10
Enacting Beliefs
It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action.
— LIN YUTANG
The challenge is confronted by every religion, by every political body, by every organization that espouses a set of values or operating principles, by every culture, by most people, and by every effective leader: How to translate beliefs into actions. Our beliefs are the fundamental ground of the judgments we make about ourselves, others, and the events of our lives, and thus they hold sway over our behavior. For example, if we believe that people are basically good, we are likely to treat them with respect and dignity. And if we believe they are basically selfish and untrustworthy, we are likely to treat them with caution and suspicion.
Beliefs are not knowledge but articles of faith; either we need no proof of their truth, or our perceptions are constructed in such a way that their truth is continually proven to us. They are our personal certainties, sometimes borrowed from others, changeable over time and with experience. For as long as we hold beliefs, though, they are highly resistant, perhaps even immune to persuasion of their falseness.
In previous chapters we have seen many examples of how leaders succeed at the important challenge of translating beliefs into action. Zalman Schachter-Shalomi believes that, “People . . . become wise by undertaking the inner work that leads in stages to expanded consciousness.”1 He translated that belief into action by both immersing himself in a retreat to discover the source of his unease over growing older and by founding the Spiritual Eldering Institute. Dale Fushek believes in the power of love, so he founded Life Teen, Inc. Mary Ellen Hennen believed the people she inherited when she became executive director of the Public Utilities Commission of Minnesota were capable and well positioned to make a difference, so she turned them loose to solve an intractable problem. Pat Croce, Beverly O’Neill, Alice Harris, Wilma Mankiller, Bill Strickland, and every other leader who wins high commitment, believe in the efficacy of optimism, so they express and maintain their own.
We have also seen, in recent times, the abject failure of organizations to enact their beliefs. For example, the values espoused by Enron in its 1998 Annual Report are, respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. In describing respect, the report stated, “Ruthlessness, callousness, and arrogance don’t belong here.”2
Leaders and Beliefs
Leaders are often reluctant to explicitly bring their beliefs to their leadership unless, like Monsignor Dale Fushek or Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, they lead within a religious context; unless they “wear the cloth” of priest or nun, rabbi, minister, or imam, or they hold some other designation as a consecrated person of religious stature. Many leaders outside of a religious context are justifiably anxious that explicitly bringing their particular brand of beliefs forward in a multireligious society will cause unnecessary and unproductive conflict. Still, whether leaders wear the cloth of their faith or not, those who win high commitment do enact their beliefs.
The second of the three competencies for winning spiritual commitment, enacting beliefs does not necessarily mean explicitly bringing a set of religious beliefs, or a particular religion, forward. It means, rather, actively employing deeply held beliefs in the general course of leadership. There is a key test involved: Is a particular action intended primarily as a religious statement? For those who lead outside a religious context, enacting beliefs is never intended as a religious statement. It is intended, rather, to provide leadership and to win commitment from others in a way that preserves personal integrity. For leaders who are clearly leading within a religious context the action may be both an attempt to win commitment and a religious statement as well.
Beliefs in Practice
A leader who enacts her beliefs achieves a close integration—a coming together—of beliefs and actions. Vincent Francia is a good example. Francia, after serving four years on the Town Council of Cave Creek, Arizona, has been elected mayor three times. Cave Creek prides itself on being, “The Town Too Tough to Govern.” Francia says, “It is an accurate description of the citizenry of the town; an eclectic mix of people that take democracy very seriously. Everyone is expected to voice their opinion. They don’t accept being governed, but do accept guidance.” The town has been hard on its elected officials; one mayor was recalled, and in the 2003 election, the citizen’s of Cave Creek rejected the city’s new general plan, a very rare occurrence. When asked why he has been successful as the town’s mayor, Francia replied, “I keep the peace and can hold things together in the worst of times.”
Francia’s ability to hold things together begins with enacting his beliefs; in his case, Buddhist tenets and practices. For example, he makes use of the Buddhist practice of mindful listening. “I don’t make judgments about what you are saying,” he explained. “I am the one who can sit in the middle and get along with all groups. I keep the peace. When you are practicing mindful listening you are like the emptiness in a vase, and that vase can hold anything. Whatever you have to say, it is going to be received. It is not going to be taken casually or be dismissed.” Mindful listening breeds trust, which in turn breeds loyalty.
