealt with all the economic, political and cultural realities they had described before.

The decision-makers were blown away. Even though the recommendation was to start off by designing a pilot program, the decision-makers instantly made it a company-wide program.

When we had our next quarterly meeting, they told me what happened. So I said, “Now what do you want to take on—what other stupid thing is going on in the company that you’d like to see changed?” This Twenty Group was literally amazed at how they had empowered themselves—how their initiative and courage and empathy had paid off. They ceased moaning, complaining and murmuring, and started taking more and more responsibility. While continuing to plow their own small fields, they surveyed large fields and saw things in a larger context. They saw the top decision-makers as human beings who were struggling just as they were, who needed models rather than critics, needed sources of light rather than sources of judgment.

This story clearly illustrates the inside-out approach and its power. Remember that every time you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem.

Hopefully you can clearly see how, by exercising initiative and empathy, by building ethos, by focusing and working on those things that are within your ability to influence, you can become a change catalyst in any situation. Again, by doing so, you literally become the leader of your boss. That is, while the boss may have formal authority, you have moral authority and power to influence.

A TRIM-TAB

I understand that the amazing paradigm shifter Buckminster Fuller chose to put this epitaph on his tombstone: “Just A Trim-Tab.” A trim-tab on a boat or plane is the small rudder that turns the big rudder that turns the entire ship (see figure 7.3). This Twenty Group was a trim-tab; Gandhi was a trim-tab.

I believe there are numerous potential trim-tabbers in every organization—businesses, government, schools, families, nonprofit and community organizations—who can lead and spread their influence no matter what position they hold. They can move themselves and their team or department in such a way that it positively affects the entire organization. The trim-tab leader exercises initiative within his or her own Circle of Influence (see figure 7.4), however small it may be.

To illustrate, observe the diagram, which is comprised of two circles, the larger circle being the Circle of Concern (those things which concern and interest you) and the smaller circle, the Circle of Influence (those things over which you have control or influence). It also indicates that a person’s job is largely outside one’s Circle of Influence.

In chapter 1, I began by citing some absolutely stunning data resulting from a study conducted by Harris Interactive using our xQ (Execution Quotient) Questionnaire. Because the implications of this research are so insightful, I will refer to additional findings through the remainder of the book. Touching on the topic of influence, you may be interested to know that only 31 percent of xQ respondents say they focus on things they can directly impact rather than things they can’t. Trim-tab leaders—regardless of formal position—apply vision, discipline, passion and conscience to the outside edge of their Circle of Influence, which causes it to expand. In many cases, these are people without significant positions or formal decision-making power.

Taking initiative is a form of self-empowerment. No formal leader has empowered you. The organizational structure hasn’t empowered you. Your job description hasn’t empowered you. You empower yourself based on the issue or the problem or the challenge at hand. You exercise the appropriate level of initiative or self-empowerment.

The key question is always, What is the best thing I can do under these circumstances?

7 LEVELS OF INITIATIVE OR SELF-EMPOWERMENT

In the following diagram (see figure 7.5), you will see a continuum of 7 Levels of Initiative—from “Wait until told” at the lowest level of initiative, to “Ask,” to “Make a recommendation” and “I intend to,” to “Do it and report immediately” and “Do it and report periodically,” and finally just “Do it,” which is right at the center of your ability to control and influence.

You choose which level of initiative to use based on how far the task lies within or without your Circle of Influence. This takes situational sensitivity and judgment, but little by little your Circle of Influence will expand.

Choosing our level of initiative widens our definition of “voice,” so that we can find our voice in any set of circumstances. It may be in a job that we don’t enjoy at all. By exercising a level of initiative, we can change the nature of that job, or we can influence others that are in our Circle of Influence but outside our job.

In our present job, we can strive for excellence. We can benchmark against world-class, rather than national/regional/local, standards. A lawyer could be more of a peacemaker. An educator could be more of a caring shepherd and coach and mentor. A doctor could focus more on education and prevention and deal with the whole person instead of just body parts, technology and chemistry. A parent could strive to have 80 percent of all interactions positive, with only 20 percent involved with chastening, correcting or disciplining. The salesperson could listen more for needs and adapt with integrity. The marketing person could guarantee the integrity of merchandising and advertising. The business executive would be careful to underpromise and overdeliver. In short, we can teach principles always and everywhere, and sometimes we may need to use words.

