Chapter Ten
Enhancing the Psycho-Spiritual Development of Leaders
Lessons from Leadership Journeys in Asia
We started this journey knowing that it was about business, but instead we learned about humanity.
I was able to get to know a great number of enlightened souls, but I also discovered myself.
These are two reflections from Asian leaders of a multinational foods business who spent three days in ashrams, spiritual centers, micro-enterprises, and charities in India learning about community life. The business leaders tended to the needy, offered what help they could, and marveled at how much could be accomplished with so few resources. In a desert campsite for three days afterward, they shared and digested their experiences, and pondered the meaning and implications for their own leadership, their leadership group, and the business.
This chapter draws on the authors’ firsthand observations and reflections from senior executives who participated in several of these leadership journeys to identify how deep connections to indigenous people and persons in need, meaningful encounters with nature, community service, and continuous reflection on these experiences made their ways into the executives’ minds, hearts, and souls.
LEADERSHIP JOURNEYS
Annual journeys took the regional executives from this multi-national corporation—top country officials to marketers, supply chain managers, staff, and young leaders—to various locales within the company’s business region. They traveled to Sarawak, Malaysia, to see devastated teak rainforests and meet the displaced Penan people; to Guilin, China, to meet villagers and understand their everyday needs; throughout India to study communal life and leadership; and to Sri Lanka to engage in service learning and provide tsunami relief. One intent was to open executives’ eyes to economic, social, and environmental conditions in the region and thereby to inform their company’s business strategies and social investments. A second was to expose the group members to new ways of being and working together in order to look afresh at their own organization and culture. A third, the subject of this chapter, was to stimulate their development as leaders.
The journeys were tribal experiences: leaders typically woke at dawn, dressed in local garb, exercised or meditated together, hiked from place to place, ate communally, swapped stories by the campfire, and slept alongside one another in tents. Daily experiences included meeting monks or a martial arts master, talking with local children or village elders, or simply reveling in the sounds and sights of nature. Considerable time was spent along the way in personal and collective reflection. The authors of this chapter helped to design, organize, and facilitate each of these journeys. Working with a team of researchers, they also prepared a learning history of each journey to document key insights for continued reflection (quotations used here come from those accounts).
The president of the Asian business, who authored and himself led the journeys, is interested in human development and believes spirituality is integral to leadership development. He drew from Stephen Covey’s (2004) work, particularly the emphasis on development of the four intelligences—intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Thus our journeys had multisensory activities and experiences that engaged the head, body, heart, and spirit. He also embraced M. Scott Peck’s (1993) multidimensional consciousness—seeing it expand to-and-from the individual to the collective to a “force beyond ourselves.” The journeys were, accordingly, multilevel experiences with solo, small-group, and communal moments. In addition, there were elements of discovery, contemplation, and serendipity along the way. The travel was to places of historical, cultural, or mystical significance, with the explicit intent of seeing the world and self afresh, and sharing the experience of being together with fellow travelers—not unlike a pilgrimage.
We recorded countless references to consciousness raising and personal transformation during these journeys. Many leaders, for example, talked of moments of self-discovery and of encountering their “true selves.” They spoke of deeply connecting with the people they met and with one another. There was also talk of gaining insight into and being moved by the economic, social, and environmental conditions encountered. Finally, many leaders reported sensing a new mission on the journeys and concluded that they individually and collectively needed to find a “higher purpose” in their business lives. “Truly, this is a soul searching journey,” said one leader upon reflection. “It is a journey of self-connecting, connecting with others, connecting with the universe, and certainly connecting with God.”
PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
There is growing interest in developing the whole person and experimenting with holistic forms of leadership development—the case study here being one example (Mirvis, 1997, in press). The theorizing behind this references psychological phenomena, such as emotional intelligence, ego development, altruism, reciprocity, prosocial behavior, and the like. The long-standing but recently enriched literature on spirituality and leadership also speaks to these phenomena with complementary notions of spiritual intelligence, self-transcendence, unconditional love, generosity, service, and so on. In this chapter we combine these two frames of reference to consider some of the psycho-spiritual dimensions of leadership development: cultivating self-awareness, connecting to the other, forming into community, and discovering one’s purpose. Let us look closely at each of these dimensions, drawing from the experiences of the journeys and reflections of the leaders on those experiences as they considered “Who am I?” “Who are you?” “Who are we?” and most important, “What is our purpose as business leaders?”
