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Carol Funk, a long time contributor to the Seth Community, passed away on January 3rd. She was loved by many, and will be missed in the days ahead. We have posted a PDF file to honor Carol's memory and celebrate her life: 
Read this month's featured article -- a relevant message for conscious business practices -- 
Paul spoke at the 
Meet birds of a feather, explore conscious creation by visiting our list of workshops, conferences, and group sessions: Featured Article
Enlightened Business Leadership - What the World Needs Now
David A. Schwerin, Ph.D. (www.instituteforethicalawareness.org)
[This is the full text of an article that appeared, edited and in Chinese, in the Green Herald.]
“We are at the end of a difficult generation of business leadership.”
Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO, General Electric
Despite the recent economic crisis, the vast majority of business leaders make thoughtful, constructive contributions to society. Their valuable innovations and continuous efforts to produce and distribute goods and services more efficiently play a critical role in achieving higher standards of living. Most of their focus, however, is on improving their company’s brand and strengthening their company’s growth prospects. Largely absent are business leaders who are willing to look at the big picture and help formulate, promote and implement policies that are vital to the welfare of the planet.
Without a pragmatic, unifying voice from the business community, policy makers are frequently presented with the opposing views of competing interest groups, each group believing that their ideas are 100% right and the opposition’s 100% wrong. Missing in such an environment is a spirit of tolerance and cooperation that is essential to solve complex, divisive issues. Unable to find a position that is broadly acceptable, decision makers settle for superficial solutions which are ineffective or suboptimal. In addition, groups whose views are disregarded often become belligerent and resort to negative, destructive tactics that hinders the attainment of an equitable and sustainable prosperity.
This article identifies and describes four qualities that business leaders need to cultivate in order to improve the current economic climate and make the world a better place to live and work. A few business leaders who exhibit these traits, and thereby serve as role models, are highlighted under each of the four qualities.
Know yourself. In other words, discover all you can about your beliefs, values, priorities and purpose for living. This dictum was expressed in slightly different terms by Max Depree, former CEO of the Herman Miller office furniture company. According to Depree, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.” More specifically, which objectives are real, meaningful and enduring enough to be worthy of one’s time and effort? What goals can make a meaningful difference to a company’s employees, customers, investors, the community it serves and the eco-system upon which we all depend?
Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba, takes the need to know oneself seriously. According to an interview he gave to Green Herald Magazine, “many people are too busy walking to stop for a view of themselves.” He believes that a truly successful entrepreneur needs to develop the habit of introspection. Such contemplation helps a corporate leader determine the real purpose for which the company exists. Purpose, according to Ma, determines a company’s greatness and longevity. He believes that companies staffed by people with divergent views on purpose are doomed to fail. A company that is founded on a noble ideal and that creates value for the community is more important than its scale or profitability. Says Ma, “A company making little money is indolent and irresponsible, but companies driven by profit, are also valueless. Money making is not our goal; rather it is a result.”
The more thoroughly individuals know themselves the better they are at making impartial and objective decisions – an essential attribute of any successful leader. If a business leader is blinded by personal interest, resentment or jealousy, his or her assessments can not be objective. Andrew Pettigrew, professor of strategy and organization at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford believes that managers need to remain open and engage with people in order to understand the choices and evaluate significant trade-offs such as short-term vs. long-term and rational vs. emotional decisions. Leaders, therefore, need to be aware of their prejudices and biases. Our beliefs are based on assumptions, generalizations, distortions and misconceptions. These cognitive biases govern our perceptions of reality – how we understand the world – and need to be made conscious so we can analyze their accuracy before making decisions. In their book, Born to Believe, Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman list twenty-seven biases that individuals must recognize in order to understand themselves and the accuracy of their beliefs about the world. Because of space limitations, only ten of the biases are listed below. They are all well worth contemplating.
- Family bias – we accept information provided by family and friends without verifying its accuracy.
- Authoritarian bias – we tend to believe people with power and status without checking their sources.
- Attractiveness bias – taller, more attractive individuals are given greater credence because we seek what is aesthetically pleasing.
- Confirmation bias – we tend to emphasize information that supports our beliefs while ignoring contradictory ideas.
- Self-serving bias – we tend to maintain beliefs that benefit our interests and goals.
- In-group bias – we give preference and benefit of doubt to members of “our group.”
- Out-group bias – we reject or disparage beliefs of people outside “our group.”
- Perceptual bias – we assume our perceptions and beliefs reflect objective truths.
- Perseverance bias – the longer we maintain specific beliefs the more ingrained they become.
- Uncertainty bias – we prefer to believe or disbelieve rather than remain uncertain.
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