TRUMP v. CLINTON: Americans are Getting the Leadership they Deserve

Question: Who is staring back at America
when we look at ourselves in the mirror?
Answer: Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump

Following two BIG primary victories in New York, it now appears to be a foregone conclusion that the 2016 Presidential race will pit Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton.

Barring a federal indictment over her e-mail scandal (which will never happen under a President intent on seeing a Democrat succeed him in power for the sake of his own legacy), or an outright revolution in the Republican party (which would signal the end of the GOP as we know it), America has made its choice.

And you know what?  We the People are getting precisely what we collectively deserve.  

For good or ill, in a democracy the collective populace ultimately gets the leadership they either want or deserve—or both.  And when it gets bad, very few bother to look into the mirror and ask themselves how they may have been a part of the problem.  It is always considered to be the fault of the leader, even though the people themselves choose their leaders in a democracy.

If the Republican and Democratic Primary Election Cycles ended today, Americans' choice for Commander-in-Chief would be a decision between DONALD  TRUMP and HILLARY  CLINTON.

The former is a jejune jock whose vapidly vacuous ineptitude concerning serious policy issues is only trumped by his angry locker room braggadocio and profane vocabulary.

The latter, whose historical reputation with the truth is tenuous at best—and who is viewed by nearly two-thirds of the country as being generally dishonest—is currently under investigation by the FBI for her email shenanigans as Secretary of State.

Rationally minded individuals cannot help but ask themselves the question, "How did WE come to this point?

How did it get this BAD?"

The answer is quite simple: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both—on one level or another—are a reflection of a majority of Americans today.  As hard as it may be to look in the mirror and acknowledge the cold hard truth of the matter, the fact is that a better part of our population:

1. Is poorly educated in history, government, ethics, and serious policy issues
2. Generally embraces verbal profanity and crass behavior
3. Struggles with issues of honesty and morality themselves
4. Tends to justify whatever means are required to achieve their own selfish personal or ideological ends

That is why we are at this point.  And unfortunately, it may get worse before it gets better.  This means that we may very well be looking at either a Trump or Clinton administration through the year 2020 or even beyond.

Click HERE to read about the Dangers of a Trump Presidency, philosophically speaking.

Joseph F. Smith
1899-1964

Toward the end of World War II, my maternal grandfather, Joseph F. Smith—a professor and religious leader—said the following to an audience of University Students:

"We accuse leaders and we say the leaders have led us astray.  We pity the Germans for their disreputable leadership.  And, there are unquestionably a lot of good Germans.  But, let it be said that before people can be led, in the beginning they have got to be willing to be led.  And, I am a firm believer that any group of people get just about the leadership it deserves.  I am a firm believer that when in our own country statesmanship falls down, leadership is ineffective, it is due directly to the individuals in the United States who have allowed that leadership to come into power.  The peace of the world rests upon the individuals of the world."

President Theodore Roosevelt once said that in a democracy, "The quality of the individual citizen is supreme."

He is right!

If Americans really want to see authentic HOPE and CHANGE in America, the first step is to go look in the mirror and begin the agonizing, but oh so necessary process of deep self-examination and analysis that leads to personal change.  Again, in the words of Smith:

"Each of us must examine his conduct and he must determine what that conduct will be so that he may have freedom.  And each one of us has the right to choose.  Not only that, every one of us has the ability to choose, if he will but use it."  

Trying to change or influence organizations or structures before you have first purified and educated the minds and hearts of individuals that make them up—including YOUR OWN—is like trying to preserve a barrel of apples with can full of worms.

The first step is always to change yourself.  Freedom Focused exists to inspire others to want to change themselves, and then provide the education and tools required to make that change REAL.

After you have traveled a ways along the journey of self-purification, you will naturally begin to feel a desire to help, lift, serve, and influence others along the same positive pathways you yourself have traveled.  Smith gives some good advice about what to do when you get to this point, especially if you feel discouraged by the moral mayhem you observe all around you:

"Not infrequently you hear this: 'What can I do to help ... Here I am one lone individual.  I cannot have any influence.  I cannot do anything which will help.  I am powerless.'  That, of course, is just nonsense, for the peace [and welfare] of the world rests upon the collective individuals in the world; it does not rest upon nations; it rests upon the individuals in those nations.   