Cultivating Self-Awareness: Who Am I?
Most branches of psychology see self-knowledge as integral to human development and essential to being a healthy, functioning adult. Studies document how self-consciousness expands when people understand their familial roots and formative experiences, what moves and what puts them off, and also their highest hopes and deepest fears. Much of this fits into the rubric of emotional intelligence (EQ), which means, among other things, being in touch with one’s makeup, proclivities, moods, and emotions, being able to recognize personal strengths and weaknesses, and understanding the impact one has on others (Goleman, 1995).
Not surprisingly, leadership development programs in many companies encourage employees to cultivate EQ through personality assessments, 360-degree feedback, coaching, and the like. These all have their place in personal development; however, we favor less structured, more timeless means to promote self-awareness among leaders. One approach involves personal reflection and storytelling about one’s life experiences and lessons (Schön, 1983; Mirvis & Ayas, 2003).
Self-discovery and disclosure are a part of every leader’s work in these Asian learning journeys. Most of the company’s leaders in the region have written and shared their life stories with one another. “It’s like a surgery of the soul. You begin to see the roots and patterns,” says one young leader about this form of self-reflection, “and you understand what truly moves you.” Biographical studies by psychologist Howard Gardner (1995) underscore this point by showing that formative experiences shape the beliefs and practices of leaders in almost every culture: they make up the leader’s identity. The telling of identity stories, Gardner finds, builds deep connections between leaders and followers and, in particular, informs the identities of younger leaders.
During the China trip, after a hike into the mountains, the leaders wrote letters to “Mom and Dad” that surfaced heartfelt discussion about the emotional sides of leadership. Some ten or twelve leaders read their letters aloud, many striking the same themes:
While writing to my parents I nearly choked with emotion as I realized how much I loved them. But I had never shared my feelings with them. I had always been taught that the open display of emotions was a sign of weakness. The credo of my clan is that “Men are born to face the challenges of this world. They do not cry. They lead. They are the pride of their family and must not fail.” . . . Now I realize how much more I could have done if only I had sought the emotional support that I knew was there all along.
This kind of introspection is based on the psychodynamic notion that people reexperience their lives when they delve into the most emotionally charged aspects of their past (Freud, 1965). It helps to surface unexamined and repressed feelings about one’s life course and to lift them up for fresh consideration. This form of self-discovery is integral to psychotherapy, where it strengthens the observing ego and helps people to gain a clearer self-picture (Klein, 1959). Reflections on Mom and Dad, although by no means akin to in-depth therapy, gave the leaders a chance to look into who I am with reference to parental influences.
There are, of course, other means in other traditions of knowing the self. Many of these Asian leaders, for example, turn to prayer, yoga, journaling, or meditation to explore their inner selves. In their various journeys together, they have been exposed to these disciplines as well as tai chi and deep breathing. This gives the leaders a taste of different forms of self-experience and, as a side benefit, allows them to see a variety of practices indigenous to their region.
An emphasis on leading from within seems to resonate with the Asian leaders, and these experiences help leaders locate their inner resources. The leaders meditated en masse each morning, and many felt a deep sense of knowing the self and tapping into their souls as they sat together in silence. One found harmony: “Silence sparks my emotions; it makes me surrender to my feelings and senses.” Another found insight: “Silence is crucial for spiritualism. It is the only moment that you give your inner self the chance to talk to your outer self.” Reflecting on their daily meditations, one said: “The time we spent learning about meditation was very worthwhile—I am remembering who I am and am determined to continue with the practice of meditation back home.”
During the journeys there were also many occasions when encounters with the peoples of Asia lit up the leaders and stimulated deep reflections on the self. Listen to this self-examination by a young Indian:
To be honest, when we went to communities and saw the devotion, dedication, and selfless service that they were providing, I was a little uncomfortable. Seeing how they’re committed to training blind people, to building hospitals and training centers and all that, a feeling of guilt and discomfort arose: Am I doing something wrong that I’m not able to commit myself to such selfless service?
