Core Action Value #1: Authenticity

Core Action Value #1: Authenticity The greatest triumph in life is to successfully become the person God meant you to be; the greatest tragedy is to successfully pretend to be someone else because you think it’s what other people expect of you, or because of some temporary gain. Authenticity is the foundational value. Achieving authenticity is a lifelong process in which questions are usually more important than answers; in fact, anybody searching for the one right “answer” will probably be disappointed.

Cornerstone #1: Self-Awareness One reason that question, “Who are you?” is so difficult to answer is that there are so many different facets to the complex human being that is “you.” Each of these facets is a dimension of you – of your personality, your character, your understanding of yourself – but none of them are the real you. The first step to self- awareness is recognizing these individual, and changeable, facets so as not to confuse your outer identity with your inner humanity.

 Use internal observation and external feedback to uncover your truest strengths and passions and the “meant to be” you.

 You are not the roles you play, your stuff, your thoughts, your emotions, your moods, your past or what other people think of you.

 You can rewrite your brain by changing your thinking. Make time to think and reflect.

Cornerstone #2: Self-Mastery Self-mastery is more important than education, experience, technical qualifications, or who you know when it comes to long-term career success. Self-mastery underlies the ability to manage impulsiveness and channel energy into productive directions; to build lasting and rewarding relationships with other people; and to build the foundation for a fruitful professional career and a satisfying personal life.

 Say out of the Iron Triangle of False Personality-manage your emotions, keep your ego out of the way, and pursue only authentic ambitions.

 When dealing with internal conflict, ask yourself who’s talking, ego or soul?

 Visualize negative self-talk for what it really is: mental graffiti.

Cornerstone #3: Self-Belief One of the chief reasons that so many people cheat themselves by settling for anemic goals and dreams is that they simply do not believe that they are capable and deserving of something much greater. A leader must first and foremost believe in himself or herself and in the mission that has been set before the team.

 Work to strengthen each level of the Pyramid of Self-Belief: Self-Concept, Self-Image, Self- Awareness, and Self-Confidence.

 The only real empowerment is self-empowerment

 Stay out of the victim spiral where Learned Helplessness descends into Blame Game which deteriorates into Victim Syndrome.

Cornerstone#4: Self-Truth You must give yourself permission to be the authentic you. Nobody else will. In fact, many people will, with the best of intentions, seek to discourage you out of fear that you might fail (or perhaps embarrass Page | 1 them in some way). Since self-truth often means escaping from the confines of your comfort zone, it is helpful to re-spark the spirit of adventure in your life, and to remember that risk and uncertainty is an integral element of every adventure.

 Use Direction Deflection Questions to guide your attitudes and your actions, and to come closer to your best self in every dimension of your life.

 Authenticity does not necessarily mean nonconformance, doing your own thing, or letting it all hang out. There are societal norms in our communities and cultural norms within our organizations that must be honored.

 Appreciate this paradox of self-truth: To be true to yourself, you must be true

to something that is bigger than yourself.

Core Action Value #2: Integrity

The root of the word integrity is “integer,” and that word implies a united and undivided whole. So to be a person of integrity means to be whole—to be guided by the same values at work and at home. It is through integrity that one earns the trust and the respect of others, and this is both as a result of the kind of person they are (character) as well as the things they do and how they do those things (competence).

Cornerstone #1: Honesty Honesty involves being honest with yourself, and then with others. If you look into any situation in which a person has engaged in unethical and harmful behavior, you will almost always find that their behavior began with an act of self-deception, including denial, rationalization, and self-justification. If you are not being honest with yourself, you will eventually not be honest with others.

 Be absolutely honest-especially with yourself. Genuine honesty is more than just not telling lies-it is living the truth.

 Know when to be tactful and compassionate

 Challenge your own self-confining beliefs and self-imposed limitations, which are often reflected in the utterance of the toxic two words “I can’t.”

