TOWARD A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
Can It Make Leaders More Effective?
by
John Horan-Kates
Updated July 2006
In the context of “changing the game” in organizational life, I’ve been obsessed of late with
the question of “how do we actually change behavior ?” And even with the significant focus
on regulation and rules-based responses to corporate ethics through Sarbanes-Oxley, it’s
pretty clear that these responses will not fundamentally change egregious behavior.
Ultimately, those so inclined, will figure out ways around the rules.
But I keep coming back to the question of “what do we base our ethics on?” And while the
answer of “values and beliefs” comes easily for many, I wonder whether we are willing to go a
bit deeper to understand where those values and beliefs come from ?”
My answer is they’re derived from the many great wisdom and faith traditions, particularly
biblical scripture. For me, this foundation has resulted in the inclusion of what I call a
spiritual perspective in the “inside-first” leadership philosophy. So, my purpose here is to
outline why this spiritual orientation is so important in this work and how it represents the
most direct and powerful route for changing behavior.
I often wonder why some people question the emphasis given this spiritual orientation. Some
prefer to de-emphasize this aspect, typically using the separation of church and state
argument. But, I want to expand the references to spirituality because I believe it represents a
clear distinction from other perspectives. In fact, I believe the time is ripe to bring God back
into our conversations.
WHERE HAS THIS THINKING COME FROM?
The “inside-first” philosophy was initially developed from a non-partisan and non-sectarian
perspective with a vision of influencing a good society, particularly good communities. At the
outset, this good society simply meant a culture within our various institutions where we
cared about one another and respected each others perspectives. From this vision, a refined
purpose of “cultivating effective, ethical leaders” emerged that in turn influenced a primary
goal of changing leaders’ behavior.”
We’ve heard from many psychologists that beliefs and values drive behavior. If this is true,
then changing values and beliefs will result in changing behavior. Sounds pretty simple, but
we all know it isn’t. So, how do you get people to actually change their behavior ? One way to
advance this is to clearly understand what drives or forms our beliefs and values ?
Before diving into this complex pool of thought, let me refer to a recent article in Fast
Company magazine where John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor, having studied
numerous organizations in the midst of upheaval, talks about changing the behavior of people
being more central than strategy, structure or systems. The article states that while
conventional wisdom says that crisis is a powerful motivator for change, a much stronger
inspiration for change comes from a compelling, positive vision of the future. Kotter says that
“behavior change happens mostly by speaking to people’s feelings. In highly successful
change efforts, people find ways to help others see the problems or solutions in ways that
influence emotions, not just thought.” 1
So, what kind of change are we looking for ? What do we want? Most people would agree
that we want to move from harmful to helpful behavior.
INTEGRATING HEAD WITH HEART.
The “inside-first” philosophy says that real change toward ethical leadership has to come
from the inside - from a willing, receptive heart. We know we cannot impose values and
beliefs. We understand that they are built in us over an extended period, starting at home,
advanced during our school years and then honed in adulthood and the marketplace.
Preaching values doesn’t work very well either. Those values are the preacher’s or the CEO’s.
Using an uncovering approach, like open dialogue in small groups, is what allows us to openly
express our deepest values and beliefs. In this way, when we hear from others as to what they
value, and why that’s important to them, we can begin to better understand their point-ofview…
and at the same time better understand our own values.
Within an organization, this way of developing values together, rather than having them come
down from the CEO, begins to create real alignment among people. Some may see that their
values are quite different and that they really belong somewhere else or on a different path. It
is in this important, but often avoided, process of discussing values that we can begin to look
beyond ourselves. And it recognizes that the values of the people in the organization make-up
the values of the organization. I contend that organizations don’t have values - people do!
I like Ken Blanchard’s approach where he says that “values reside in the heart, beliefs are
formulated in the head, and the hands are how we manifest the combination in our
behavior.” 2 Hopefully, this commentary points toward the importance of finding a better
balance between head and heart; and then creating a link to our behavior. Connecting our
intellect with our emotions and our head with our heart !
INSIDE-FIRST PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES
This philosophy has been developed by numerous “thought-leaders” over many years. The
water drop depicts leadership emanating out in three distinct rings or realms; character, skills
and relationships. The key principles are built on the foundation of one’s values. Stephen
Covey distinguishes between values and principles by saying that “values are internal –
principles are external.” 3
For each of these principles, one could advocate a number of practices that recommend
specific actions to help leaders progress within this system. And while everyone has their
favorite principles and practices of leadership, I have found that several practices stand-out
for me; like being passionate about my purpose and vision; like walking my talk; like fostering
a discipline of action. But I have come to the conclusion, after years of reflection, that none is
more important to me than the practice of knowing your God and progressing in your faith.