This is, in psychological parlance, the observing ego at work. But when inquiry turns to questions of one’s place and purpose or, indeed, of the very meaning of life, the transcendent ego can also be activated (Peck, 1993). In such encounters, personal strivings and boundaries are surrendered, and the self opens and connects to the world of other beings and, in some cases, a higher power. Here is another Indian leader reflecting on his encounters:
At the very outset let me admit that I feel humble and small because when I went to the Missionaries of Charity, I thought I was going to give and serve. I returned realizing how poor I am. I thought I had commitment but the sisters redefined this for me. I saw a courage that I have lacked—the courage to admit my weaknesses and seek help. I thought I was a loving and caring person. But the unconditional love to all and its manifestation in all the actions of the sisters made me wonder if my behavior towards my colleagues and even my family is indeed loving and caring or it is just a self-image I am carrying. This experience is another huge step in discovering the person that my mother raised, and I am grateful for this experience. Have I answered who am I? Not yet. But I am beginning to discover myself, and I am feeling at ease with myself with every layer I peel.
Russ Moxley (2000), among other scholars, asserts that this deep questioning and self-transcendence yields “spiritual power” that can be used to transform relationships with others.
Connecting to “Other”: Who Are You?
Self-consciousness is essential to connecting to another, as only those who know themselves are able to understand the other and forge mutual ties. In turn, when trying to understand another person, people come to better understand themselves. George Herbert Mead (1934) terms this role taking or, more colloquially, putting your self in the place of others. This reciprocal role taking, over the life course, is central to socialization and the forming of identity; hence its relevance for developing the character of leaders.
Human relations training, common in organizational behavior curricula, stresses the importance of knowing the other as a key competency of leaders. Listening to and witnessing another’s personal story is one means of cultivating this insight. Still, in the competitive business culture it is difficult to “lower the guard,” as one leader put it, when sharing life stories with fellow executives. “The initial step of sharing personal information was difficult,” he recalled. “But once you sense the value of truly connecting, building on it seemed relatively easy.” “The important thing is to engage in the search and the inquiry into each other’s cultures and mindsets, and into the relationship we have” said another. “To achieve this, one has to be open with oneself, understand one’s own basic core values, and accept other people’s differences ‘as is.’ This acceptance needs to be sincere and from the heart; without any prejudice, judgments and expectations.”
This connecting to the other extends beyond the boundaries of the Asian leadership group. In the journey to China, for instance, leaders spent time “getting into the skin” of villagers. In the ancient hamlet of Xin Ping, the leaders worked alongside local people in their daily lives—sweeping streets, herding buffaloes, forming cement blocks, cooking noodles, and teaching. One commented:
My experience “living” with the villagers was an eye opener. I was fortunate to be with a 72-year-old who had the energy of a 40-year-old woman. During her late 30s to early 40s she made sandals out of dried grass straw for Chinese soldiers. She narrated with enthusiasm how important these sandals were to protect the soldiers’ feet while crossing marshlands and hiking mountains even during cold winter nights. Her simple understanding of the “big picture” and her role struck me . . . that no matter how small your role is . . . it is still part of the whole.
The leaders draw on a number of frameworks to enhance their consciousness of the self-and-other and gain a better understanding of who they are. They used, for example, various learning tools that helped them explore what is behind their perceptions and feelings (Argyris, 1982; Senge, 1990). On the journeys, leaders were asked to self-reflect whenever they connected with people along the way: How am I reacting to this situation? To this person? What are my reactions telling me about my own assumptions about life and people? Schein (2002) calls this “listening to ourselves.”
At the same time, attention also turned to imagining: What has this person’s life been like? Why do they see things the way they do? This is a different sort of self-listening in which the self makes inferences about what makes others tick and how they relate to their world. An Australian leader elaborated on the impact: “It’s helping us develop empathy, to put yourself in the other person’s shoes—your customer, your colleague, or one of your managers. You step outside of your own paradise and get a deep understanding that the way you do things is not the only way.”
