Be passionate.

Tell stories.

Give examples.

Cite case studies.

Look at the audience.

Let people ask questions anytime.

Tell people why they should give a daé&!

Move your head, hands, and body.

Finish on time (or early).

DON’T do the following:
Read your speech.

Do a data dump.

Show complex slides with lots of words and small graphics.

Stare at your slides and avoid your audience.

Be abstract.

Use big, complex words.

Use jargon.

Be monotone.

Be boring.

Go over your allotted time.

Common Fallacies

Ad hominem

Attacking your opponent, rather than his argument or evidence. This is often used by people to draw attention away from their own insufficient evidence or faulty arguments. The intent is to discredit an argument by discrediting the person arguing, even though the two are not directly correlated (an unpleasant person may have a perfectly valid argument).

Appeal to ignorance

Drawing a conclusion from a lack of evidence, or using a lack of evidence to support a claim. For example, there is no evidence one way or the other about the existence of God. But both sides of the issue use this lack of evidence to support their claims for and against the existence of God.

Appeal to popularity (Ad populum)

Trying to validate or justify a claim or argument by appealing to popular opinion; believing that something must be true because it is widely believed to be true. However, popular belief does not a fact make. People have accepted as common wisdom any number of complete fallacies, such as the flat earth or the idea that traveling at speeds of over fifteen miles per hour would be fatal.

Appeal to questionable authority

Resting the validity of an argument on the opinion of someone who does not have the skill, training, education, or expertise required to give a valid opinion in that area. For example, relying on a non-electrician to validate the quality of electrical work.

Begging the question

A fallacy in which the underlying evidence for the reasoning is assumed within the reasoning. For example, “Stealing is wrong, therefore taking extra sugar from the diner is wrong.” In this argument, the premise—that taking extra sugar from the diner is stealing—is assumed, but never addressed. Since the premise has not been established as fact, the argument based on it is null and void. This can be a very difficult fallacy to understand and to spot in action. It is very easy to simply accept the underlying assumptions as fact.

Conjunction fallacy

The belief that specific conditions are more probable than general ones. Often used in advertising, since a specific claim (four out of five doctors prefer) is more believable than a general one (doctors agree).

Either/Or (false dilemma or false dichotomy)

Giving or assuming only two options when in reality many options may be available.

Equivocation

Using a word that has more than one meaning in an argument. When an alternate meaning is put into play, the argument no longer makes any sense. For example:

• All men are created equal
• Women are not men
• Therefore, women are unequal

In this sense, the word “men” was originally used to infer “mankind,” but in the second instance the meaning is changed to mean male humans. In this way, it is easy to twist the meaning of a word to derail or falsely win an argument.

Explaining by naming

The fallacy that because you have labeled something, you have explained it.

Gambler’s fallacy

The belief that unique random events or results are caused by or affected by prior unique random events. For example, the belief that a “lucky run of the dice” will positively or negatively influence later rolls, when in fact each roll is individually random and in no way affected by other rolls, or that because a specific string of numbers won in one lottery, it is more likely to win again, when in fact each winning series of lottery numbers is uniquely random and not influenced by any other series.

Glittering generality

Using vague, positive descriptions or emotional appeals to entice someone to approve of something they might disapprove of upon closer, rational examination. “No one will get hurt…it’ll be fun!”

Hasty generalization

Assuming something to be true for all members of a group because it is true for some of them. “That manager is great to work with. All the managers at that firm must be great to work with.”

Ludic fallacy

The tendency to apply the simpler probabilities of games or models to infinitely more complicated real-world situations; mistaking the model for the system. For example, assuming that because you often win at Monopoly, you should be able to get rich in the real estate market. Also, assuming that something has a far simpler probability structure than it does by ignoring real-world complexities.

Red herring

Introducing an unrelated argument in such a way that it appears related in order to change the subject to one more easily winnable or move the discussion to one more favorable for yourself.

Post hoc

Falsely associating two unrelated events as cause and effect. A new law passed making it illegal to beg on the street. Crime went up. Therefore, outlawing beggars increases crime.