To me this means looking to God for the foundation of how we live and how we lead.
WHY BRING GOD BACK INTO THE CONVERSATION?
I have found that when you bring God into the conversation, I generally get either of two
responses. One, “let’s not go there because that’s personal and I keep faith separate,” in
which case you may have a much harder time. Or alternatively, they say, “what do you mean,”
which opens the door for a more extensive dialogue. For my part, I want to more deeply
explore the spiritual side of behavior by bringing God back into our public conversations.
I say “back” because God has been gradually pushed out over the past century. Our current
materialistic culture advocates not just a separation of church and state, but a separation of
church from life, where God has been restricted from the public square almost completely.
With “In God We Trust,” I believe the nation’s Founders intended to urge us to draw upon
divine inspiration. The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which reads: “Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...” is really meant to avoid the
sponsorship of a state-controlled religion, not to keep God out of our public lives. We grewup
with the phrase “one nation under God,” yet today this thought is constantly called into
question. I want to play a role in reversing this trend. I want to call this interpretation of the
“separation clause” into question by advocating a “public spirituality.” I want to bring focus
to the positive aspects of what scripture tells us about our obligations toward one another.
Today’s media-driven culture tends to support “moral relativism” where all values are equal
and the ends justify the means. But this approach seems like quicksand to me that cannot
serve as a foundation for anything. In this relativism, the individual reigns…and
individualism is mostly about ego. This reminds me of an acronym that says ego stands for
“edging God out” through fear and pride. The most egregious ethical lapses we see in
organizational life today are related to money - basically greed. To be more specific, I believe
greed is the primary root cause of the vast majority of these problems. It’s not money itself,
but rather the “love of money” that causes the problems.
I sense that now is the time to put greater emphasis on spirituality. Newt Gingrich recently
said that the “tyranny of the present stifles thinking about big, long-term ideas that change
things.” I believe he’s including those secular humanists who would keep the Creator out of
all conversations today. In Patricia Aburdene’s new book, “MegaTrends 2010 – The Rise of
Conscious Capitalism” she describes why and how “the power of spirituality is arguably the
greatest megatrend of our era.” She claims that the “cornerstone of effective leadership is
self-mastery.” 4
Before going further, it might be useful to distinguish between “religion” and “spirituality.”
While some people use these terms interchangeably, there is actually a huge difference.
My definition of spirituality holds that it is an orientation toward the sacred or higher
authority without aligning with any specific religious belief. To me this is God. Spirituality is
the process of living out a set of deeply held personal values, of honoring a presence greater
than ourselves. Spirituality is of the divine; religion is of man.
Spirituality references the Almighty, but doesn’t cross the line of how one relates to him.
Some people use other words for God, like higher power, deity, the divine or the
transcendent. Jews call God, Yahweh; Wayne Dwyer likes “source.” The label pales in
comparison to the perspective it embodies.
Spirituality is a feeling or state of mind - religion is a way that that state gets codified into law
or rules. Religion is institutional and is often about preserving that institution. And it’s about
doctrine, about having the right answer. Spirituality is inclusive, whereas religion is
exclusive. In my view, religion tries to cause people to follow doctrine to make them perfect.
And because man is by nature imperfect, and has devised these rules, religion is often a major
part of the problem. We need to promote universal values rather than religiously-based
values. Interestingly, they are almost always the same values.
ARE GOD’S VALUES WORTHY?
From this perspective, let’s go back to the question of why bring Providence into our
conversations with the fundamental premise that change is needed. If one rejects the egodriven
culture, then we need a powerful force greater than ourselves to make these changes. I
say we need the influences of God.
When the Creator is introduced, we begin to get outside of ourselves, we get beyond our ego,
and can begin to think about others – maybe even the common good. When God is present
we tend to be more respectful, less irreverent; maybe even slightly vulnerable.
When we bring the Almighty into the conversation, we’re likely to get to the heart, and that’s
where values reside. At the heart level, we uncover our fundamentals – we hear what we
really value and why. We get real. I like the proverb that says, “out of the overflow of the
heart, the mouth speaks.”
The question “how does God inform your values,” I believe, tends to cause us to think deeply,
because questions involving the Creator are the most basic in life. The question “who or what
is at the center of your life” typically leads to God. These are questions involving meaning
that help us set aside our facades and our fears and help us become authentic. From a larger
systems perspective, Peter Senge says, “what is most systemic is really most personal. You
and I actually are the system.” 5 Questions involving the divine help take it to the personal
level.