Recent interest in an appreciative style of leading (Cooperrider, 1990) has emphasized the positive potential of finding the goodness-in-the-other and improving the quality of human relationships. In seeing the sacredness of another, we also find it within ourselves.
In Sri Lanka this experience was palpable. The leaders spent several days cleaning up debris in schools and public buildings, helping local merchants to assess inventory and connect with suppliers, playing with children, and talking deeply with Sri Lankans, individually and in large gatherings. The report of a leader about his first encounter with a tsunami survivor illustrates the depth of the experience: “This man who had lost two of his family members told me how God has been kind to him—his neighbor had lost all of his five family members. He made me realize that there is such goodness in simple lives—where I have never bothered to look.” Many had similar discoveries.
What did this soulful work teach the leaders? “We listened to the fears and hopes of the mothers, fathers, and children left behind in this beautiful but devastated country. We shed tears of pain, hope, and love,” recalled one leader. “We shed even more tears when we realized that by simply sharing our spirit with them we made an incredible difference not only to their lives but also to our own. It continues to surprise me how care and service for others helps me discover my own love.”
Forming into Community: Who Are We?
Naturally, such rich experiences of empathizing and connecting with the other, both emotionally and spiritually, made their way into the collective consciousness of the Asian leadership group. Forming the leaders into a work community engages what Peck (1987) calls a group mind—the ability of a collective to see both its constituent parts and the whole. His theories contend that this mindfulness develops organically through free-flowing conversation among a collection of people as they pay close attention to their own thoughts and feelings and to what is happening in the group overall.
The Asian leaders use a large-group discussion methodology, a variant of the dialogue process, to develop collective sensibilities (Isaacs, 1999). They sometimes talk in smaller, fifteen- to twenty-person groups, and sometimes as a full community of two hundred plus, all sitting in a circle, with everyone given the opportunity to speak, irrespective of rank or tenure. An expectation is set to speak openly and frankly, and to deal with the “difficult issues” that would otherwise be avoided or denied. There is also space for “process comments”—observations about how the collective is operating—and periodic moments of silence so that leaders can reflect quietly on what’s been said and what they want to say next.
The process of getting to this collective mind, like all group development processes, is marked by conflict and paradoxes (Smith & Berg, 1987). The Asian leaders’ first experiences with dialogue in China were difficult. One commented, “The first dialogue was very frustrating, despite my own pitiful efforts at involvement. In an Asian culture, it’s not easy to speak out. The risk is very high to stand up and say something. It must be the right thing.” “I was one of those who didn’t stand up to talk,” added another. “Why? Well, truthfully, I was scared. Nervous about standing up in front of 200 people to express how I feel. Not knowing if I could trust them.” Then, she said, “It finally dawned on me that everything must come from the ‘heart.’ That is where it all begins.”
To learn to dialogue among so many people across so many different cultures has taken time and patience. At the communal gathering in India, one year later, the Asian leaders, irrespective of nationality, spoke easily and naturally to the collective, built on each other’s comments, challenged gracefully, and encouraged new voices to emerge. Said one, “It was great to see that words just poured out from everyone. We are starting to see the connections with each other.”
What helped this mature? Time together, familiarity with one another, and a degree of psychological safety from past encounters all helped. The sharing of personal stories and in-the-moment thoughts and feelings also broke down barriers. “Whilst there are differences in our appearance, speech, and food,” said one leader, “sharing innermost feelings and fears so openly bonded us emotionally.” The leaders have also come to realize that intellect, wisdom, and virtues are not the heritage or characteristic of any particular nation or group of people. “We have different backgrounds,” commented another leader. “I have to look into that deeply, open my mind up, and be big enough to accept each of you in my heart so we can have some sort of the same understanding and then become more united.”
There are many psychodynamic models for bringing a group together. These typically involve “working through” group differences and conflicts by developing common understandings and norms. The model in the Asian leadership group has not been to work through differences by confronting them directly. Instead, the leadership body serves as a kind of container that holds differences and conflicts up for ongoing exploration. In the community-building tradition, such thoughtful, if sometimes heated, reflection on who we are yields a collective identity that at the same time preserves individuality and diversity in the community (Mirvis, 2002).