Francia provided a brief overview of Buddhist philosophy and practice while offering examples of how he enacts his beliefs in the political arena. Buddha, says Francia, focused on the question of why human beings suffer, and on what might be done to alleviate that suffering. The first two of Buddha’s Four Noble Truths are, in brief, that everybody everywhere suffers, and that the source of suffering is desire. Francia said, “If you take these two concepts and translate them into a political arena, they have quite a bit of application.” Francia cites the example of a citizen who is trying to get something done, fails, and suffers because she did not get what was desired.
In his third noble truth, Buddha explores the cause of suffering, believing that which has a cause also has a cure. The cause of suffering is a sense of separation, the sense of “I” as a separate entity. Western psychology refers to it as ego. Francia said, “A healthy ego is fine. But when it causes separation—male from female, Republican from Democrat, environmentalist from private property rights person—then what has been created is conflict.” Conflict is a source of suffering.
As a solution to suffering, the Buddha put forth an Eightfold Path in his fourth noble truth so that in the course of living we do not have to live a life of suffering.3 One aspect of the Eightfold Path is Right Speech, which depends on the realization that saying unkind or cruel things has negative consequences; it causes suffering. Francia said, “In terms of political application, if I am practicing mindful listening, the next step is to speak. Buddhism holds that when you speak to a person, you do so to encourage or to bring joy.”
“If I strike out,” said Francia, “The effect of my statement is that it has discounted what the person said. It has embarrassed him in front of his elected officials, and probably humiliated him in front of his fellow citizens.” Doing so can create a chain reaction that brings more suffering to more people. Francia’s Buddhist beliefs provide him with an alternative to striking out: “If, on the other hand, I speak to him in a way that is encouraging, even though I may not be able to vote for what he wishes, and in a way that brings joy and that thanks him for bringing this to the council’s attention, then he has been heard and that which he has been saying has been respected.”
Francia is not explicitly bringing his Buddhist faith forward. He is, rather, consciously employing his beliefs and practices—in this particular example, mindful listening and right speech—in the general course of his leadership role. He has no intention of making a religious statement. Rather, his intention is to be a leader that provides a fractious community with a sense of peace and an atmosphere of mutual respect upon which it can build its future.
Francia also can be seen performing subtle movements with his hands, called mudras. These are symbolic gestures that are intended to help him shift his consciousness. A mudra enables him to respond to difficult situations in ways that encourage joy.
Enacting beliefs is, of course, not solely the province of Buddhists, and beliefs themselves are not solely the province of the world’s formal religions. For example, Wilma Mankiller’s unflagging optimism is an enactment of traditional Cherokee beliefs: first let us remove all negative things from our mind so we can come together as one. And Jim Ellis, as a U.S. Army officer, pledged an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. He carries a copy of it in his briefcase as both a reminder of his oath and as a set of principles to live and lead by. This adherence to beliefs, this close integration of belief and action, is the basis of integrity.
The specific ways in which leaders enact their beliefs vary from leader to leader and from belief to belief. Certain beliefs, however, are held in common among leaders who are able to win high levels of commitment:
•Belief in divine involvement in the affairs of the world
•Belief in the importance of service
•Belief in the basic goodness of people
These three beliefs lead human beings closer to soul, and thus open the door for spiritual commitment. United with the willingness and ability to enact them, these beliefs separate leaders who win high levels of commitment from those who are simply supermanagers.
Divine Involvement
The first belief held in common by leaders who win high commitment was expressed by Pat Croce, by Bonnie Wright, and by many other leaders as well. Croce said, “My undying tenet is that if you do your best, God will take care of the rest.” Wright said it this way, adding a small but important twist to Croce’s words: “If you are doing the right things, the resources are going to come to you to do it.” The statements of Croce and Wright, when combined, form a summary of what leaders generally express when talking about divine involvement: When you are doing the right things, and when you are doing them to the best of your ability, the divine powers of the universe will accomplish whatever else is needed.
This belief in divine involvement is also a source of strength and renewal for leaders. Croce’s belief that if he does his best God will take care of the rest provides him with a basis for dealing with the inevitable problems that all leaders face. With that belief in hand, he said, “You then can handle setbacks, disappointments, and frustrations.” Beverly O’Neill expressed a similar outlook when she said, “I know there is a higher power. I have defined it myself in my own way. The strength sustains me.”
The Primacy of Service
The second belief that is common among leaders who win high levels of commitment is belief in the importance of living a life of service. Wilma Mankiller, for example, said that she initially ran for the office of chief of the Cherokee Nation because she wanted to be in a position to allocate more resources to very rural and poor people.