"Do not think for a moment that you can exert no influence because you are young or because you are few.  We have got to get away from the foolish notion that quantity is the important thing in influence.  You know you can go into [your college] laboratories ... and ... find that [a] very minute amount of particular substances can exert tremendous influence.  One individual courageously choosing his own conduct in face of all odds, doing right, can exert a tremendous influence."

Everything I have ever done in my efforts with Freedom Focused have been accomplished in the faith and hope that I, as one, lone, individual, can make a difference.  Sometimes I wonder a bit about the extent to which I actually am making a difference, especially when politicians, pundits, journalists, and just about everyone else is more interested in cleverly complaining about problems than they are in actually fixing them, or supporting those who are making good-faith efforts to do so.

Nevertheless, despite any discouragement that transpires along the way, I know that faith is about action while inaction is the personification of fear.  Because I have faith in myself and in the future of America, I ultimately have faith in Americans themselves, and thus I keep on keeping on in my own mission to make a difference.  

The Lincoln Memorial
Washington D.C.

It is true that we have collectively drifted—badly.  It is also true that we may have to face a crises on part with the greatest trials our nation has ever faced in the past in order to ensure a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.

Click HERE to read about How to Prepare for Coming Conflicts

But come what may, I believe that America has a bright future.  As fractured as we currently stand, and as suicidal as we may yet become, I do not believe we will ultimately pull the trigger on our divine destiny.  And according to Abraham Lincoln, this supposition bodes well for our future.

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? – Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! – All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the Earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." 

In the spirit and faith of a better future for our posterity, let us, in the words of Smith: "Choose so that every event that comes into our lives will be enriching so that we will be bigger than any event, come whatever calamity may.  We can so choose that it will not destroy us. ... We can have freedom each in his own sphere."

This article was inspired, in part, by an OUTSTANDING piece written yesterday for Fox News by syndicated columnist Cal Thomas.  Click HERE to access Thomas's article entitled: Why Donald Trump is Like Floor Wax.


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SAL Book: Self-Action Leadership Model Step 1 is Self-Education

Self-Action Leadership Model 

Stage 1: Pre-Construction  ~  Planning & Preparation

STEP 1: SELF-EDUCATION

In today's post, we begin the process of taking readers through the first Stage of the Self-Action Leadership Model (pre-construction).  Stage one of the SAL Model involves seven steps, all of which are metaphorical analogues to the first seven stages of building a skyscraper.  

“Formal education makes you a living; self-education makes you a legend.”

– Habeeb Akande

Just as a building company must have the necessary information, knowledge, and skills to properly build a skyscraper, education is a key component for effective life construction. This process of education is called self-education, because you are responsible for its attainment.

Successful self-action leaders don’t wait for the right teacher to come and teach them; they proactively seek out knowledge on their own, sometimes going to great lengths to find it.
 

One of the best self-educators in history was Abraham Lincoln. Born and raised in humble circumstances in the dense, rural backwoods of Kentucky and Indiana, Lincoln was not blessed with a quality formal education, so he created his own. He was known to travel many miles on foot to borrow a single book to read. Hungry for knowledge, young Abraham devoured all the knowledge he could possibly access. This homespun prairie lawyer and politician eventually educated himself right up into the highest echelon of public office.

Two other prominent examples of proactive self-education from the nineteenth century include Sequoyah, a Cherokee Indian responsible for creating a written alphabet for his people, and Frederick Douglass, who was a leading voice in the nineteenth century abolitionist movement, and the first Black man to be invited as a guest to the White House by a sitting U.S. President. I highly encourage studying the lives of these three remarkable men. I would start by reading Frederick Douglass’s famous personal narrative and then shopping around for credible biographies of Abraham Lincoln and Sequoyah.

Proactive self-action leaders spend a good portion of their time reading, writing, studying, listening to, and viewing, educational media. They ask questions, carefully observe their surroundings, and seek out information in whatever ways they can. In my case, there is no way to calculate the value of self-education in my life and career, but it has been an indispensable variable thereto, and has shaped every major success I’ve ever achieved.