Cornerstone #2: Reliability Trust is not a value, but rather something you earn by being a person of integrity. In particular this means being reliable. People will trust you to the extent that you do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it, and at the quality level they deserve to expect.

 Do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it, and do it to the best of your ability.

 Keep your promises, live up to your commitments and be consistent.

 Develop strength before being tested; tough love yourself by eliminating bad habits.

Page | 2 Cornerstone #3: Humility Scratch beneath the surface of any violation of integrity, and you are likely to see a combination of arrogance and hubris. Virtually every failure of integrity begins with arrogance on the part of those responsible; humility is an essential ingredient of effective leadership.

 Laugh loudest when the joke’s on you; genuine humility is often reflected in an ability to laugh at yourself.

 Keep your life frugal and simple as you increase your commitment to charity for others.

 Be open to constructive criticism and welcome the bearers of bad news.

Cornerstone #4: Stewardship Effective management of resources is not simply a matter of productivity, it is also a matter of integrity. Any resources that are wasted today will somehow diminish the potential for abundance tomorrow.

 Honor the obligation to be a good steward of your own resources, the resources of your organization, and of the fragile world in which we live.

 Take good care of the future

 Be mindful of your role in personal stewardship, organizational stewardship and environmental stewardship.

Core Action Value #3: Awareness Awareness is essential to both professional and business success. Your level of awareness will determine the extent to which you appreciate the beauty of the world around you, perceive the opportunities for service and achievement that are always open to someone who is paying attention, and the quality of your inner actions and relationships with other people both at work and at home.

Cornerstone #1: Mindfulness Inner awareness underlies “the miracle of mindfulness” and “the peace of God that passes all understanding” in the world’s scriptural literature.

 Set aside daily “sacred time” for yourself to be devoted to reflection, prayer, meditation, and reading that inspires you.

 Lack of mindfulness is the cause of virtually all stress and emotional anguish

 Learn from the past, plan for the future, but live in the present.

Cornerstone #2: Objectivity

Page | 3 See the world as it really is—not as it used to be, not as you fear it might become, or not as you wish it were. Recognize that things are never as good, or as bad, as they seem to be. Appreciating this can help you stay off the emotional yo-yo that results from your happiness being determined by your perception of what’s happening in the world around you.

 See yourself as others see you — pay attention to the influence of ego.

 Just because you believe something doesn’t make it true. Have the mental flexibility and the spiritual honesty to be objective about your own opinions and beliefs.

 Be aware of the difference between intuition and gut feel.

Cornerstone #3: Empathy Empathy is what Daniel Goleman calls “social radar,” and he says this is one of the most important elements of emotional intelligence. “Sensing what others feel without they’re saying so captures the essence of empathy. Others rarely tell us in words what they feel; instead they tell us in their tone of voice, facial expression, or other non-verbal ways. The ability to sense these subtle communications builds on more basic competencies, particularly self-awareness and self-control.”

 The ability to read another person’s emotions, and to put yourself into their shoes rather than simply reacting out of your own emotions, is the highest form of emotional intelligence.

 Know the difference between empathy, sympathy and commiseration.

 Learn to really listen, be interrupted and walk in other’s shoes.

Cornerstone #4: Reflection To really fulfill your potential as a human being you must take time to reflect upon what you want, where you are going, and who you are becoming. Giving yourself the time and the space for reflection is essential. There is a constant clash within each of us between Ego and Soul. Ego strives for recognition and desires things where as Soul strives for love and desires beauty.

 Make sure to make time for yourself—for asking yourself the important questions, and for observing the dominating patterns in your life.

 There is power in silence and solitude.

 Commit yourself to constant renewal, and that always begins with reflection, with asking questions about what is working, what is not working, what is important, where you want to go and who you want to be.

Core Action Value #4: Courage Courage, said Winston Churchill, is the most important of all human virtues because without it, none of the other virtues are possible. It takes courage to see your life as an adventure, because by definition an adventure entails uncertainty and risk (as well as the likelihood of discomfort!). One of the most important services a leader can provide is to equip people with the skills and confidence to overcome uncertainty, anxiety, and fear.