Slippery slope

The belief that one action will set off a cascade of further actions (usually, but not necessarily, negative), when in fact there are safeguards or systems in place to prevent this cascade.

Searching for perfect solutions

The belief that a solution should not be adopted because it does not solve every aspect of a problem. Often used by antagonists as a pseudo-legitimate way to scuttle perfectly good solutions they don’t like. In reality, a good solution covers most of the bases, and the remaining issues can then be dealt with one at a time, as needed.

Straw person

Distorting or misrepresenting an opponent’s position to make it easier to attack. By doing so, you wind up attacking a position that was never proffered. For example, if someone says that in times of famine, food rationing makes sense, to distort that argument you claim that your opponent supports starving children in order to feed the rich (which no sane person would support) is to use a straw man argument.

Texas sharpshooter

Stating or altering your hypothesis after you’ve collected the data. For example, changing or taking a political stance after viewing poll results.

Weak analogy

Drawing upon a poor analogy to support a claim. For example, saying that because we have hungry people in North America, we shouldn’t send aid to a famine-stricken foreign country. In reality, the analogy is weak because even the poorest people in North America usually have access to at least some food (through food pantries, government programs, soup kitchens, etc.) when there may be little to no food at all in the other country.

Wishful thinking

Assuming something to be true because you want it to be true. When wishful thinking forms the basis of an argument, the entire argument becomes invalid.

To assist healthcare leaders in their quest to find that pathway for their organizations, we provides some fascinating insights on strategic issues of importance to all healthcare leaders. It is up to the individual organization to determine how specific implications will play off one another and what the overarching impact of the confluence of these trends will be.

MESSAGE TO HOSPITALS: DO MORE WITH LESS
If one surveys the broader landscape and assimilates the trends, society appears to be sending a clear, overarching message to the nation’s hospitals: Take care of more people who have growing expectations and more complex medical needs while providing increasingly sophisticated care with relatively fewer resources. This message is summed up in six converging megatrends:
1.    Growing utilization in both the inpatient and ambulatory arenas, while length of stay declines.
2.    Policy and payment initiatives by politicians and payers to increase coverage and improve quality of care while containing payment to providers, in part through pay-for-performance plans and consumer-directed health plans. (See, for example, this year’s essays on tax exemption and policy.)
3.    Consumerism, which is being fueled by an estimated 50 sources of provider information (e.g., HealthGrades, Subimo, Castle Connelly Top Doctors) and the growth in out-of-pocket spending.
4.    Increasing clinical sophistication, driven both by clinical technology (e.g., miniaturization, fiberoptics, imaging, wireless technology, battery power) and by growing physician subspecialization. With more than a dozen potential areas of subspecialization in surgery, there are fewer and fewer true “general surgeons.” (See, for example, this year’s essay on technology.)
5.    Competition, not only from neighborhood hospitals, but also from national brands, such as Massachusetts General and Mayo, offering online diagnoses; international providers in Thailand, Mexico, India, Singapore, and Malaysia offering fixed-price packages [1] combining cost, quality, and exotic travel; MinuteClinics® (think Wal-Mart®with a stethoscope); and, of course, ambulatory care centers.
6.    Human resource shortages, most notably for aging physicians and nurses, but for other workers as well.

As a result of the confluence of these megatrends, some observers have begun to admonish hospitals to prepare for the consumer revolution. While out-of-pocket spending has increased and consumers must be attended to, the amount of personal healthcare paid for out of pocket is still relatively low. Most providers would be better advised to keep an eye on federal and private-sector payers. There are at least two questions here: Will federal and private-sector payers become consumer brokers on behalf of their beneficiaries? Will payers incent patients to act like consumers through consumer-directed health plans?

Although early reports indicate consumer-driven products have reduced costs, employer interest remains limited, and there are public policy fears that higher quality, highcost providers will be inaccessible to the poor. In addition, decision support for consumers remains limited. Although the Internet is an important source of health information, barriers to its use include a lack of standardized performance measures, a lack of comprehensive information, and inconsistent information.