Alice Harris, speaking about the many organizations she has founded and headed said, “I don’t lay out agendas. Whatever people’s needs are, we are going to take care of them. Whether it is getting them to the welfare office or the White House, they are going to get there because that is what the need is.” Harris is direct and fierce about the matter of service. “We should be helping all the time,” she said. “We have to come out of our own comfort zone and start helping people.”
David Hollister also has the needs of people in the forefront of his leadership. Hollister said, “Some people go into public life and you know that it is self-serving. That is not something that has ever interested me. I could have taken different jobs and made a hell of a lot more money. But I deeply believe in public service.” When Hollister was in the Michigan legislature he was asked to take responsibility for the state’s social service budget. He was warned that if he accepted the responsibility, he could, in his words, “Kiss off any ambition to ever be governor or have any statewide role.” Effectiveness at managing the social service budget was likely to alienate many of the state’s power brokers. Hollister said, “I took on that task with a great deal of enthusiasm.” He traveled the state organizing people around basic issues such as hunger and homelessness. During his tenure in Michigan state government, Hollister was consistently ranked among the state’s top legislators. He eventually did gain the statewide role that he was warned would never be his, heading one of the most influential departments in the Michigan state government.
The commitment to service for leaders such as Mankiller, Harris, and Hollister is not mere political commitment. They do not serve for any other reason except to serve; they are not drawn to serve because it will be profitable or will insure the loyalty of others. They do it for its own sake and for its own rewards. Alice Harris said, “God loves a joyful giver.” For leaders such as these, service is a spiritual commitment that wins spiritual commitment from others.
The zeal to serve is at the root of the compelling insights that give rise to noble visions. The insights that compel leaders are perceptions about the needs or aspirations of a group of people; they come out of belief in the primacy of service. Noble visions are about the specific contributions that leaders intend to make to a group of people; they too have their roots in the impulse to serve and they invite followers to serve as well. Without this impulse to serve, without this belief in the primacy of service, compelling insights and noble visions elude would-be leaders. Alice Harris expressed a wish for all of us that also conveyed an important message to leaders when she said, “If we could just come to the knowledge that giving is the end.”
Philosopher and theologian Sam Keen eloquently expressed the significance of believing in the primacy of service. He wrote:
Whenever you are confused, keep heading in the direction that leads toward deepening your love and care for all living beings, including yourself, and you will never stray far from the path to fulfillment.4
The Goodness of People
The third belief that is common among leaders who win high levels of commitment is belief in the basic goodness of others. Despite declarations to the contrary, our institutions and many people who hold leadership positions tend to operate as if people are basically selfish, needing to be watched and scrutinized carefully to prevent rampant and destructive self-interest. However, leaders who win high levels of commitment conduct themselves in just the opposite way, as if people are basically unselfish, and as if they are trustworthy.
Belief in the basic goodness of others has lurked as a subtext in much of what has been said in previous chapters, and its presence now requires full acknowledgement. For example, Pat Croce said, “I am a big believer in people.” Bill Strickland said, “There is nothing wrong with the kids that come here, except that they don’t have an opportunity to show that they are world-class citizens.” And one of Bonnie Wright’s rules for leadership is, “Look for the wisdom in the group.” Croce, Strickland, and Wright were each affirming their belief in the goodness of others. Such statements are not simply about the capabilities of others, but about the basic nature of human beings.
This belief is what invitational theorists refer to as the assumption of trust. William Purkey described the assumption of trust in this way: “Given an optimally inviting environment, each person will find his or her own best ways of being and becoming.”5 Leaders who win high levels of commitment are adept at creating such optimally inviting environments, which depend heavily on the leader’s willingness and ability to hold onto the assumption of trust.
Beliefs and Values
A leader’s own beliefs are entwined with but independent from those of whatever organization he leads, unless that organization is small and the leader is also the founder. Organizational leaders often attempt to articulate beliefs for their organizations in what has come to be called a values statement. However, like many vision statements, values statements can depreciate rapidly into hollow words printed on wall posters, mouse pads, and coffee mugs. This depreciation happens for one or both of two reasons. First, it happens when those in leadership positions fail to recognize what they really do value, opting instead for statements about what they think their organization ought to value, or about what they think the organization ought to be seen as valuing by its employees, customers, and other stakeholders. The result is values statements containing words such as trust and respect, accompanied by actions that shout out that the actual and primary values are those such as achievement, competition, status, and wealth. There is nothing wrong with valuing such things as achievement, competition, status, and wealth. But anyone who wishes to win commitment from others needs to own up to what they really value rather than pretending to value whatever they believe will play well in the marketplace for commitment.