Because you are responsible for the quality of your education, where you learn is secondary to what, why, and how well you learn. Whether you have opportunities to attend a top-rated university, a community college, or no college at all, you can choose to take responsibility for your own learning. With the presence of public libraries and the Internet, there is no need to make excuses about your lack of educational opportunities. No matter how hard it is for you to acquire knowledge in your current circumstances, chances are you still have far more access to information of all kinds than Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, or Sequoyah. As such, there is no need to make excuses about your lack of opportunities.

LEARNING TO LEARN

There are several different components of self-learning that you must focus on; education goes beyond the mere mental storage of facts. Understanding how you learn best (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic), [1] where to go for information, how to access it, and the importance of your attitude, work ethic, discipline, and commitment are key components of acquiring an outstanding education.

REPETITION AND ROTE-LEARNING

When I was young, someone taught me the great truism that, “repetition is the key to reception.” If you want to commit anything to your long-term memory, you must utilize rote learning. Like it or not, memorization is an important part of a good education, and despite how postmodern educators may try and spin it, there is a lot of material that must be deeply internalized through repetition and memorization in order to become a skilled critical thinker who is also culturally literate. For example, you may need to look up certain words in the dictionary several times before you truly own it in your long-term vocabulary. Moreover, even the presence of high-powered calculators on your phone can’t replace the value of knowing your multiplication table backwards and front. I am also a big believer that some books are worth reading more than once. I’ve read one book nearly 23 times cover-to-cover in my life, and I’m a smarter, wiser, and better person for having done so.

The purposeful memorization of important facts, quotes, and poems empowers you to draw strength and inspiration from others. It also strengthens your memory muscles and bolsters your credibility in situations where you must demonstrate your knowledge to, or teach, others.

Repetition and rote learning is a vital component of a quality education. Engaging these practices require discipline and hard work. As such, it is often what separates top tier learners and performers from average ones.

A PHONE CALL FROM DR. STEPHEN R. COVEY

On Christmas Eve, 2003, I received one of the most memorable phone calls of my life. The call was from Dr. Stephen R. Covey. He had kindly carved out a few minutes from his busy schedule in response to a letter I had sent him earlier that year. On that phone call, which lasted about 15 minutes, Dr. Covey encouraged me to read for at least two hours every day. He also encouraged me to read deeply and widely, including outside of my own interests. While I can’t claim to have read for two hours every day of my life, I have read a lot. Doing so has gotten me to where I am today. I am a rich man because of the treasures I have mined from books and stored in my mind and heart. Reading will always play a role in my ongoing self-education and personal training and development as a self-action leader.

Ongoing self-and other training refers to education beyond the classroom. Examples include online courses, live classes, workshops, mentorships, personal reading, research, educational media, thinking/pondering, making observations, asking questions, and traveling. Self-education and other trainings are not one-time pursuits; they are habits to cultivate throughout your life. Based on my own experience, I highly recommend Dr. Covey’s advice. If you can’t squeeze in two hours of reading a day, commit to one hour. If you can’t squeeze in one hour, commit to half-an-hour. In this day and age, so much knowledge is available to all of us through the miracles of public libraries and the Internet. Don’t be lazy. Don’t let these precious resources go unused.


[1] Visit www.howtolearn.com to take a FREE Learning Style Survey and discover what your primary learning style is (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic).

SAL Book: Creating Your World from the Inside-Out

LAW 6:

Long-term solutions to most of your problems are found inside, not outside, your world.

For the most part, the biggest problems you will face in your life will not be rooted in external difficulties; they will be rooted in your own deficiencies as a self-action leader.
There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Forces of nature, others’ choices, structural inequality, and numerous other variables can sometimes genuinely be at fault for your given situation or circumstance. [1] Bad things do happen to good people. But remember, even in unfair circumstances, you still maintain control over how you choose to respond. In the long run, your response is usually more important and influential than what actually happens to you. 

Your freedom to choose endows you with enormous personal power. Armed with this power, it is possible to transcend many external challenges—even those you thought were initially outside your sphere of influence. The lives of many great self-action leaders illustrate this truth. A few of my favorite examples include Mohandas Gandhi, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Oprah Winfrey. The lives of such individuals—and countless others—illuminate the penetrating truth spoken first by Plutarch and then Otto Rank, into which I have chosen to make a SAL Mantra:

SAL Mantra

What you achieve inwardly changes your outer reality.

