Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 2:02am
Leadership and discernment
Column: Executive Soul
Leadership is fraught with dangers. Leaders become lightning rods, recipients of people's often unrealistic expectations. People project their hopes and fears onto leaders, and as a result, leaders and their actions become larger than life. In Western societies, leaders are expected to provide technical fixes for all kinds of problems, even those that have no technical fix. Many problems require wrestling with conflicting values among multiple stakeholders, and leaders who help their organizations do this work often meet resistance and become unpopular. Leaders bear the brunt of scapegoating. Occasionally they are assassinated.
Studies of senior managers' decisions show that half of the decisions made are no longer adhered to after two years. Senior managers use the most successful decision-making practices least often and the least successful practices most often. Studies show that most managers can, in retrospect, identify their decision successes and failures, but they rarely subject them to systematic analysis, thus slipping into failure-prone decision-making practices time and again.
Successful decision-making practices encourage learning and innovation and most often result in decisions that prove beneficial to the organization over the long term. The failure-prone practices most often result in decisions that don't work, are costly in terms of dollars and/or reputation, and are eventually abandoned. Well-known decision failures include Disney's decision to locate EuroDisney near Paris, Ford's decision not to repair the Pinto gas tank after its danger was discovered, and Nestle's decision to continue to market infant formula in Third World countries.
Most leaders want to make good decisions for their organizations, and their failed decisions are not for lack of trying. Because of such factors as time pressure, their perceived need to appear decisive, and unrealistic expectations from boards and employees, leaders often slip into decision-making practices that do not serve them well. Discernment can help leaders navigate through the dangers of leadership and can help them make decisions that will stand the test of time.
From the Latin word discernere ("to separate" or "to distinguish" or "to sift through"), discernment involves "sifting through" interior and exterior experiences to know which ones help one stay centered and which pull one away from centeredness.
Discernment is a process of going deeper. It involves drawing on one's whole self - heart, mind, soul and spirit. It includes and transcends intellectual analysis. It includes and transcends emotional intelligence. It involves the bringing together of all of one's faculties within the larger context of the transcendent. In discernment, one learns to distinguish the real from the illusory, the wheat from the chaff. Through being deeply spiritually grounded, the discerner cuts through the usual distractions and attachments that obscure accurate perception, and seeks to see reality clearly.
Discernment is practiced both individually and corporately. Even when done individually, it is never in isolation. Individual and corporate discernment dance together, hand in hand. Corporate discernment requires prepared hearts and minds of the individual involved. Individual discernment requires the support of a community, nurturing and grounding the person's spiritual life. Individual discernment also requires the accountability of a community, offering checks and balances to the individual's discernment.
How does discernment relate to leadership? Leaders who practice discernment can more easily overcome the barriers to making good decisions. For example, Bob Carlson, former co-CEO of Reell Precision Manufacturing in St. Paul, Minn., found that when he maintained a reflective inner disposition, he nurtured his spiritual life, practiced discernment, and made better decisions. His practices of walking in nature, listening to music, and attending worship services kept him centered. When he didn't get enough time for his spiritually renewing practices, he noticed the difference:
"I think the big enemy of spirituality is busyness and the lack of reflective time, of quiet time. When things get really busy, when there's travel, board meetings and shareholder meetings, and a number of things going on at the same time, I'll wake up some days and think, 'You know, there's just not much happening right now in a spiritual sense.'"
Bob found that his quiet, reflective time was essential to maintaining his ability to discern, and to maintaining his depth and effectiveness as a leader.
Discernment helps leaders stay on the path of inner reflection and in so doing, helps them make better decisions.
— — —
Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations" (from which this column is drawn), works with leaders in business, healthcare and non-profits, to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. Copyright 2007 by Margaret Benefiel.
Studies of senior managers' decisions show that half of the decisions made are no longer adhered to after two years. Senior managers use the most successful decision-making practices least often and the least successful practices most often. Studies show that most managers can, in retrospect, identify their decision successes and failures, but they rarely subject them to systematic analysis, thus slipping into failure-prone decision-making practices time and again.
Successful decision-making practices encourage learning and innovation and most often result in decisions that prove beneficial to the organization over the long term. The failure-prone practices most often result in decisions that don't work, are costly in terms of dollars and/or reputation, and are eventually abandoned. Well-known decision failures include Disney's decision to locate EuroDisney near Paris, Ford's decision not to repair the Pinto gas tank after its danger was discovered, and Nestle's decision to continue to market infant formula in Third World countries.
Most leaders want to make good decisions for their organizations, and their failed decisions are not for lack of trying. Because of such factors as time pressure, their perceived need to appear decisive, and unrealistic expectations from boards and employees, leaders often slip into decision-making practices that do not serve them well. Discernment can help leaders navigate through the dangers of leadership and can help them make decisions that will stand the test of time.
From the Latin word discernere ("to separate" or "to distinguish" or "to sift through"), discernment involves "sifting through" interior and exterior experiences to know which ones help one stay centered and which pull one away from centeredness.
Discernment is a process of going deeper. It involves drawing on one's whole self - heart, mind, soul and spirit. It includes and transcends intellectual analysis. It includes and transcends emotional intelligence. It involves the bringing together of all of one's faculties within the larger context of the transcendent. In discernment, one learns to distinguish the real from the illusory, the wheat from the chaff. Through being deeply spiritually grounded, the discerner cuts through the usual distractions and attachments that obscure accurate perception, and seeks to see reality clearly.
Discernment is practiced both individually and corporately. Even when done individually, it is never in isolation. Individual and corporate discernment dance together, hand in hand. Corporate discernment requires prepared hearts and minds of the individual involved. Individual discernment requires the support of a community, nurturing and grounding the person's spiritual life. Individual discernment also requires the accountability of a community, offering checks and balances to the individual's discernment.
How does discernment relate to leadership? Leaders who practice discernment can more easily overcome the barriers to making good decisions. For example, Bob Carlson, former co-CEO of Reell Precision Manufacturing in St. Paul, Minn., found that when he maintained a reflective inner disposition, he nurtured his spiritual life, practiced discernment, and made better decisions. His practices of walking in nature, listening to music, and attending worship services kept him centered. When he didn't get enough time for his spiritually renewing practices, he noticed the difference:
"I think the big enemy of spirituality is busyness and the lack of reflective time, of quiet time. When things get really busy, when there's travel, board meetings and shareholder meetings, and a number of things going on at the same time, I'll wake up some days and think, 'You know, there's just not much happening right now in a spiritual sense.'"
Bob found that his quiet, reflective time was essential to maintaining his ability to discern, and to maintaining his depth and effectiveness as a leader.
Discernment helps leaders stay on the path of inner reflection and in so doing, helps them make better decisions.
— — —
Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations" (from which this column is drawn), works with leaders in business, healthcare and non-profits, to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. Copyright 2007 by Margaret Benefiel.