Booz Allen Hamilton recently commissioned a Harris Interactive poll of almost 3,000 consumers and 600 physicians to examine how the transition to a retail market in healthcare is affecting decision making and influencing behavior (Ahlquist et al. 2007). The survey report said it clearly: “People with greater cost responsibility are beginning to act like true retail consumers… We are in the early stages of this transition, however, and for many products and services consumers lack the ability to easily compare options and alternatives.” The Booz Allen research highlights two critical points: The transition to consumer-driven healthcare will be evolutionary, not revolutionary, and cost, not quality, has been the driver to date.

Sound and Financially Literate Leaders
Financially successful organizations have leaders who can envision, engage, and execute. Senior leaders have the capacity to envision the organization’s future. They know how to move a group of people forward on a common mission and deliver results that exceed rather than meet expectations. They respond quickly and appropriately to a rapidly changing environment and at the same time address new realities in internal operations.
Financially successful organizations most often have CEOs who are financially literate, financially interested, and financially responsible. They recognize the need for and importance of financial leadership. They set concrete goals and objectives and lead the team toward goal attainment. Such organizations also generally have a chief financial officer (CFO) who is a strategic leader and an essential member of the executive team. The CFO is often viewed both internally and externally as the number two executive in the organization.
The boards of financially successful organizations govern around explicit expectations and metrics and are guided by an attitude that senior management will deliver expected results on a consistent basis. The board’s comprehensive view of the organization’s overall financial target enables it to manage all events toward reaching that objective. The whole is clear; so are the pieces that make up the whole. If one area underperforms, the board knows that other areas must do better than forecasted or new revenue-generating programs, cost controls, or exit strategies must be added to the puzzle. Real accountability exists between the board and senior management.

Commitment to Corporate Finance Principles and a Single Financial Perspective
In successful organizations, corporate finance principles are an integral component of management’s philosophy. The organization, the board, and the management team buy into and faithfully maintain a single financial perspective. This holistic approach organizes decision making by the entire leadership group around one and only one financial philosophy. The principle that has proven most effective is as follows:
Financial performance must be sufficient to meet the cash flow requirements of the strategic plan and, at the same time, maintain or improve the financial integrity of the organization within an appropriate credit and risk context.
Board members and executives use this principle to guide their decision making and measure their success. Their goal is to ensure that the organization’s financial condition at the end of each fiscal year is at least as good as and hopefully better than it was at the beginning of the year. Every financial decision is made with this principle in mind.
For example, if someone suggests making an acquisition costing $30 million, every member of the board and management team asks the question, “Will this acquisition allow us to better meet the cash flow requirements of our strategic plan and secure the competitive position of the organization?” If the answer is no, the leaders engage well-entrenched second thoughts about whether the acquisition is appropriate.
The organizing principle is written down to ensure common understanding. It is given to every board member, senior executive, and middle manager, and its implications are discussed in full during orientations for new board members or executives.

Commitment to Financial Learning
Leaders of financially successful organizations understand that financial leadership is possible only through acquiring the necessary financial knowledge. In many organizations, a strong continuing education process is necessary to teach and reinforce critical corporate finance skills. Sound financial management becomes a reality when a basic finance skill set is learned by managers deep into and throughout the organization.

A Planning Philosophy and Process
A planning philosophy and planning processes provide the platform for both long-term strategic and day-to-day operating decisions. The planning philosophy frames the business vision, strategy, financial goals and objectives, and tactics to achieve results. The financial plan is an integral part of management’s control of complex decision making and its direction of operating results. All major strategic opportunities are vetted through the financial plan. The capital allocation planning process is formal, serious, highly defined, and disciplined. The process identifies projects worthy of funding and funds those projects. Technical analysis is first class and performed throughout the organization.

Disciplined Execution of Plans
Senior management commands operations with a liberal dose of the right attitude. Day-to-day work in financially successful organizations is performed well. Managers follow best practice in revenue cycle and expense-control management. Compromises that damage financial performance are avoided.