LET’S EXPLORE EACH of the levels of initiative.

1. Wait until told.

This would involve a concern that obviously lies outside of not only your Circle of Influence but also your job. On this one, you just wait. You don’t want to be doing someone else’s job. You don’t want to be making recommendations about things that are way outside of your Circle of Influence. People would not have confidence in your recommendation for a number of reasons. They would see your recommendation as being entirely inappropriate and perhaps see you as being entirely out of line. Acting in areas far outside of your Circle of Influence will actually cause your Circle of Influence to become smaller.

So what do you do? You smile—just like the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous:

God, grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

You no longer waste your energy on something you can do nothing about. Now, if you have influence with someone who can do something about it, that’s different. You can then move higher up the levels of initiative and self-empowerment.

But it’s not easy to smile and do nothing about the issue for now. Many people obsess about stupid things that they can’t change at the present time. They swap war stories with coworkers and massage one another’s hearts about the things they can do nothing about. But that just weakens their ability to make things happen on the issues and concerns that they can do something about. Again, their past holds their future hostage.

They then fall into the trap of codependency that spawns what, again, I call the five metastasizing emotional cancers: criticizing, complaining, comparing, competing and contending. People who don’t have their own deep internal act together seek their security from sources outside themselves. Because they’re codependent with their environment, they engage in these destructive, cancerous behaviors.

These five emotional cancers literally metastasize their cancerous cells into relationships, and sometimes through an entire culture. Then you’ve got an organization that’s so polarized, so divided, that it’s almost impossible to consistently deliver high quality to customers.

One note on competing: Although competition for a sense of worth within relationships, families, and work teams and cultures is damaging, I believe that it can be very healthy in settings such as athletics and the marketplace. It can stretch and draw out the best in people and organizations. In the marketplace, you can look upon your competitors as your teachers against whom you can benchmark yourselves. While you may be trying to beat out your competitors, what you’re really trying to do is win better for your customers and to learn from those who are doing it better and faster than you are. That’s the power of the free enterprise system: competition inside the marketplace, cooperation inside the workplace. Remember we must be “bilingual” and avoid the single-minded danger Abraham Maslow observed: “He that is good with the hammer tends to think everything is a nail.” 2. Ask.

It would be reasonable and logical to ask a question about something within your job description but outside your Circle of Influence. Because it’s outside your Circle of Influence, you can’t do much about it; but since it affects your job, most people would still consider it legitimate to at least ask. If the question is intelligent and is the result of thorough analysis and careful thinking, it could be very impressive and may increase your Circle of Influence.

1. Make a Recommendation.

Where would you put “Make a Recommendation”? Right at the outside edge of your Circle of Influence. It’s not even in your job. You’re making a recommendation that is outside of your job and at the outside edge of your Circle of Influence.

A beautiful illustration of the third level of initiative and self-empowerment is found in the military doctrine of Completed Staff Work. The five basic steps of this doctrine are: 1. Analyze the problem.

1. Come up with alternative and recommended solutions.

2. Develop recommended steps to execute the solution.

3. Incorporate an awareness of all realities (political, social, economic competencies, etc.).

4. Make a recommendation in a way that only requires approval by a single signature.

Completed Staff Work requires the effective executive to wait for the best work. First, she asks people to think through problems and issues. Then, when they have done their best thinking, they are to bring a final recommendation. She looks only at that final recommendation.

When using Completed Staff Work, upper-level management does not rescue people with quick and easy answers, even though they might plead for them. If the executive doesn’t wait until the work is done, she cheats people of growth—and they cheat her and the company of time. Moreover, people cannot be held responsible for results if they are given the methods.

Once in Sicily, I told a general who was somewhat reluctant to attack that I had perfect confidence in him. To show it, I went home.

Never tell people what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.1

GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON

You can see how much time and work this saves the executive and how much more initiative it requires from the staff person. I’ve seen this work marvelously in many, many situations. It also immediately enlarges one’s Circle of Influence.* 4. “I intend to.”