A true sense of community is born of inclusiveness and comes into being as a group transcends its members’ differences. John Gardner (1995) terms this “wholeness incorporating diversity.” In its more spiritualized conception, this feeling might be termed communion. Reflecting on this state, one leader commented:
I feel very close to the Asia group. There was some weird sense of bonding that developed even though I didn’t know more than half of the people. I really can’t explain it but it was a sense of oneness or being together. It is strange because I felt this when we weren’t even talking. It was a nice feeling. For the first time I experienced it outside my family. Maybe this is what we call community feeling.
Discovering Our Purpose: Why Are We Here?
These feelings of connection and communion focus on the internal characteristics of leaders and their community. What about their roles and responsibilities in the larger world? Reflecting on community work in India, one leader said, “Strong vibrant growing communities build around a relevant and compelling purpose.” To answer the question, What is our purpose as business leaders? the Asian leaders made deep connections to the land and peoples of the region and learned from them. In principle, knowledge about economic, social, and environmental conditions can be gleaned from texts, talks, and conversations in any forum. But the experience of being there and seeing firsthand adds texture and arouses feelings and thus has greater potential to raise collective consciousness about conditions in the world (Wuthnow, 1991).
At a meeting in Sarawak, Malaysia, for instance, leaders’ attention turned to the natural environment. There they encountered the terrible costs incurred in the clear-cutting of tropical rainforests. They heard a natural resources expert speak, and then to get physically involved and symbolically lend a hand, they cleaned a nearby beach of industrial flotsam and tourist trash. A trip upriver in hollowed-out wooden canoes took them to the village of the Penan people, where they met the village chief, medicine man, and tribe, and took a long walk with them through clear-cut forests. The experience led to earnest discussion of the benefits and the costs of economic growth in the region.
During the journey to China, attention turned to economics. A Pakistani noted meeting “villagers in rural China whose income was less then 125 USD per annum. Seventy percent of my country’s 140 million population is similar to the family of the man I met today, while only 5 percent has a lifestyle similar to mine.” He added, “I respect and value these villagers for who they are and what they deliver to all of us.”
The journey to India added a social dimension to understandings of economics and of the world. Two reflections capture this powerfully:
The contact with Indian communities really touched me as I saw voluntary work, devotion, sacrifice, purity, truth, belonging, affiliation, caring, working together in a responsible and dedicated fashion like a family. While family is so central to me in personal life, I feel that similar core thoughts need to be internalized and become a way of life in work life.
Connecting with poverty in India reminds us that our company, as a member in Asia, has strong social responsibility. We need to build our business success while taking on social responsibilities—to help to protect the environment, to relieve poverty . . . at the same time these actions will help our business grow.
The question of purpose was raised progressively over the journeys, becoming more and more profound. Time spent in Sarawak opened the leaders’ eyes to the need to live with, rather than take from, the natural world. This in turn led to calls to incorporate criteria of environmental sustainability into the business’s strategic and operating plans.
The journey to India opened new vistas on the question of purpose. One leader reported:
We felt very small and humbled by all that the people were doing there. There was a feeling that they were actually contributing to society while we were doing things that were inconsequential. I raised this with the Maharaja and his answer was very clear. He said the community was working to empower the downtrodden whereas good businesses would eliminate the number of downtrodden. He therefore said that while they were working on curing the disease, we were working towards its eradication. He felt we were doing the more difficult and noble task.
The ongoing dialogues in India brought the leaders closer to the conclusion that organizations have to be driven by their missions rather than by numbers and processes. There was talk throughout of Jim Collins’s (2001) findings on how companies moved from good to great.
In Sri Lanka, with the deeper realization of the interconnection of all things—or what Capra (1996) terms the web of life—a new sense of mission emerged for the Asian business. On a personal note, one leader stated, “I started getting the feeling that my work need not be confined to producing and selling as efficiently as possible but has a higher purpose of community service to the people of Asia.” “This changes the paradigm of thinking that we are selling to consumers,” said another one. “Instead we are serving our communities.”