Cornerstone #1: Confrontation Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather summoning up the strength and determination to stand up to your fear and do what you have to do anyway. Most of us are in need of moral courage than physical courage. Our fears are not of physical violence, but rather have to do with such things as relationships,

Page | 4 work, finances, and spirituality. Standing up to these doubts and fears is no less courageous in its own way than confronting a physical enemy.

 Distinguish between anxiety, fear and worry. Give fear a name and it becomes just a problem; it’s easier to solve problems than to conquer fear.

 Courage means standing up to fear, not eliminating it.

 Watch the metaphors that you use to describe (and define) yourself and your circumstances, and replace fearful and disempowering metaphors with metaphors that are encouraging and empowering

Cornerstone #2: Transformation The symptoms of terror and exhilaration are identical; it’s the interpretation that makes the difference: does fear paralyze you or catalyze you? It is imperative to recognize fear (and its precursor, anxiety) and to transform and channel it into a productive source of energy that catalyzes productive action. It’s important to a healthy fear of right things.

 Recognize that both fear and courage are contagious, and that the best way for you to gain courage is to share it with others, even if you think you don’t have it.

 Ask questions that guide you from fear to action.

 Don’t project your emotions onto others.

Cornerstone #3: Action Having a comfort zone is healthy; being imprisoned in one is not.” Robert Gerzon describes the comfort zone is bounded on one side by a wall of toxic anxiety, and on the other side by a wall of depression. The only escape is to break through the wall of anxiety and do that which you are afraid to do in order to achieve your goal.

 Fear is a cowardly emotion; it retreats in the face of determined action. Action transforms fear from emotional molasses to emotional jet fuel.

 Pay attention to language, mental images, and metaphors.

 Use research to understand your fears, and to reduce uncertainty and risk.

Cornerstone #4: Connection Fear breeds in isolation, while connection inspires courage.

 Fear is natural, hardwired human emotion. You cannot conquer fear; you cannot drive it out of the workplace. The secret is to make fear your ally and not allow it to be your enemy.

 Caring is the root of courage; remind yourself of who you care for, of why you

care. That knowledge, the why and the who of your caring, will point you in

the direction of what you must do to effectively express that caring, and give

Page | 5 you the courage to do it.

 Distrust first impressions and stereotypes.

Core Action Value #5: Perseverance Perseverance is the commitment to act with courage each and every day, despite the obstacles and setbacks that inevitably come our way. Very often, the difference between the people who achieve their dreams in life and those who do not is simply this: the achievers didn’t quit when the going got tough, and the others did. The greatest tragedy about this is that, as Thomas Edison once noted, people would be appalled if they knew how close they were to success when they finally quit.

Cornerstone #1: Preparation Probably the most important step toward being prepared for what the future might bring is to prepare yourself – to build strong character by internalizing and operationalizing The Twelve Core Action Values, to get the education and develop the skills that will be required for you to achieve your goals, and then to develop the habits that will keep you moving confidently forward in the direction of your goals, no matter what the world throws at you.

 Adversity can be anticipated in general but not in specific, so prepare the way a fire department trains—getting ready for whatever might happen.

 Prepare yourself physically, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually.

 Obstacles are not optional - the bigger the dream, the greater the challenge.

Cornerstone #2: Perspective One of the most memorable opening lines of any novel was that of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That case could be made at anytime and anywhere. Remember, no matter what is going on in the world around you, a case can always be made that things were never worse, a case can always be made that things were never better, and which case you choose to make is one of your most important decisions, and one you make on a daily basis.

 Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times depends upon what you choose to see. Choose a positive perspective.

 Internalize a spirit of contrarian toughness by internalizing the TGAoT (Thank God Ahead of Time) philosophy for dealing with adversity..

 Anything can look like a failure in the middle.

