SacredLeadership Blog

I was shocked, but not surprised, to read the following headline in the Wall Street Journal today (February 9, 2008) “CIA Likely Let Contractors Perform Waterboarding”.  Over the past several weeks we have heard the U.S. Attorney General testify that, if done to him, he would consider waterboarding toture but he wasn’t sure if it was really torture when done to our enemies.  Then the Director of the CIA testifies, at least truthfully, that yes indeed our agents used waterboarding on “high priority targets” in the past and felt that they needed the flexibility to continue the practice.  He did say that the CIA would play within the boundaries of whatever box Congress built for them.

Waterboarding is considered torture by all civilized nations and the United States has prosecuted those who have used the technique on our solders. There is no question that it is torture and there is no moral rationale for its use.  In fact, its use puts our country and our soldiers at greater risk in the world.

The boundary the CIA Director is talking about is actually a fundamental cornerstone of democracy called “the rule of law”.  It is not by accident the “the rule of law” is one of the underlying principles of Sacred Leadership. I included this principle because of the danger of leaders overstepping the bounds of moral behavior in pursuit of a sacred mission.  Remembef, the mission loses its sacred nature when we ignore any of these fundamental principles. You can read more about the fundamental principles underlying Sacred Leadership at http://sacredleadership.org/principles.htm.

As I have said in previous posts, we must stop living in fear and see our role in the greater global system called humankind.  We are not victims of this system, we are an integral part of it.  Our actions impact the system so let’s be sure they are moral and represent the legacy we want to leave future generations.

What do you think?

I can’t believe our “leaders” have agreed on the this economic stimulus package.  It is just a transfer of money from those making under $95,000 to those making less.  What do we as taxpayers and a society get for our money. NOTHING!  A few people will pay their bills, some will save but most will just buy more junk they don’t need and can’t afford.  It just encourages more irresponsible behavior on the part of our citizenry.  Think what this $150,000 billion would buy if it went to renewing our aging infrastructure, increasing medical research etc.  Jobs would be created, materials and equipment would be purchased and society would have something to show for the investment.

My 89 year old mother recently sufferred heart failure with complications from pneumonia.  Our experience in the hospital provided another example of good people losing sight of their sacred mission.

My mother received the best medical care in that the symptoms were treated, the heart failure was mitigated and the pneumonia was cured. For that we are thankful.  However, the focus was on “curing” the disease rather than healing the person.

Let me give some examples.  No one asked about my mother’s abilities prior to her arriving in the hosptial.  It was assumed that she had not been mobile, that she sufferred from dementia and that she could not care for herself.  These assumptions set the expectations for the outcomes of her treatment even though none of them were accurate.  She was just another elderly patient like all the other elderly patients the staff saw on a daily basis.  She was not seen as someone’s mother with a personality and the will to fight.  Someone who had bounced back before wihen the doctors had given up hope.  She was lucky because we as a family were there to make sure they understood the “person” they were caring for - not just a patient with a set of symptoms. Unfortunately, we saw many who had no advocates.

She was told at 11 a.m. that she would be moved from the hospital to a skilled nursing facility.  I asked that the move happen during daylight hours because she would become more disoriented.  I was told that the staff understood my concerns but they couldn’t guarantee the time of the move.  Sure enough the move took place in the dark at 7:30 p.m. and sure enough my mother became more disoriented making her recovery even more difficult. This is what we do to disorient terror suspects.  Blindfold them, move them around in the middle of the night and wake them at all hours so they are deprived of sleep.  Sounds like the hospital and nursing home to me.

Each of the individuals who cared for my mother were decent human beings and good at the technical side of their jobs.  However, with a few exceptions, they had become disconnected from their sacred purpose and that disconnect had negative consequences for my mother’s health.  The solution here is not more money but leadership that builds a culture that sustains that connection to sacred purpose.  In the long run, that connection to purpose saves money, improves profits and leads to “healing” at the physical, emotional and spritual levels for both paients and providers.

Do you have a story to share?  Let’s hear the good and the bad.

A colleague and I were recently discussing the need to build a “holding space” to maintain the energy and connection to purpose that is essential to the work of the Sacred Leader. This “holding space” is probably different for different individuals and different groups but it is a requirment for the hard work we face in this chaotic world.

By “holding space” I mean a place where one is supported, valued, and where energy is held even when you can’t maintain your own energy level.  It is a common space held among the members of a team.  It may actually be represented by a physcial space but it is also virtual in nature in that we are all connected energetically in the work we do pursing our Sacred Purpose.

I was reflecting on my time as an inner city high school principal.  I was successful in the eyes of most people.  We were able to build a safe learning environment, improve student academic achievement and overall raise the aspirations of most of the student body.  However, I often felt that I had to “hold” the energy necessary to keep things moving all by myself.  I had not yet learned to create that “holding space” where all of those in the school could maintain energy for one another.  Failure to do so often leads to leader burnout or even physical illness.

Have you found a “holding space” for the energy and support needed to do your work?  If not, who might you turn to for help?  What practices could you use to formalize that container to insure the success of your team?

The recent tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis highlights just how far our government has drifted from its purpose of serving the common good.  Can we, as citizens, use this tragedy to help our elected officials at all levels of government reconnect with their sacred purpose of serving the common good?