The next chapter tells the story of a remarkable woman who demonstrated the tremendous power that can be accessed inside your world, regardless of the external challenges and realities of your life.


[1] Sixteen (16) of these self-leadership variables are specifically listed and addressed in BOOK THE FIRST, Chapter 16.

The Last Best Hope of Earth

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

– Mohandas Gandhi(1869-1948)

In 1979, Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize. When asked what individuals could do to promote world peace, she replied: “Go home and take care of your families.” That august sage of the Indian subcontinent understood the great truth that macro problems cannot be solved externally; they must be internally repaired. Our nation’s greatest problems begin at home, and our greatest problems at home begin inside the minds, hearts, and souls of individuals.

America as a whole is powerful and great because of individuals and families who are honest, hard working, and self-reliant. Conversely, America’s biggest problems are rooted in broken families, which result when individuals abdicate their familial and/or personal responsibilities. Fix broken individuals and broken families and you fix America. It's that simple; it is also that difficult.

“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.

I wanted to change the world, but I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.”

– Aldous Huxley(1894-1963)

If you want to change the world, change yourself. America – or any other nation – is only as great as the citizens that comprise her. That includes you, me, and everyone else. When a system’s micro components are strengthened, the macro system itself is refined and fortified.

A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

This book calls for a national revitalization of American strength and character. Self-Action Leadership provides a means of constructing and maintaining American Greatness. We’ll leave the strengthening of other areas—military, political, economic, agricultural, energy, and spiritual-religious—to experts in those fields. Freedom Focused suggests a 3-point educational-based formula for resurrecting American greatness in the twenty-first century. 

1. Peace through Strength

2. Strength through Freedom & Unity

3. Freedom & Unity through Integrity to True Principles

PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH

America must remain the strongest nation on Earth—economically, militarily, educationally, and morally—for the safety and prosperity of We the People as well as all other nations. If America does not lead, someone else—who does not place the same value on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—will, to the detriment of all mankind.

I admire John F. Kennedy. I think that in some ways, he deserves to be ranked among our nation’s best and strongest leaders. While I do not respect some of the ways in which he chose to conduct his personal and political life, I do admire the strength of his leadership during his brief stint as our Commander-in-Chief. This admiration springs largely from the philosophy of peace through strength that Kennedy championed.

As a young man in the late 1930s, Kennedy spent time in London, England, where he observed the workings of a well intentioned, but ultimately weak, British government. Led by then Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, Kennedy watched as Britain infamously made “peace” with Adolf Hitler only a few short years before Nazi bombs were raining down on English cities. These vicious, unprovoked air raids killed 40,000 people in London alone during the Battle of Britain in 1940; so much for peace. A budding world leader, Kennedy learned early in his life that evil exists and that evil leaders do not respect weakness—militarily or otherwise.

Later, as President, embracing the paradigm of peace through strength empowered Kennedy to successfully steer the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis without starting a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. President Kennedy’s successful handling of this crisis ranks among the finest foreign policy achievements in our country’s history. His actions were bold, audacious, and courageous. More importantly, they were rooted in the principle that peace is best achieved not through acquiescence and capitulation, but through undeviating courage backed by hard power.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. … Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. … We dare not tempt [our enemies] with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.[1]

The mantra, peace through strength, dates back to the ancient Roman Emperor, Hadrian, who built his famous wall in Britain as an eponymous symbol of a robust foreign policy. Our nation’s first great general, George Washington, echoed Hadrian’s wisdom when he said: “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.”

Ever eager to prevent World War III with the Soviet Union, most post-World War II Presidents enthusiastically embraced this ideology as the basis of American foreign policy. Resurrecting Hadrian’s famous phrase as a political mantra empowered Ronald Reagan to defeat Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Presidential Election. After winning the Presidency, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush after him, constructed America’s foreign policy around the principle of peace through strength. Today, Reagan and Bush Sr. are widely credited as instrumental authors of the peace with the Soviet Union that marked the end of the twentieth century.

When I was born in 1979, the United States was still fighting the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This fact was not lost on my young friends and me. As little boys growing up in the 1980s, our imaginary playtime battles virtually always pitted us against either “The Germans” or “The Russians.” There was something noble—even on the playground—in fighting to defeat forces (i.e. fascism and communism) that sought to undermine personal liberty, freedom, opportunity, safety, and prosperity.