“I intend to” is actually one notch of initiative higher than making a recommendation and is an extension of it. I first learned this principle while sailing in the Hawaiian Islands on the USS Santa Fe, a multibillion-dollar nuclear submarine, in simulated war games. What a magnificent sight it was to stand on the bridge with the commanding officer, Captain David Marquet, as we pulled out of the Lahaina Sea Port, and to see that massive, black tube one hundred yards in front of you (about the length of an American football field) and about a hundred feet behind, plowing through the water.

While the two of us were engaged in a conversation, an officer approached us and said, “Captain, I intend to take this boat down four hundred feet.” The captain asked, “What is the sounding (depth of the ocean floor)?” He answered, “About eight hundred.” “What does the sonar (the electronic device that senses other ships, boats, subs, and other objects) say?” The officer replied, “Nothing, only fish.” The captain answered, “Give us another twenty minutes—then carry out your intention.” Throughout the day people would come up to the captain and say “I intend to do this,” or “I intend to do that.” The captain would often ask questions and then say “Very well.” Sometimes he would ask no questions and simply reply, “Very well.” The captain reserved only the tip-of-the-iceberg-type decisions for his own confirmation. The great mass of the iceberg—the other 95 percent of the decisions—were being made without any involvement or confirmation by the captain whatsoever.

I asked the captain about his leadership style. He said that he wanted to empower his people as far as he possibly could within the confines of the naval context. He thought that if he required them to own not only the problem but also the solution to the problem, they would begin to view themselves as a vitally important link in the chain of command. He matured the culture to the point where the officers and sailors declared their own intentions regarding the captain’s decision authority.

“I intend to” is different in kind than “I recommend.” The person has done more analytical work, to the point that he is totally prepared to carry out the action once it is approved. She has owned not only the problem but the solution as well, and she is ready to implement it.

Those sailors had a real sense of adding value—something, they indicated to me, that they had not had with other skippers when they’d been merely in a “Wait until told” mode. This is why “I intend to” is on the outside edge of one’s Circle of Influence and one’s job. Meaningful empowerment significantly reduces turnover—that is, losing top people to much higher paying work.

Months after my sub ride I was thrilled to receive a letter from Captain Marquet informing me that the USS Santa Fe was awarded the Arleigh Burke Trophy for most improved submarine, ship, or aviation squadron in the Pacific. Such is the fruit of trim-tabbing empowerment!

1. Do it and report immediately.

“Do it and report immediately” would be on the outside edge of one’s Circle of Influence but within one’s job. You report immediately because other people need to know. This enables others to see if everything was done correctly and to allow for timely corrections if necessary. It also provides information needed by others before they can make consequent decisions and take follow-up actions.

1. Do it and report periodically.

This level of initiative pertains to actions that could be part of normal self-evaluation in a performance evaluation visit or on a formal report, so that the information can be communicated and used by others. When you report periodically, you find yourself clearly within your job description and within your Circle of Influence.

1. Do it.

When something is right at the center of your Circle of Influence and the core of your job description, you just do it. Sometimes, in some cultures, it’s easier to get forgiveness than to get permission, so if you’re convinced you’re right and that the action is not that far outside your Circle of Influence, it may be best to “do it.” There is great power in the idea of taking responsibility and just doing it—making it happen. This highest level of initiative reminds me of a true story called “A Message to Garcia.” When the war broke out between Spain and the United States at the turn of the century, the American president needed to get a message to a Cuban revolutionary named Garcia. He was hiding somewhere on the island of Cuba out of reach of mail or telegraph. Nobody knew how to reach him. But an officer suggested that if anybody could do it, it would be an officer by the name of Rowan.

When McKinley gave the letter to Rowan in Washington, D.C., the officer didn’t ask, “Where is he at? How do I get there? What do you want me to do when I’m there? How will I get back?” He just took the message and figured out how to get to Garcia. He took a train to New York. A ship to Jamaica. Broke the Spanish blockade to get to Cuba in a sailboat. Then wild carriage rides, marching and riding through the Cuban jungle. Nine days of traveling later, Rowan got the message to Garcia at nine in the morning. That same afternoon at five, he started his return journey to the United States.