Active Management of Capital Structure and Respect for Capital Markets
Through the active management of capital structure, financially successful organizations are continuously seeking ideas and approaches to lower the total present value costs of existing and future debt service. These organizations view their credit ratings as an asset and as a mechanism to improve access to capital and lower overall capital costs. They give high priority and attention to managing their relationships with the rating agencies, bond insurers, and other capital market constituents.
How much finance do  leaders need to know? More than they needed to know 15 years ago, or 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. Clearly, to go round and round successfully in the circle game, they need to know more finance than ever before.

First let’s define the term “present self-image.” Your present self-image is your perception of your strengths and your weaknesses at this time.

The most powerful force you possess is what you say to yourself and truly believe. Positive self-talk not only enhances your present self-image, but I’m convinced it also expands your productive capacity. It programs you for more action and results!
I hope your present self-image is always improving, because it’s consistent with the growth process. The image you have had of yourself in the past has delivered you to where you are today, and your self-image each day in the future will take you to where you are going to be.
Charisma transplants and success implants still aren’t available, so we must look for other avenues to enhance our self-image and how we display it to others. I know three excellent ways you can help yourself build a strong self-image, and I’ll outline them for you now.

1 Write down your personal positive affirmations

In the Goals and Values section of my daily planner, I currently have two written examples of positive affirmations. One is, “I have become a better person than I’ve ever been, and I continue to grow all of the time.” Another is, “My program for optimum health is working. I’m exercising and watching food and nutritional intake better than ever, and I’m getting healthier every day.”
Examples of career-related positive affirmations for professional salespeople might be “I am performing my Needs Analysis better each time I do it” or “I am eagerly and successfully making more cold calls than I ever have.”
Positive affirmations help you feel better about yourself at present, and they pave the way for growth and progress in the future. Frequently reviewed positive affirmations, whether personal or professional, tend to enhance what you expect and get from yourself. Remember this maxim: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

2 Constantly analyze your strengths and weaknesses
Self-assessment is extremely valuable, especially when we also get input from others whose opinions we respect. Successful people identify their human strengths and build on those strengths as their foundation for success. Simultaneously, they identify their personal weaknesses, eliminating as many weaknesses as they can and at least managing those weaknesses that can’t be easily eliminated.
Your plan of action for a better life should be built on the foundation of your strengths. Remember, however, that you should never make someone else’s opinion of you more important than your opinion of yourself.
Consider this question: If you had achieved your life’s goals, professionally and personally, would your behavior and lifestyle be extraordinarily different from what they are right now? If your answer is no, then you are so successful and content that you are the envy of 99 percent of the rest of the world.
But if you answered yes and agreed that your behavior would be extraordinarily different, then consider what behavior patterns have put you where you are right now. Just as important, consider what different behaviors will be required to take you from where you are now to where you truly want to be.
During a recent National Speakers Association address, Les Brown said, “If greatness is possible, then good intentions, good follow-through, even periodic excellence are insufficient.” We must diligently and constantly pursue personal excellence. Sometimes significant behavior changes are in order, but in many instances, if you feel good about yourself, only minor changes may be needed to get you to where you truly want to be.
What level of success do you currently see for yourself? I once heard a successful general agent of one of the major life insurance companies tell his agents this: “The income level you expect to enjoy should be reflected by the income level of the clients you comfortably converse with.” I guess that was his way of asking, “Are you a $40,000 salesperson talking to $40,000 clients, or are you a $200,000 salesperson talking to $200,000 clients?”
Your self-image will determine your level of expectations. Mutt Easley, a buddy in high school told me he was sure he’d never get married. When I asked why, he said, “Because any woman who would marry me isn’t good enough for me.” The guy needed to work on his self-image.
Walt Disney said, “The more you are like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, thus approaching uniqueness.” Embrace your own individuality. Be yourself, be proud of who and what you are, but never usurp your opportunities to grow.