Cornerstone #3: Toughness It takes a certain amount of toughness to persevere through the obstacles and achieve your goals in life. This does not mean being unkind. Internalize the need for, and the power of, mental and emotional toughness for surmounting adversity, and for turning apparent dead ends into doors opening onto opportunity and success.

 Live by the 3 Ps of Perseverance — Purpose, Passion, and Patience.

 Don’t whine, make excuses, blame others, or be a victim.

Page | 6  Be tough on yourself by having high standards and expectations, but do not be tough on yourself by beating yourself up if you do not always live up to those standards and expectations.

Cornerstone #4: Learning Nobody in their right mind consciously seeks out adversity, and very few of us welcome it when it arrives. It is a fact of life, however, that some amount of adversity is necessary for your growth and learning. We often learn more from our failures than from our successes. Adversity is the valley that makes us appreciate the grandeur of the mountain tops.

 Life’s most important lessons, greatest opportunities, and most cherished friendships are most often formed during times of adversity.

 We learn more from failure than we do from success.

 Adversity connects us with other people in ways that are more meaningful than the connections that come through playing and working together.

Core Action Value #6 Faith Faith has been the most powerful source of human motivation. People have exerted themselves and taken risks for the sake of faith that never would have been motivated in a quest for material gain or personal power. Distinguish faith from religion, and to explore some of the ways that each of us can strengthen our own faith and apply that power in our lives.

Cornerstone #1: Gratitude Gratitude is a central tenet of faith. Our thankfulness is seen in prayer to God and in expression by word and action to others. This is in part to express their gratitude for the blessings (past, present, and future) of their lives.

 Complaining is the anti-prayer—whining about blessings that have not (yet) showed up rather than being thankful for those that have.

 Be on the alert for taking things for granted; appreciate what you have rather than worrying about what you don’t have.

 Simplicity is beautiful.

Cornerstone #2: Forgiveness Carrying around a grudge against someone else is like emotional cancer; whether we forgive or continue to hate is a choice. It is a choice to live in the present and look with joy towards the future, not to remain bound by the past, and haul the dead weight of ancient anger behind us as we trudge toward tomorrow. It is a choice to stop seeing ourselves as victims, and to take control of our emotions and circumstances. Forgiveness is not so much a choice as it is a gift of grace

 The real beneficiary of forgiveness is not the one who is being forgiven, it’s the one who is doing the forgiving.

 Forgiveness can be essential for achieving mental clarity and objectivity.

 To forgive does not mean to forget.

Page | 7 Cornerstone #3: Love Love can be considered to be an outer reflection of inner faith. Although linked in the popular mind with romance, love is actually something much deeper, more profound, and more powerful. Love and everything that goes with it—loyalty, respect, caring, supportiveness—motivates people like nothing else. Love is like gravity – it brings people together.

 The Beatles were right: there’s nothing you can do that can’t be done and there’s no one you can save that can’t be saved—all you need is love.

 Love is not a gushy emotion, it’s hard work.

 You increase love by giving it away.

Cornerstone #4: Spirituality Extensive research has shown that spiritual faith plays a large role in health and healing. People with a strong sense of spiritual faith tend to be more highly service oriented, to have more solid belief in themselves and in their dreams, to be more resilient in the face of adversity, and to be more committed to the success of fellow team members.

 People who really do believe that whoever dies with the most toys wins end up being the biggest losers in life.

 Love is reflected in spiritual tolerance.

 Expect a miracle - every great accomplish was once an impossible dream requiring nothing less than a miracle for its fulfillment.

Core Action Value#7 Purpose A sense of purpose transforms a job into a mission, and it converts mere work into a meaningful achievement. A sense of purpose is what brings meaning to work and fulfillment to achievement. It is also the glue that bonds together the members of a team, and creates the mutual trust and teamwork that are necessary to accomplish important goals. Purpose ties back to Core Action Value #1, Authenticity, because the work that we choose to do, and the attitude and commitment that we bring to that work, is one of the most important factors in creating the person that we are to become.