Over the course of these several journeys, an imperative emerged: the leaders had to put flesh onto their caring aspirations and translate them into a business mission to emphasize the healthy, nourishing aspects of food. Accordingly, these Asian leaders pledged to become responsible partners with the people of Asia and to address the health, vitality, and development of children and families through better food and beverages. They also pledged to be actively involved in communities and especially to understand and respond to the needs of the economically underprivileged and the children.
REFLECTIONS ON THE JOURNEYS
Does it go too far to speculate that the Asian leaders were connected to a new world that is seeking to emerge? Psychology today is filled with insights into and controversies over the relationship of mind and matter, the self, and the larger world in working life (Csikszentmihalyi, 2003). A provocative new study of one hundred fifty scientists and business leaders lends credence to the notion that we, as humans, can presence the future and be an active agent in its co-creation (Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, & Flowers, 2004). But in the field of leadership and spirituality, this view of emergence is neither so controversial nor as provocative as it might otherwise seem. It follows from connecting deeply—at many levels of consciousness—to “the unseen order of things.”
Encounters led the Asian leaders to see, feel, and embrace a common humanity with the people of Asia. But there was for many a deeper connection as well to a force or field larger than themselves. Some call this karma or grace. Other terms are transcendence or connecting to universal consciousness. Such larger-than-life themes were palpable on the recent journey to Sri Lanka, where leaders offered service to people and villages ravaged by the tsunami. During one memorable experience the leaders sat together with villagers who had “lost everything.” One by one, village women told their stories, and the leaders bore witness to their trials and courage. A leader reflected on the impact: “We were all crying listening to their stories, but it brought them together, and it brought us together. We stood there with people we had met only one hour ago, hand in hand, in silence, tears pouring out our eyes in togetherness.”
During personal reflections long into the night and on a solo journey to a quiet place, the leaders’ sense of being a part of something larger than self was given voice. “For me, spirituality is about the interconnectedness between each and every one of us,” reflected one leader. Another said: “We are all souls whether we are born in one religious family or another. This goes beyond body, birth, nationality, color, caste, religion, culture, etc. The original nature of soul is love, peace, happiness, mercy, tolerance, and patience. That’s who we really are.”
LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP JOURNEYS
While learning journeys of this scale might be beyond the means or interests of many business leaders, the lessons from them are relevant to every organization or school that wants to foster the psycho-spiritual development of its leaders and also to the teachers, trainers, and coaches who might assist them.
Nature as Teacher
The journeys took the leaders to different landscapes and natural environments. As countless sages and poets remind us, nature is a rich milieu for connecting deeply to the self and the cosmos. On these journeys the experience of connecting to nature produced a feeling of deep ecology. This psycho-spiritual philosophy is founded on the notion that all life’s systems are interrelated and that anthropocentrism—human-centeredness—is a mistaken way of seeing things. Deep ecologists say that an ecocentric attitude is more consistent with the truth about the nature of life on earth. Arnie Naess, founder of the movement, contends that instead of identifying with our egos or immediate families, we can learn to identify with trees, animals, and plants, indeed the whole ecosphere.
The majestic mountains of Guilin, for example, led the leaders to reflect on their place in the cosmos. “This is not scenery,” said one of their teachers, pointing to a lush valley. “This brings us food. It gives us air. It gives us water. It gives us light. When we die, we become this,” as the sweep of his arm drew gazes to the magnificent setting in which the leaders were trekking. The impact of nature and the feeling of deep ecology were palpable for many. “One night in front of the campfire, I imagined that we were looked upon from a satellite. I saw a small campfire light in the middle of the earth. I felt how small we were and how small I was,” commented one leader. “Great nature raises people,” said another. “One can only reflect here with honesty and purity.”
Integrating Experiences
The Asian journeys were multilayered, multisensory experiences that engaged the head, heart, body, and spirit. What seems crucial is to give leaders the time, space, and resources to integrate these manifold experiences and themselves. Obviously, personal journaling, reflection, and sense making help. Thoughtful questioning and structured introspection are also useful (Kriger, 2005; Hawley, 1993).