So many seemed shocked by the collapse of this major bridge over the Mississippi River even though it had been declared substandard in one inspection after another.  Now our leaders are calling for more inspections of all bridges across the country. Inspections that are not needed because we already know the state of those bridges as well as the state of the entire public infrastructure in this country.  It is dismal.

What is called for is not inspections but action.  Our leaders are avoiding this step using the media calls for inspections as a cover for inaction.  It is time we all step up and pressure our elected officials to honor their commitment to serve the common good.  In this case to pass funding legislation that will begin the immediate process of “fixing” rather than “inspecting” our infrastructure. The money can be found - just as we found the $600 billion already spent in Iraq and Afghanistan.

All that is needed are sacred leaders who have the will to serve the common good.

Take action now.  Call and write your elected officials at all levels and demand action.  Refer them to this site to remind them of their oath of office.

Over the past several months I have been thinking a great deal about dreaming.  What reallly hit me was a young high school honors student who said, “I don’t really have any dreams, I don’t believe dreams can come true.”  I was saddened when I heard this.

Dreams, aspirations or whatever you want to call them, help us connect to our passion.  I am not talking about dreams of a new car or bigger house.  I am talking about big dreams, dreams that connect us to our Sacred Purpose.  Recently I was facilitating a leadership retreat for one of my clients.  One of the leaders in the group asked about my dreams and aspirations. I didn’t hesitate to say that my dream was “to change the world” by working with leaders and helping them connect to Sacred Purpose.

We can’t afford to let our children and young adults lose their connection to dreams and aspiration. That leaves a very barren world.  A world of dispair, anger and rage.  A world full of terrorists rather than builders of hope.

What is your dream?  How can you reconnect to your dream if you have allowed it to get “lost” in the day-to-day rush of life?  How can you help the young people around you to discover their dreams and how can you support them in realizing those dreams?

Please share your stories.

I have had a wonderful month of learning and sharing.  I spent a week back east in a workshop with Otto Scharmer studying U-Theory in depth.  (See my January 27, 2007 post) It was a wonderful group of particpants from around the globe, all with an interest in serving the common good.

I then spent a week in Ojai with a group we call Menlo Lab.  The name comes from Thomas Edison’s famous Menlo Laboratory where so many wonderful inventions were created.  Our Menlo Lab is virtual and is comprised of leadership consultants (corporate, individual and non-profit) who want to apply their skills to support community transformation around the globe.  We are developing new practices and social technologies that can help individuals and organizations draw energy and direction from their Sacred Missions to serve the common good.  I have become convinced that true global transformation will come not from government, but rather from small groups of individuals working at the community level.

I love the famous quote from Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

What can you do to transform your community into a Sacred space that serves the common good?

Let me hear from you!

One of the basic principles of Sacred Leadership is service to the “common good”.  Several readers have expressed skepticism about this concept of the “common good”.  They doubt that, in today’s world, we can ever come to an agreement about what constitutes the “common good” let alone work together to serve it.  I certainly understand that skepticism in light of the news we hear today.

What do you think?  Can we agree on a “common good” to serve?  Does it matter?

Share your thoughts.

This is the first in a series of video clips from an interview conducted by Scott Marvel.  Scott wanted to capture my thoughts on a wide variety of issues related to Sacred Leadership. 

In this video I discuss the application of Sacred Leadership to the family. My point is that each of us can be a Sacred Leader in our daily interactions with friends, family and others we meet through our daily activities.  As we practice the basic principles of Sacred Leadership we begin to impact the lives of others and the way in which they interact with those in their lives.

Interview with Jim Davis

What is your reaction to Jim’s comments?

Relection Question: 

How do you apply the principles of Sacred Leadership in the context of your family?

Over the past several years, many people questioned my use of the word “sacred” in the context of Sacred Leadership.  They were concerned that it would cause confusion about the purpose of Sacred Leadership, limiting it to a religious audience only. The question has arisen again with the launch of the sacredleaderhip.org web site.

I had been struggling for over a year to find a term that really defined the kind of leadership and commitment to the common good that I was thinking about.  One night I awoke with the answer “sacred leadership” which literally came to me in my sleep. Now I couldn’t ignore that kind of sign!  Sacred has two meanings; the first is sacred in the religious sense; and the second is sacred in the sense of sacrosanct - that is, something that is inviolable, worthy of respect, something that cannot not be done.  It was the second use of the word that defined the “sacredness” of the mission to serve the common good. No other word truly describes the profound importance of of this deep level of service to the common good.

This issue came up in a recent conversation with Dr. Jeffrey McCausland.  Jeff is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army, former academic dean at the Army War College and visiting professor at the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law and School of International Affairs.

Jeff pointed out that, even in the context of Sacred Leadership, we could look at sacred from both perspectives.  Sacred with a capital “S” referring to the religious use of its meaning and sacred with a small “s” in the context of Sacred Leadership.  He proposed that the possible misunderstanding of the use of the word could in fact have a positive outcome.

Jeff proposed that sacredleadership.org might serve as a meeting space where the two perspectives could come together to find common ground.  Certainly this kind of dialogue among leaders of both persuasions would be more postive than the shrill voices we hear on both sides of today’s secular/religious debate.

This dialogue is most welcome if it allows calmer and more “sacred” voices can be heard as we work together as Sacred Leaders serving the common good.

What do you think?