Cornerstone #1: Aspiration Purposeful people aspire to work that gives them a personal sense of meaning, and to making their corner of the world a better place. In fact, were it not for the fact that humans naturally aspire to make things better, we would all still be hunting and gathering. Aspiration means aspiring to personal growth – to become the person you are meant to be, and it means aspiring to making your corner of the world a better place.

 Purposeful people aspire to work that gives them a personal sense of meaning, and to making their corner of the world a better place.

 Love the work more than the job.

 Be an energy faucet, not an energy drain.

Page | 8 Cornerstone #2: Intentionality Intentionality is the difference between wishful thinking and positive thinking: Wishful thinking is hoping for something and waiting for someone else to make it happen for you; Positive thinking is expecting something and making the personal commitment to do the work required to make it happen.

 Living with purpose is a challenge to remove the basket, to look inside and see the magnificent light that you have been hiding within yourself. It’s a challenge to let that light shine through in your beliefs, your attitudes, and your behaviors.

 Have a Bias for Action and think long, act fast.

 Know what puts you into a state of flow. Flow is the mental state of being so engrossed in what you are doing that you lose track of everything else.

Cornerstone #3: Selflessness People inspired with a sense of purpose rise above “what’s in it for me?” thinking and commit themselves to a larger good.

 Appreciate the paradox that the best way for you to achieve your goals is often first helping other people achieve theirs.

 Contribution is the antidote to stress.

 Selflessness is the foundation of real teamwork; purposeful people are more concerned about getting the job done than about getting credit.

Cornerstone #4: Balance Balance means 360-degree purposefulness. Seek a sense of purpose in every dimension of your life— personal and professional, financial and temporal, physical and mental, emotional and spiritual.

 Purpose as a value means being purposeful in every dimension of life, not just in the work you do —also family, community, and personal growth.

 Take care of yourself physically, including getting the sleep you need, so that you have the energy to experience the joy of life in every dimension.

 Integrate your work and your life rather than striving to balance the two.

Core Action Value#8: Vision Humans are the only creature that can see something in the mind’s eye that is invisible to the body’s eyes. Cherish this God given gift—cultivate it, use it to create your ideal future. Appreciate how the interaction of vision and visualization can help transform the dream of today into the reality of tomorrow.

Cornerstone #1: Attention What you choose to give your attention to will create the platform upon which you create your future vision —choose wisely. Your most precious resource is not time, it is attention – how you choose to use your time. You can only pay attention to one thing at a time; it cannot be multi-tasked. Most important, the things that you pay attention to today will substantially define the boundaries of your vision for tomorrow.

Page | 9  Remember, there is no free lunch. What is the price you will have to pay to achieve your dreams? Are you willing to pay that price?

 Ultimately, you become what you pay attention to.

 Cultivate a healthy sense of cognitive dissonance.

Cornerstone #2: Imagination If you can dream it, you can do it, said Walt Disney, but unfortunately, many of us have lost the capacity to dream. Imagination is like any other muscle—it becomes weak and atrophied if not used. Imagination is more important than knowledge, said Albert Einstein.

 Visualization is the active process that precedes the creation of vision; don’t abuse your imagination with fantasy and worry, but rather use it to create memories of the future.

 The five tools that big goals give you – compass, magnifying glass, magnet, flywheel and spark plug.

 Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) are often no more costly or risky than timid little milquetoast goals, and more likely to bring about great results.

Cornerstone #3: Articulation Before it can become reality, a vision must be articulated in such a way as to inspire passion and confidence in those who must bring it about. The first step is knowing what you want, and as specifically as possible. Can you articulate the dream. The more vivid your mental image, and the more different senses and emotions involved, the higher the likelihood of achievement.

 Before your vision can become reality, it must be articulated in such a way as to inspire passion and confidence in those who must contribute to bringing that vision into being.

 The 5-As for transforming dreams into Memories of the Future – articulation, affirmation, asking, action, and adaptation.

 Planning should be seen as a way of thinking, an ongoing process, not a finished product.