Giving further insight, author Elbert Hubbard wrote:

My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the “boss” is away as well as when he is at home, . . . the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly takes the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing ought else but deliver it. . . . Civilization is one long, anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks will be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town, and village—in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed, and needed badly—the man who can “Carry a Message to Garcia.”* THE TRIM-TAB SPIRIT

You can see that no matter what issue, problem or concern you have, you can empower yourself by taking initiative in some way. Be sensitive, be wise, be careful regarding timing, but do something about the situation. Avoid complaining, criticizing or being negative; be especially wary of absolving yourself from responsibility and simply blaming “them” for failures. We live in a culture of blame—a full 70 percent of xQ respondents say that people in their organization tend to blame others when things go wrong. So taking responsibility will mean swimming against the current.

Taking initiative requires some vision, some standard to be met, or some improvement to be achieved. It requires some discipline in the doing. It requires getting your heart and your passion into it and doing it in a conscience-directed or principled way toward a worthy end.

Tom Peters describes the trim-tab attitude and spirit this way:

Winners, no kidding, adore crummy jobs. Why? Because those jobs allow lots and lots of space. Nobody cares! Nobody is watching! You’re on your own! You are king! You can get your hands dirty, make mistakes, take risks, perform miracles! The most common lament of the “unempowered” is that they don’t have “the space” to do anything cool. To which I unfailingly reply: Rubbish!

Bottom line: Relish the “little” assignment or “chore” that no one else wants! SEEK IT OUT! It’s a license for self-empowerment, whether it’s the redesign of a form or planning a weekend client retreat . . . you can turn it into something grand and glorious and Wow.2 Once, I served as the administrative assistant to the president of a university. In many ways, he was dictatorial, controlling, always assumed he knew what was best and would make all the important decisions. On the other hand, he was a visionary—a brilliant, talented person. But he treated everyone like a gofer—“go for this, go for that”—as if they didn’t have a mind. These highly educated, motivated men and women gradually became disenchanted, and then disempowered. They would stand around the executive corridors complaining about the president.

“I can’t believe what he did. . . .”

“You know, let me tell you the latest. . . .”

“You think that’s bad. You ought to see what he did when he came into our department. . . .”

“Really, I had never heard that.”

“Yeah, I’ve never been in a job where I felt so constricted and strait-jacketed by all these foolish rules and this bureaucracy. It’s bogging me down.” They spent hours massaging each other’s hearts.

Then there was Ben. He simply took another approach: He went straight to the third level of self-empowerment and initiative. Even though he, too, was treated like a gofer, he decided to start at the make a recommendation level.

He decided to be the best gofer around. This earned him credibility—ethos. He would then anticipate the president’s needs and the reasons behind his gofer requests. “Now, let’s see. Why does the president want this information? He’s preparing for a board meeting and he wants me to gather data on how many university campus securities across the country carry sidearms because he’s getting criticized about our approach. I think I’ll help him prepare for that board meeting.” Complement, don’t criticize, your boss.

Ben came to a preliminary meeting, presented his gofer data, then went the second mile in analysis and recommendations. The president turned to me, speechless. Then he turned back to Ben and said, “I want you to come to the board meeting and make the recommendation. Your analysis is brilliant. You anticipated exactly what the need is.” Everybody else on the staff had bought into the silent conspiracy of “wait until told.” But not Ben. He’d exercised leadership by empathizing with the president, by determining what it was he really wanted and needed. Ben started out with a relatively low position. But pretty soon he was regularly making presentations to the board.

I worked in that role for four years. By the end of the fourth year, Ben was the second most influential person on the campus even though he hadn’t risen through the academic ranks. The president would not make any significant moves without Ben’s blessing. When Ben retired, there was a special recognition award put in his name. Why? Because he modeled trustworthiness, loyalty to the university, and willingness to do whatever it took.

I think Ben understood the futility of wishing for something to be different. Can you see in this story how leadership can become a choice? Can you see how you, too, can become the leader of your boss, as Ben did?

When we say that leadership is a choice, it basically means you can choose the level of initiative you want to exercise in response to the question What is the best I can do under the circumstances?