Sometimes lessons on integration come from surprising places. In China, for example, the leaders practiced tai chi with a master. When one leader asked, “How does a master do tai chi?” he told them that a master must be aware of himself, his opponent, the situation around him, and then forget it all when fighting. This opened up deep conversation among the leaders about how to integrate consciousness of the self, other, and the world when taking action. The fact that the teacher, nearly eighty and revered around the world, did not yet consider himself a true master, provoked new appreciation of discipline, persistence, and humility for the leaders.
Service Learning
Finally, all of the journeys involved community service. The aim of visiting Asia was not simply for benchmarking or learning about the region. It was to cultivate a deep feeling and profound respect for neighbors. As one leader put it, “Unconditional love is the way to cultivate connectivity, as it bridges different communities, different human beings.” This is integral to what Erich Fromm (1956) calls the “art of loving.” Psychologists posit that just as seeing the world through another’s perspective helps people to grow beyond egocentrism, so empathizing with another is the antidote to human selfishness.
Community service teaches people about the world around them and about helping relationships. Many schools and some companies offer service learning programs. The journeys in Asia extended this to senior leaders and made it an important part of their development agenda (Ayas & Mirvis, 2005). While serving in communities, the leaders were asked to connect to the tacit rhythms of community life, be mindful of assumptions, be open to what they might experience, and thoughtfully reflect on the lessons for themselves and the business.
“I learned about the fundamental value of being human and of reaching out again and again,” said one leader about her service experience in Sri Lanka. “Not only did I reach out to my Sri Lankan friends but much more to my colleagues.” An expression of the depth of the lessons learned is captured by another leader:
All human beings, no matter how desperate and hopeless, first and foremost need to feel that there are other human beings who care enough to give them their own time, money, and spirit. In all their hopelessness, they seek to believe that there is a possibility for a better world. To feel their own will to live and to feel their own soul again, they need to be in communion with others; they do not want to be left alone to suffer. When we started working on the building sites, most local people were bystanders, watching without any spark in their eyes and without the energy to give a helping hand in their own recovery. But when we started sharing stories and took the time to deeply share their pain, when we listened to their fears and hopes, we suddenly connected. And when we sang songs and danced with the children, we knew there was hope for a better future.
It is important to note that the Asian leaders do not regard these journeys as a retreat, a rejuvenating time away from their business lives. As is evident from their reflections, community service helps them see how to do their business and serve the world better. It helped reframe the socioeconomic mission of the business. As the company president said in reporting his lessons from service: “It’s not business and the community, it’s business in the community.”
CULTIVATING A LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY
It is uncertain whether and how the leadership spirit developed through these journeys will be sustained in the Asian food corporation. No doubt the membership of the leadership team will change through personnel moves and turnover; and the team’s constancy of purpose may also be challenged by competitive pressures, business conditions, and the sheer enormity of its newly discovered mission. There are many signs, however, that leaders throughout the region have embraced the spirit of the journeys. To further internalize such aspirations, many of these Asian leaders have developed and articulated their philosophies about leadership and conveyed it to their people through their teacher-leader role (Tichy, 2002). Many have led journeys with their own country teams, journeys involving self-reflection, community service, and the like.
Dorothy Marcic (1997) makes love the central organizing principle for what she sees as five key management virtues. These virtues are evident as these leaders apply insights from their connections to the peoples of Asia. Said one: “In the context of the larger things in the world, I feel I can do a more fulfilling job. Something bold that I will be proud of, something that has the humanity that I have valued.”
Philip H. Mirvis is an organizational psychologist whose research and private practice concerns large-scale organizational change and the character of the workforce and workplace; he is also the author of eight books and a senior research fellow at the Boston College School of Management, Center for Corporate Citizenship.
Karen Ayas is a founding partner of the Ripples Group, specializing in large-scale organizational change and leadership development; teaches in the Rotterdam School of Management and at Babson College; is author of several books on change; and is currently coeditor of Reflections, published by the Society for Organizational Learning.
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