3 Have a strong vision to reach toward
What is the rest of your life going to be like? Do you believe you are either destined to succeed or destined to fail in your life? What you visualize is what you will attract.
I submit that your future will be more of a decision than a destiny. Your present thoughts and plans will largely determine your future. And since you control your thoughts and your plans, you control your own future.
“Projected self-image” is the phrase I use to refer to your vision of yourself in the future. Your projected self-image is comprised of your strengths, your weaknesses, and your levels of success and attainment as you imagine them to be at some future point. Intense, detailed visualization is required to program the subconscious mind for a better life and higher sales production.

1) Define the elements of the scorecard
First, it is necessary to establish the constituents of the balanced scorecard – the perspectives from which performance requirements will be defined and measured as a basis for improvement. The elements usually include financial, process and customer factors. People factors covering development, motivation, leadership, and so forth, are sometimes substituted for learning and growth.
In the retail network of Halifax plc the four areas are:
    how people are managed;
    how internal processes are managed;
    levels of customer service;
    business performance (sales).
At this stage it is also necessary to define clearly the objectives of the balanced scorecard approach.

2) Identify performance drivers
The second step is to identify the performance drivers for each of the categories – for example, repeating and expanding sales from existing customers, the internal processes at which the company must excel, the needs and wants of customers and the particular people skills the organization needs now and in the future.
Links will need to be established between each of these areas so that they are mutually reinforcing. For example, high levels of customer service in defined areas will lead to better financial performance; customer service levels can be improved by attention to processes such as on-time delivery, and customer care will be enhanced if the right people are selected and given the training to develop the necessary skills.

3) Identify performance measures
The third step is to determine how performance in each of the categories will be measured. In some areas such as finance and customer service it may be quite easy to determine quantitative measures such as sales or levels of service as assessed by surveys, questionnaires and mystery shopping. The measures for the process and change in perspectives may, however, have to focus on the achievement of development programmes to meet defined specifications and to deliver expected results.

4) Communicate
This fourth step is to communicate to all employees what the balanced scorecard is, why it is important, how it will work, the part they will be expected to play and how they and the organization will benefit from it.

5) Operationalize
The fifth step is to operationalize the system. This means developing policies, procedures and processes that ensure that it is applied at all levels in the organization – strategically at the top, tactically in the middle – and as a matter of continuing importance so far as working practices are concerned to all employees.
Operationalization might include the definition of performance requirements in terms of targets and the introduction of new processes, the communication of these requirements, and the development and application of processes for measuring outcomes and taking corrective action when required. At an individual level, performance management processes may be based on the four elements of the scorecard. Objectives and standards of performance and competencies that are aligned to corporate objectives would be agreed for each element and performance reviews would assess progress and lead to agreed improvement and personal development plans.

6) Train
The sixth step is to provide training for everyone in the organization on the operation of the balanced scorecard and on what, on their different levels, they are expected to do about managing and implementing the process.

7) Monitoring, evaluation and review
Finally, the operation of the balanced scorecard should be monitored and its effectiveness evaluated in agreement with its objectives. A review can then take place to decide on where improvements or amendments need to be made and how they will take place.

Turn It Around
Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.

Everybody is looking for the magic pill. But commitment is an ongoing process. It’s not something you do once. You revisit it.

By Patricia Kyle

No matter what field of work you toil in, chances are you have had to do some sort of presentation — some persuading, some convincing, or some informing, in order to get your business done. At times, your presentation may have been fancy, with PowerPoint bells and whistles to beat the band. Or maybe you’ve just had to deliver your product or service to a single customer. Perhaps it has just been you trying to make a case with your boss for doing something differently in your job, or angling for a promotion. Regardless of the situation, when it comes to making your proposal, your goal should be to answer yes to all of the following three questions. Consider these as starting points as you prepare your presentation:

• Will what you’re proposing make your listener’s life or job easier?
• Will what you’re proposing make your listener’s life or job better?
• Will what you’re proposing make your listener more money?