Cornerstone #4: Belief All things are possible for one who believes. As Napoleon Hill wrote in the classic self-help book Think and Grow Rich, what the human mind can conceive and believe it can achieve. Every great accomplishment was once an impossible dream. You’ll see it when you believe it, so believe in the goal and not the obstacles Set measurable goals and reward performance

 Belief is a force of nature. All achievement begins in the mind of someone who believes in the possibilities.

 Vision becomes destiny so think big, start small.

 Goals are the stepping stones to dream fulfillment.

Page | 10 Core Action Value #9: Focus No individual can do everything well. Focus provides the discipline to target key goals and then to concentrate all available resources on the accomplishment of those goals. One of the main reasons that some people have the time to travel, go back to school, or engage in other activities that the rest of us are unable to find time for is that they are more productive in taking care of the basic essentials. People like to know that their time is being used effectively, and for things that matter.

Cornerstone #1: Target The bigger your dream is, the more important it is to keep it on the front burner. Many of us feel like the circus performer trying to keep fifty plates spinning precariously atop sticks, frantically running from one to the other to keep them all from falling. That is a formula for frustration and ultimate mediocrity. It’s impossible to build your dream house and simultaneously keep fifty plates spinning in the air!

 Be clear about what you really want, and don’t waste time, energy and money chasing things you really don’t want.

 The one Big Yes Requires lots of little no’s.

 Don’t give in to the tyranny of the urgent.

Cornerstone #2: Concentration Concentration is a key principle of military strategy: from Alexander the Great to Napoleon, the greatest commanders have understood that victory hinges upon concentrating the greatest force at the decisive point (as Frederick the Great put it, to defend everywhere is to defend nowhere). The same is true in your own life. You only have so many resources, and how you choose to allocate them will determine your success (or lack of it).

 When you are clear about what you want, concentrate all of your resources—time, money, and energy—on that goal.

 Understand the Pareto Prison (the trap of the 80-20 rule) 20% of the activity is responsible for 80% of the results, and the other 80% of activity generates only 20% of the results.

 One of the perhaps unexpected benefits of concentration is that it enhances creativity.

Cornerstone #3: Speed Cultivate a sense of urgency for achieving your key goals. Speed promotes focus. Building a sense of urgency and moving quickly does a great deal to foster focus. When you are moving quickly, there is less chance of being diverted or distracted from your course, and a greater certainty that you will achieve your goal sooner. The faster you achieve your goals, of course, the more time you have for additional goals, and/or for relaxation and rejuvenation.

 Procrastination is not only the source of missed opportunity and failure; it’s also the cause of much emotional distress. Successful people have a sense of urgency to move quickly, before the opportunity slips away, before the problem gets out of hand, before it’s too late.

 Write things down to keep first things first.

 There are no short cuts on the road to success.

Page | 11 Cornerstone #4: Momentum It is much easier and more productive to keep yourself moving in a desired direction than it is to bog down and have to restart your engine. A key element to Zig Ziglar’s success is to “move decisively from one task to the next.” In other words, to maintain your momentum. This relates to a basic law of physics, that it is easier to keep going than it is to stop and start again.

 It is much easier and more productive to keep yourself moving in a desired direction than it is to bog down and have to restart your engine.

 Momentum = Urgency + Patience. A sense of urgency is needed to overcome inertia and resistance, and patience allows that urgency to be continuously nourished and channeled.  The law of entropy will inevitably set in if not countered - Entropy is one of the laws of thermodynamics; it states that unless energy is continuously applied to a system, things begin to fall apart.

Core Action Value #10: Enthusiasm Enthusiasm is the fuel for personal happiness and missional success. Its presence or absence determines the difference between a negative, high-stress work environment and one that is positive, productive, and resilient. Effective enthusiasm is the marriage of emotional energy and disciplined intellect. Enthusiasm is the active ingredient in positive thinking.