You will always need to make a judgment call regarding these 7 Levels of Initiative. It takes judgment and wisdom to know what level of initiative to exercise—what you should do, how you should do it, when you should do it, and perhaps most importantly, why you should do it. This will take all four intelligences. The “why” question usually taps into spiritual intelligence because it gets at your value system, the source of motivation. The “what to do” question usually taps into your intellectual intelligence as you think analytically, strategically and conceptually. The “when to do it” and “how to do it” questions usually tap into your emotional intelligence as you read the environment, sense the cultural and political operating norms, and discern your own strengths and weaknesses. The doing intelligence will also come into play as you carry out your intentions and tactically implement the “how.” When you wisely use initiative through all 7 Levels of Initiative, you’ll find that your Circle of Influence will get larger and larger until it encompasses your entire job. Interestingly, and this almost always happens, as your Circle of Influence enlarges, so too does your Circle of Concern.

A trim-tab leader is constant—like a lighthouse, not a weather vane—a constant, dependable source of light, not someone who twists and turns with every social wind.

Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway.

MOTHER TERESA

As you take this inside-out, initiative-seizing approach, people in formal positions will have increasing confidence in your character and competence. Trust will increase. It is almost inevitable that they will want to build higher and higher levels of initiative and empowerment into your job. You will find yourself becoming the leader of your boss . . . and your boss will naturally become part of a complementary team as servant leader.

FILM: Mauritius

I invite you now to watch a film entitled Mauritius. You may view it by going to www.The8thHabit.com/offers and selecting Mauritius from the Films menu. Not only organizations or individuals can be trim-tabs; this film illustrates how an entire country or society could trim-tab its own success and culture—in spite of profound ethnic, racial, cultural and other differences. In fact, it is not in spite of, but simply because of, the differences that they have produced such remarkable cultural strength.

The statements shown at the beginning of the film were accurate as of the time of its production. Some conditions in Mauritius have changed since, including increased pockets of social strife. The real point of the story, however, is not that Mauritius is a perfect society; it is that whatever challenges we may face—whether individually, as families, as organizations or even as nations—we can work within our Circle of Influence and creatively “trim-tab” our way through them.

QUESTION & ANSWER

Q: All this sounds good, but you don’t know my boss. He is a control freak and is threatened by competent people around him. My situation is so different.

A: Yes, every situation is unique and different in some way. But in another sense, at bottom, challenges and problems are very similar. The key does not lie in the circumstance; it lies in the space between stimulus and response—that is, in the circumstance and your response to it. This is where your freedom to choose belongs. If you use this freedom wisely and base your choices on principles, not only will your freedom to choose increase in size but you will also develop an internal source of personal security so that your life will not be a function of the weaknesses of others. You will no longer disempower yourself and empower the weaknesses of others to continue to mess your life up. You may do a cost-benefit analysis and decide to do something different or go somewhere else. Or you may simply decide to rely on the pragmatics of the marketplace and trim-tab a larger circle of influence until you become indispensable to, and ultimately even the leader of, your boss. You have to use all four intelligences so you can be both creative and inspired. You also need to work inside your own Circle of Influence but outside your job. You also need to exercise a great deal of initiative and volunteerism in understanding unmet needs and unsolved problems so that you can exercise the appropriate level of initiative. You also need to do your own job superbly, so as to merit the confidence of others, surveying other fields while cultivating well your own. Remember, ethos (credibility) first, pathos (empathy) second, and logos (logic) third.

Q: Realistically, how can a person become the leader of their boss?

A: Become a light, not a judge. Become a model, not a critic. Go to work inside your own Circle of Influence so that your moral authority is developed and expanded and you have credibility. Courageously take initiative to make good things happen. Empathize with your boss’s world, concerns, purposes and mind-set. Empathize, also, with the culture and the market, and then take these initiatives. Remember, again, no bad-mouthing. Be patient and persistent, and you will grow in influence. The pragmatics of results will convert the cynic. This is leadership—a choice, remember, not a position.

Q: You often say it is easier to get forgiveness than permission, but then sometimes if you do take a little initiative based on that idea, you get reprimanded severely or even fired.

A: Keep investing in your personal and professional development and in your power to produce solutions to problems, and you will always have a source of economic security. Your security does not come from your job or from the patronage of other people; it comes from your ability to meet needs and solve problems. Keep investing in those abilities, and you will have endless opportunities. Also, pick your battles very carefully—don’t take initiative that is way outside your Circle of Influence. Instead, work outside your job but inside your Circle of Influence. Then take initiative in the form of well thought through analysis and recommendations, and you will inevitably find your Circle of Influence getting larger and larger.