Second, the depreciation of a values statement happens when those in leadership positions fail to institutionalize the values that their organizations espouse, opting for a communication campaign alone as the means to proclaim and ground what they say they believe in and care about. Organizational leaders, as a whole, do know how to institutionalize a value. Safety, for example, is well enshrined in organizations where it has been made a high priority. Those who do institutionalize safety know that communication must be relentless, and that it must be accompanied by training and monitoring. So the consistent and pervasive failure to institutionalize values is not a matter of not knowing how; it is more a function of not caring all that much about the stated values in the first place, or of assuming people will know what is meant by the words on the poster, mouse pad, or coffee cup without a great deal of dialogue and feedback.
Leaders who wish to create a statement of beliefs or values for their organizations have much the same choices for doing so as they do for creating a vision statement. They can articulate the beliefs or values, stand as the primary spokesperson and symbol for them, and then work to involve others. They can facilitate a group process to articulate the beliefs or values, opening up the possibility that others will take ownership early on, and risking that, in trying to please everyone involved, they “lose the juice.” They can adopt beliefs and values that have been previously articulated, putting their own stamp on implementation.
No matter which choice a leader makes about how to identify and articulate beliefs and values, she cannot drift into the position where her personal beliefs and values fail to align with those that are eventually espoused. Doing so courts disaster. Leaders who win high levels of commitment know what they believe in and value, don’t pretend to anything else, and persist in all ways possible on institutionalizing the beliefs that they hold dear and the values that they prize most highly.
Development Strategies for Enacting Beliefs
A leader’s ability to enact his beliefs presumes that significant beliefs have been identified and acknowledged, that they can be articulated, and that some formal or informal mechanism has been created to test actions against beliefs.
Articulating Beliefs
In this chapter, three beliefs that are held in common among leaders who are able to win high levels of commitment were identified: belief in divine involvement in the affairs of the world, belief in the importance of service, and belief in the basic goodness of people. Other beliefs that drove the actions of specific leaders were also identified. For example, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s belief that, “People . . . become wise by undertaking the inner work that leads in stages to expanded consciousness,”6 Dale Fushek’s belief in the power of love, and Vincent Francia’s belief in his Buddhist practices.
Leaders who win high levels of commitment can articulate their beliefs, even if only to themselves. Bonnie Wright has a list of beliefs specifically about how she can best conduct herself as a leader. It includes items such as these: seek the wisdom of the group, operate from a position of love, be willing to be surprised, be bold, and be brave.
Connecting Actions with Beliefs
Having articulated their most deeply held beliefs, leaders who win high levels of commitment consciously test their actions and potential actions against their beliefs. This is detective work that may be accomplished as inwardly as in meditation or reflection, or as outwardly as in dialogue with trusted others who will offer feedback. There will be more to say about such feedback in the next chapter.
Choosing a Process
The “Development Strategies for Vision” section of Chapter 3 contains a more complete discussion of the alternatives in front of any leader who wishes to create an organization vision statement. Much of what is written there applies also to creating a statement of beliefs or values. In short, leaders have the option of articulating a belief or values themselves, steering a group process to articulate them, allowing them to emerge, or adopting them from someone else. Each alternative has advantages and disadvantages.
Summary
Leaders who win the highest levels of commitment actively employ their own deeply held beliefs in the course of their lives and their leadership roles. While they vary in their beliefs and in the specific ways in which they enact their beliefs, certain beliefs are common among them: belief in divine involvement in the affairs of the world, belief in the importance of service, and belief in the basic goodness of people. Leaders who win high levels of commitment know what they believe in and value, they don’t pretend to anything else, and they are persistent about bringing their beliefs to the organizations they lead.
Questions About Yourself to Contemplate or Discuss with Others
Who, in your life experience, was practiced at enacting beliefs?
To what degree are you practiced at enacting beliefs?
What is it about enacting beliefs that rings true for your current leadership role?
How important is enacting beliefs to your further development as a leader?
Notes
1.Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Ronald S. Miller, From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older (N.Y.: Warner Books, 1995): 15.
2.Enron, “Enron Annual Report 1998. Our Values,” <http://www.enron.com/corp/investors/annuals/annual98/ourvalues.html> (June, 2003).
3.Background for the discussion of Buddhism is from <http://www.buddhanet.net> (June, 2003).
4.Sam Keen, Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life (N.Y.: Bantam Books, 1994): 59.
5.William W. Purkey, “An Introduction to Invitational Theory,” at International Alliance for Invitational Education, <http://www.invitationaleducation.net> (June, 2003).
6.Schachter-Shalomi and Miller, From Age-ing to Sage-ing, 15.