If you can answer yes to all three, you’re likely to be a hit and will sell your audience. You will have that client, that sale, that promotion — whatever it may be — in the bag. If you can answer yes to just one, you’ll have delivered some of the goods, and sometimes that will be enough; at the very least, you’ll be traveling in a Shortcut direction. If you can’t answer yes to any of these questions, reconsider what you’re asking for, and, more important, how you’re asking for it.

But take note: Effective Shortcuts don’t wait for a presentation to offer suggestions to their colleagues and managers. They are constantly on the lookout for ways to make one of the big three — easier, better, more money — happen. If you employ these three questions (really, think of them as guidelines) on a regular basis when presenting at a meeting or in a one-on-one situation, your audience, whether one or many, probably marvels at your wisdom and the value you bring to the organization.

Easier

Find a way to ease the day for people — even if it means removing just one to-do item from their list.

Consider Sandra, a model Shortcut at work. She makes sure that the people she reports to regard her as someone who can make their jobs easier. She doesn’t brag about all of the things she does, but rather says things like, “That’s something I can do for you. You can focus on something else.” She almost insists upon taking care of things at which she deems herself to be an excellent Shortcut. Her can-do attitude is inspiring, and it’s all about making the lives of others easier. Conversely, she expects the same approach from the people who support her.

What is Sandra’s reward for being a Shortcut who uses the easier tactic? Society assigns a great deal of competence to people who have the ability to find the easier route. We all cheer them, especially when we’re under pressure and can’t find the easier way ourselves. Your value goes up as you are deemed more competent.

When you use this Shortcut tactic, you are, in essence, strutting your stuff — demonstrating how competent you are.

Better

Give someone a way to look good to the people who matter most to them. Suggest something that will increase their quality of life.

Sandra, our model Shortcut makes a proposal to her boss that seems costly, but has some benefits in the long term, by paying off in enormous revenue. She does her homework; preparing the proposal for her boss while keeping in mind he is interested in looking good to his manager. She learns that the hot buttons for her boss’s manager involve growing revenue in innovative ways, so she focuses her proposal sharply on that goal.

Sandra provides a Shortcut to her boss to look good to his manager. She takes the time to do her homework. Her argument is incredibly persuasive. Her boss is going to look smart to his manager. It’s a done-deal.

Again, what does Sandra get for making her boss look better? Doesn’t she run the risk of never getting credit for her ideas? Yes, there are some people out there who will always claim another’s ideas as their own. But, let’s revisit the value proposition:

• First, Sandra has a history of developing ideas that make her supervisor and others look better, so she has become more valuable. When it comes time to negotiate a raise or a promotion, Sandra has built a good deal of trust and loyalty with her boss and colleagues for her input and ideas.
• Second, being an excellent Shortcut does not mean being a pushover. You can claim ideas as your own and ask others to expand upon them, help you with them, or take them as their own to help in their work. If you need to look good, then go get Shortcuts who will help you do that. If you want to be a Shortcut, helping others look good is part of the equation.
• Finally, consider the alternative. You hoard ideas that might make others look good so that, by default, they don’t look that much better than you. That’s a pretty Machiavellian approach to life and a miserable existence in anyone’s book. Look around you. The people you are attracted to and who you want in your sphere are those who take the time to make you look good. Sometimes, you have to take the backseat so that you know how it feels when you’re in the front seat.

More Money

Help someone make money or cut costs. Enough said.

If you have to default to only one of the three goals, the most persuasive and best Shortcut is going to be different for every person. If the person you’re trying to convince is lured by material things, then use the money persuader. If he or she is impressed with titles and hobnobbing with important people, the better tactic will work well to persuade them. And, if the person appears harried and burnt out, you might try an argument that makes his or her job easier. If you don’t know for certain, making someone money or making the person look impressive are pretty safe bets.

Approach 1: The “Expense Synergy” Approach to M&As—i.e., Cutting Costs
Expense synergies are realized by streamlining the cost base of the company infrastructure. Sources of cost savings can range from cutting jobs to streamlining the IT infrastructure. Although pursuing such savings can be justified, an excessively limited focus on cost cutting can turn out to be shortsighted.