Cornerstone #1: Attitude Attitude is everything. You have no doubt heard that – and it is a great universal truth. When you are enthusiastic, it’s much easier to be authentic and to act with courage and perseverance; it’s much easier to be clear about your purpose and your vision, and to focus your resources on the achievement of your goals. We return to the theme that whether you think you can or you think you cannot, you are right.

 Positive attitudes create can self-fulfilling expectations for success and happiness; negative attitudes more typically create self-fulfilling prophecies of failure and misery.

 Avoid the 3-Cs of negativity – criticizing, complaining and commiserating.

 Erase negative self-talk - one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in being more positive is the Inner Critic, the author of much of our negative self-talk.

Cornerstone #2: Energy Energy is your most precious physical resource, and how you choose to use that energy is perhaps the most important choice you make on a daily basis. So go do something that moves you in the direction of your dreams. You have more energy than you think you do. Surround yourself with people who move you to action and motivate you.

 Energy is life, and more than many of us will admit, whether or not we have energy in any circumstance is a matter of choice, not physical state.

 Human energy is the ultimate renewable resource. When you make the decision to have energy, and then to expend it, you expand it.

 Worry can be a serious energy drain. Like fear, worry is a natural human condition that can be managed, but really cannot be made to go away.

Page | 12 Cornerstone #3: Curiosity Enthusiastic people tend to be curious. They’re always asking questions, wanting to know how things work, and expanding the horizons of their own knowledge. One way to become more enthusiastic yourself is to simply start asking more and better questions. If you want to enhance the quality of the answers you get from life, improve the quality of the questions you ask of life.

 Enthusiastic people are curious, and their quest for knowledge and understanding helps to fuel their vision for the future.

 What comes first: enthusiasm or creativity? This mirrors one of the oldest debates in the field of human behavior: what comes first, changes in attitude or changes in behavior? The answer is it doesn’t matter!

 Ask dumb questions - Some of the greatest inventions, intellectual breakthroughs, and business innovations in history have come when someone asked how, why, or why not about something that everyone else considered to be self-evident, and came up with a surprisingly new answer.

Cornerstone #4: Humor One way of becoming more enthusiastic is restoring the sense of spontaneity that we all had as children. Cultivating an environment where people can play, have fun, and laugh on the job is good. As C. W. Metcalf wrote in Lighten Up: “Without humor skill, there is no ultimate triumph over tragedy, no joy in the journey, no sense in the nonsense of it all.”

 It’s true that humor is good medicine, but people with a sense of humor are also happier and more successful. Fortunately, you can cultivate a funny bone.

 Be willing to look silly and make life fun.

 Appreciate the value of humor in so many different dimensions of life: health and happiness; sales, career, and leadership effectiveness; and emotional equanimity and spiritual peace.

Core Action Value #11: Service Service begins with a sincere desire to help other people, which is then followed up by action. It is an ancient paradox that he person who gives a helping hand often benefits as much or more than the person being helped. Zig Ziglar says, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

Cornerstone #1: Helpfulness “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” That ancient proverb captures an essential truth, that the best way to help somebody is often to teach them. Being truly helpful is empowering someone else with the necessary skills to be successful.

 It’s important that you reach out to help others, but even more important is the spirit in which you provide that help.

 Sometimes lending a helping hand means taking a step outside of your comfort zone, and perhaps sticking your neck out.

 Turn your problem into someone else’s solution.

Page | 13 Cornerstone #2: Charity Charity is a means of expressing compassion for those in need as well as gratitude for your own blessings. True charity comes not from a sense of obligation, but rather is given willingly, generously and in a spirit of spontaneity. And here’s another paradox: as with helpfulness, when it comes to charity, the person doing the giving often benefits more than the person who is receiving. But charity goes beyond just giving; it’s really a state of mind, and an approach to life and to other people.

 It is a good thing to donate money to worthwhile causes, and even better to donate your time and energy.

 Charity is a state of mind - it may well be that the spirit in which something is given away is more important than the absolute magnitude of what is being given away.

 Engage in random acts of kindness.

