It ain't the Heat, it's the HUMILITY that warms the Leader's Heart

 “Seek not good from without: seek it from within yourselves, or you will never find it”

~Epictetus

I have just returned from attending a camp in Taiwan hosted by Tzu Chi, an organization based on selfless love, shared leadership and environmental responsibility.

Coming from nothing, I listened and observed how this organization attracted millions of volunteers all over the world to create this sustainable billion dollar organization…simply put people have an opportunity to give meaning to their life and actively live into values that resonate with them personally. Hence, creating a collective organization where people are inspired to give selflessly; emotional intelligence was in full motion. When humility is the cornerstone of a culture, equality emerges. I witnessed success in pooling strengths from all societal backgrounds; everyone contributes; everyone is a leader; everyone feels valued and purposeful.

 “Organizational acceptance and leadership demonstration of expressive soul and spiritual leadership capacities attested to the relevance of influence on motivation, spiritual well-being, job satisfaction, profit, and productivity.” (Mendoza, 1998).  The top factor among the highest performing businesses was not the pooled strength of the leadership team, but their ability to attract and retain quality people. People are more important than any process. Good people will outperform ordinary people with a process every time. (Booch,1996). Selfless participation will create an environment where people pool together, improve process and rise above average.  Hiring people culturally aligned with the organization's values is key to success. Empowerment becomes easy because the people are actively engaged in the creation.  If you have the right people, you will move faster and accomplish more in the same amount of time. The “right people” will create a value based culture that will catapult sustainable success through an environment that reflects the strengths of self and shared leadership.  

   Research suggests that contributing factors such as group attitude, teamwork, leaders’ and employees’ commitment to company goals, and a quality-oriented culture were key factors to organizations that have seen sustainable success (Wanser, Lester and Nygen, 2007).   Fast forward to almost eighteen years from the prediction of Booch (1996), in the organizational era of the millennial generation we find that having the right people is still key, however, we can now further define the “right people” as those who have alignment to the organizations values and who practice shared leadership. Hiring the right people, those with high emotional intelligence will create a cultural environment poised for sustainable success.

Goleman (2005) equates the right people in terms of self-awareness, altruism, personal motivation, empathy, and the ability to love and be loved. According to H.F. Johnson, Sr. (1927), “The goodwill of the people is the only enduring thing in any business.  It is the sole substance… the rest is shadow.”

Leadership and Cultural Norms....It's all Greek to Me!

             …..beauty comes from within

I have traveled extensively and I relish the opportunity to learn about different cultures and explore this wonderful world that we all live in.  Recently, I went on a kayaking/hiking and exploring the ruins trip to Greece.  We started in Athens, then to Crete and lastly Santorini.  Each a very different experience.  While it would be easy to write a travel blog on the pristine sights and the amazing foods of Greece, I have instead decided to write about the extraordinary experience that has created friendships and memories that are priceless.  The cultural norm was one of the quickest formations of team that I have experienced. Of course this perked my curiosity and caused me to introspectively review the why.

We had varied professionals, among the guides and guests together there was a balance of men and women, ages were varied with some Millennial, Gen X and Boomers, technical experience was varied, there was a balance of introverts and extraverts, the group was made up of varied levels of wealth and we came from all over the United States.  By all counts, this was a diverse group with the only basic commonality being that we were all American citizens.  We were in minimal living-conditions, we had different interests and different needs.  Despite all of the diversity, we quickly formed a cultural norm that created a bond between the members of the group that has lasted beyond the trip and memories that go way beyond the ordinary vacation experience. 

The guides and the guests formed a team culture that, aside from probably being the most photographed trip by amateur photographers and I-phone users, was driven by selfless love and shared leadership.  Within one long and very close-quartered van ride, one by one each of our very type “A” and guarded selves was put aside and replaced with humility and vulnerability…. in that moment the past dissipated and we simply let ourselves be in the present. We shared our personal stories, laughed and a bond of unity was quickly forged.  Thereafter, no “one” took the lead, yet interestingly we all took the lead.  A balance of independence, interdependence and intradependence surfaced among this team of prior strangers. Even the guides of Northwest Passage were quickly adopted into our group culture while maintaining their professional responsibility. The introverts who needed down time were given the space for down time, those with a more active appetite created group and individual choices, those with more technical experience stepped up to help those with less experience, others led the dinner discussions, one used their musical talents to entertain, food was ordered with consideration of everyone’s pallet and sharing memories of the day and what we were grateful for became the evening ritual. In an environment of long arduous and physically strenuous days, we hiked and paddled through the most southern part of Europe, to towns consisting of as little as ten people with conditions that were primitive to basic at best.  While it could have easily been the breeding grounds for tension and stress, the group camaraderie never once faltered. Instead, we respected each of our differences, took the time to appreciate the environment around us and gave thanks to each day of experiencing the earth’s internal and external majestic beauty.

We truly adopted the local motto from Matala “Today is life, Tomorrow never comes.”

  

On an aside…another curious thought that has nothing to do with Greece directly:  In all my travels, I have noticed that the southern parts of each country, i.e. Chile, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the United States to name a few, seem to be more pure, laid-back, in the present…and even birds fly south for parts of the year.  Do you think there is something to be said that heading south for part of the year can help with stress and cause a harmonious soothing effect?  Even in war-time…South Korea, South Vietnam, South Nigeria, etc., were the peaceful parts of the country…Hmmm,  do birds know something we don’t’ know?  Just a thought…..