The expense savings approach strives to capture economies of scale by eliminating duplication. Unfortunately, in transactions where cost savings and expense synergies are the dominant concern, the M&A integration team tends to pay scant attention during the due diligence and integration phases to actual and potential capabilities of both the acquirer and the acquiree that could be uncovered and leveraged in the newly combined company. When this is combined with the typical time pressures associated with integrating a new company, many integration efforts become “clear-cutting” operations where only the acquiring company is left standing. A single-minded focus on targeted cost savings can easily destroy the value and the capabilities of the acquired company. The premise becomes simply to maximize efficiency without regard for what might be a different but effective way of running operations or approaching the market. There is no doubt that it is important to realize expense synergies in order to justify the cost of the acquisition, but a tight focus on savings can become counterproductive when managers either ignore or eliminate many opportunities for growth. Cutting costs is important, but no company achieves sustainable growth solely by paring its expenditures.

Next post will cover other approach to Merger and Acquisition.

From the information knowledge era (with its focus on the human mind and intellectual capital), we are approaching an era of spirit (with focus on consciousness and wisdom) in which community is the model.

A global wisdom society with global wisdom organizations values all cultures and traditions and skillfully utilizes multiple ways of knowing for the greater benefit of all life.  A global wisdom society will be marked by the following:
    A profound recognition of universal interconnectedness among all peoples and all life
    A commitment to right action for the benefit of all, guided by the mysterious intelligence of the whole
    Valuing learning and openness above certainty and closure, and embracing multiple ways of knowing
    Living in ecological balance
    Perhaps most important, acknowledging that humans exist in a universe alive with consciousness and spirit

A global wisdom organization embraces the following:
    Holding a systemic perspective and always looking at the wholeness, interrelatedness, and harmony and balance of living systems and the universe
    Operating from a deep understanding of and respect for natural systems and cycles, human needs, and future generations
    Trusting the dynamics of self-organizing and collective consciousness as well as co-intelligence; that is, having the capacity to evoke creative responses and initiatives that integrate each person’s diverse gifts for the benefit of all
    Learning from the new sciences
    Ethically serving society and Earth in life-affirming, sustainable ways, including those that are in harmony with natural ecological and global environmental systems; being in stewardship of the whole

In a global wisdom culture, everyone is both leader and follower. The essence of leadership is co-creating and holding the space for people to talk and act with each other about what is important to them, their organization, their community, and the world. Rather than physical space, this is energy space for reflection and deep inquiry whereby a deeper source of meaning can arise. One function of a leader is to help people discover the expertise and wisdom in themselves and in others.

Other elements, which are not usually a focus of leadership, are important and worthy of consideration:
    Asking and holding the right questions. Native American wisdom is that the First People had questions, and they were free; the Second People had answers, and they became enslaved. Questioning taps wisdom. Knowing the answer limits possibilities
    Storytelling. For indigenous peoples who have an oral tradition, storytelling is a way of life:
Through stories we can remember who we are and share experiences using past histories and accumulated wisdom, beliefs, and values…Stories tie us to our humanness, and they link the past, present and future by teaching us to anticipate the possible consequences of our actions.
    Trusting oneself. Trusting oneself precedes trusting someone else. Healthy trust implies the presence of honesty, integrity, and transparency
    Learning and relearning together. Deep learning is seeing other world perspectives and leaving aside one’s own judgments and stereotypes. Understanding one’s own mental models strengthens economic, social, and environmental competencies. Systemic thinking is fundamental to awareness of interdependence and the impact of one’s actions
    Being comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty, and paradoxes
    Being one (in harmony and balance) with the universe
    Trusting multiple ways of knowing. Being open to modes of consciousness that are beyond rationality. Insight into ways of knowing is gained by exploring intuition, the subconscious, and dreams. The continuum of knowing ranges from a feeling, sense, or “the little voice inside” to technology