Cornerstone #3: Compassion Compassion, according to Webster’s Dictionary, means “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” Consider the fact that at some point or another, all of us are so stricken, and for many people it is almost a chronic condition (at least in their own minds). As such, everyone you meet needs, and is deserving of your compassion.

 Look beneath external appearances and circumstances to perceive the reality of the human being beneath those superficialities.

 We all have wounds that need to be healed. The only way to get a hug is to give a hug. Compassion requires mutuality.

 You cannot simultaneously be compassionate and judgmental.

Cornerstone #4: Renewal You cannot pour from an empty pitcher. A question that often arises in ministry is, “who ministers to the minister?” Ultimately, that must be each individual’s own personal responsibility. People who do not take time for renewal, who do not take care of themselves, often end up cynical, burned out, and frankly not very caring. So ask for help, then be willing to receive it. Then leave people better than you found them.

 Take care of yourself and ask for help when you need it, because you cannot pour out of an empty pitcher.

 Service is a best way to escape the Iron Triangle of False Personality.

 Leave people better than you found them.

Core Action Value #12: Leadership People will quit a job, but they will never quit a mission; people will leave an organization, but they will never leave a team; people will desert a boss, but they will never desert a leader. When leadership becomes an attitude and a way of life, not just something that is done because of your job description or title, it becomes a value in its own right. True servant leadership is living in service to and alongside others through love and humility while modeling Christ’s Character.

Page | 14 Cornerstone #1: Expectations Jim Collins in his book Good to Great wrote this: the most effective leaders had the ability to be brutally realistic in facing the facts and problems of their current situation while still maintaining positive optimism about dealing with the circumstances, and also had the ability to distinguish between “big hairy audacious goals,” on the one hand, and delusions of grandeur on the other.

 Values-based leaders are committed to creating better organizations and contributing to a better world, and thus they have high expectations for themselves and for the people they lead.

 Know thyself. This, said Socrates, is the height of wisdom.

 Effective communication is essential to teamwork.

Cornerstone #2: Example Effective leaders are people who continuously raise expectations, of themselves and of others. This is a powerfully important point, given the incredible evidence that in life, as in business, we tend to get what we expect. Then they set a positive example by working to fulfill those expectations.

 Leaders are judicious in their words, enthusiastic in their actions, and committed to their missions because they know that they speak more forcefully by who they are than by what they say.

 Expect the best from yourself and from others.

 Replace the tyranny of “OR” with the genius of “AND”

Cornerstone #3: Encouragement By definition, a leader is someone who is in front of followers. Tyrants, despots, and slave-drivers are not leaders. Managers who “motivate” performance with fear, intimidation, and manipulation are not leaders. Rather, leaders motivate people with encouragement.

 Leaders encourage us to do our best and to be our best, to persevere through the inevitable obstacles and setbacks, and to work together in a spirit of fellowship toward the realization of a shared vision.

 When you are a leader you must give up certain freedoms: the freedom to be negative; the freedom to second guess administrative decisions after they’ve been made and the freedom to be a pessimist.

 The only real empowerment is self-empowerment, you cannot give someone else ownership of a problem or of an opportunity – they must take it.

Cornerstone #4: Celebration Hundreds of books have been written on the subject of human motivation – and most of them overlook this essential fact: one of the most powerful forms of motivation is celebration. Celebrate away stress. Celebrate both success and good faith failure. Celebrating past accomplishments sets the stage for pursuing future accomplishments. Page | 15  Leaders help us celebrate our victories, and our defeats; they celebrate with us the important passages of work and life; and they use celebrations as the platform from which to launch renewed efforts toward ever-larger goals.

 Create an empowering environment. Effective leaders go out of their way to cultivate an empowering corporate culture and a positive and productive workplace environment.

 Capitalize on every opportunity to congratulate a coworker, celebrate a success (or a good attempt), and to astonish a customer. Spontaneity is not impulsivity— it is responding with joy to the surprises and delights of life, not thoughtlessly reacting to inner emotional conditions.

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