The more generic questions like “what does our organization stand for” tend to drive the
conversation in a more impersonal, or what I call “sanitized” direction that somehow seems
more abstract and less genuine. I believe we would benefit from getting below the surface
with more depth in our conversations.
Any conversation about spirituality, where there is give and take, and a lot of listening, the
selfish values don’t hold up very well. Most people won’t argue for their self-centered
perspective - they just don’t. But it’s the process of listening, evaluating and prioritizing our
values that can move us, if we’re willing, to something larger than ourselves. So, then a key
question becomes, “to what extent does God influence your values ?” And even more
importantly, “what are His values ?”
The encouraging news is that the Almighty’s values, or spiritual values, are a common set of
fundamental beliefs that are generally shared by the world’s great wisdom and faith
traditions. All contain essentially the same truths. And when you compare spiritual values
with more worldly values, you begin to see some striking differences.
God values humility over pride; pride being like a cancer on spirituality. He values
encouragement and love over money and power. He values significance more than success.
Spirituality tends to honor questions more than answers. Not knowing is appreciated, such
that we don’t always need to have the answer. Thinking about serving others versus being
largely self-centered is common among the spiritually inclined.
The Golden Rule of “do unto others” pretty much says it all. This approach speaks to an
attitude of dignity and respect for others versus the superiority of some. It addresses the
value of multiple stakeholders rather than only shareholders. And while my personal
approach is to be a follower of Jesus and his principles of leadership, the Institute does not
advocate any one approach or answer. Rather, in the healthy dialogue of competing values,
we are confident that good conclusions will emerge, and from this position, good behavior
becomes more likely.
ON WHAT DO YOU BASE YOUR ETHICS?
How does all of this tie back to our purpose of cultivating effective, ethical leaders ? If ethics
is really a set of standards defining right from wrong, the question is not do you have an
ethical perspective - because most people do - the key is on what do you base your ethics ? I
believe ethical decisions are best made from a solid foundation, not shifting sands.
But many argue that they don’t need God to get to these “good” values. My personal
observations are that people tend to talk generically about values that people “ought to have”
and separate the discussion from what they personally value. Why do we tend to privatize
these most strongly held values ? If we were to come from the perspective of “understanding”
and leave out “converting” people to our way, could we not become more aligned as a society ?
I advocate Covey’s habit of “seek first to understand before trying to be understood.” So
dialogue, or a respectful conversation, about values can be very enlightening. By listening
first, really trying to understand what the other guy believes, we begin to build trust. Then
the door is open to express our point of view. And in the give-and-take of a conversation that
includes God, I believe we can begin to better understand one another and our values. This is
how we can get to what’s really important and what’s needed in our society.
Once you’re clear about values and beliefs, then what ? I like Chuck King’s approach called
the Values-Aligned Leadership Model. King is Dean of the Business School at Colorado
Christian University and he and several colleagues developed this model. Their basic
approach is to clarify and document your personal, and then organizational values, and for
any given situation, prioritize your duties to the stakeholders. Then determine the possible
alternative courses of action and evaluate the consequences of these actions to each group of
stakeholders. Wherever possible choose the course of action that poses no conflict among the
duties to the stakeholders. Where there is a conflict, which really amounts to an ethical
dilemma, choose a course that honors the duty to the highest level of stakeholder first, then
the next, and so on. If an action violates one of your values, don’t move forward.
While this is a much abbreviated description of this “values-aligned” model, the process
makes sense because it’s tied to what we value !
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?
All of these thoughts make me want to move from a tepid reference to spirituality to a more
direct involvement of God in the conversation. I believe we’ll have stronger and more
meaningful institutions, if we move from a somewhat cautious attitude about spirituality to
giving it a more central role in our leadership dialogue; from a small “s” to a capital “S”.
I believe this is the key differentiating factor that sets “inspired” leadership development
apart from all other approaches. I believe it is a “unique selling proposition” (USP) in the
secular culture. How do we use God to inspire our thinking and behavior and avoid turning
people off ? It’s not about converting anyone to anything; but it is about changing behavior.
And God can help us get beyond our self-centeredness.
How do thought-leaders effectively bring this spiritual perspective into our culture ? What is
the most effective response to the church-state argument ? What language is most effective ?
And finally, how do we avoid the perception that we’re just preaching some dogma. We
should approach these questions carefully, but without apology. We should not be afraid of
chasing some people away – that will be their choice. We need the courage to stand for good
behavior and we have to base that stand on solid ground.
I chose the heart, where God resides in me !
The author is President and Founder of the Vail Leadership Institute and author of the Keys to Leading.