When I was 10 years old, something unthinkably wonderful happened; the Berlin Wall fell. Two years later, in a seeming instant, the Soviet Union’s evil communistic empire had been relegated to where it belonged—the pages of history. The United States remained the world’s lone superpower, and it seemed as though nothing could stop the proliferation of liberty and freedom backed by American opportunity, prosperity, and power. American virtues were further displayed in the dramatic successes of our coalition forces against the evil tyrant Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War.

The following year, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and the rest of the original Dream Team personified American excellence on the Olympic basketball courts of Barcelona, Spain. The apex of American Greatness had peaked in an unprecedented display of athletic artistry and dominance. As the decade wore on, the synergistic fruits of self-government, the rule of law, the Protestant Work Ethic, Christian brotherly kindness and generosity, and free markets flourished as never before for the whole world to see—and seek to replicate. America’s present power and future preeminence seemed assured. I was privileged to grow up a U.S. citizen in the midst of this, her greatest period of collective prosperity.

Unfortunately, this power and prosperity has not continued unabated. A decade-and-a-half into the twenty-first century, we now find ourselves increasingly unsure of our identity and role in a world that has grown increasingly complicated, hostile, and dangerous. In the midst of these growing complexities and hazards, the world needs a strong America more than ever. The United States must lead! To do so, we must curb our individual and collective slide down the slippery slope of diminished power and influence. Likewise, we must reverse the troubling trends of individual indiscipline, dishonesty, selfishness, and lack of self-reliance.

The dam that will stop this increasingly unchecked flow of decay and decline will be built with metaphorical concrete and steel poured and forged in many different fields. Our focus is education—the dam’s foundation. The dam itself must be built by experts and leaders in other vital arenas, including, business, energy, agriculture, religion, politics, and government. Leaders and performers in journalism, pop culture, art, literature, music, athletics, and every other field must also play key roles in restoring American greatness. Such roles are played best when actors, actresses, artists, musicians, and athletes seek to influence their audiences to embrace True Principles instead of fleeing from them.

And to educators everywhere… it is time to stop teaching students that America is bad, or that America ought to become like other countries in the world. Such statements are false, and accompanying pathways are dangerous—for all of us, including for those who think our nation is evil, and seek its diminishment or destruction. Aside from outright destroying us, our enemies abroad love nothing more than to see voices and efforts from within erode the very strength that can defend us from attack, thus aiding them in their nefarious designs.

STRENGTH THROUGH FREEDOM AND UNITY

“United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do. For we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds, and split asunder. Let [us] explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."

– President John F. Kennedy

(1917-1963)

If we are to remain the strongest nation on Earth, we must put an end to the bitter antagonism and petty quibbling that has overtaken so much of our land in recent decades. We must unite in a collective embrace of the personal and organizational principles that made our nation great in the first place.

We call upon Americans everywhere to re-commit to the True Principles that successfully created, and has thus far sustained, the greatest nation in the history of the Planet. Let us individually and collectively forsake the pseudo-principles and petty practices that only deepen our current divisions. We won’t give up on America. We hope you won’t either.

However admirable a goal restoring American unity and greatness may be, our present reality paints a picture whose dark lines of division overshadow our present pastels of progress. Amazingly, secession is increasingly talked about in some corners of our nation. The problem with a secession paradigm—no matter how well intentioned—is that it only breeds more secession. Had the South won the Civil War, it would have only been a matter of time before the Southeastern States wished to separate from the Southwestern States (or something similar), and on it would go until all factions were drowned in a sea of anarchy.

Permanent answers to serious problems can never be found in separating ourselves (running away) from problems. The answer to America’s problems is not, nor will it ever be, secession. The only, true answer lies in collective commitments to face up to and solve whatever problems we do face through individual commitments to True Principles. Come what may in the future, we maintain an unfailing faith in the destiny of the United States of America, and believe that destiny involves unification now and indefinitely into the future. 

Like Abraham Lincoln before me, “I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided.”[2] Lincoln spoke these words three years before the outbreak of the Civil War. In many ways, our nation is already fighting a Cold Civil War. Whatever may yet occur before our own “Berlin Walls” are broken down may prove austere, if not dire, but let us not throw in the towel.

We do not know, nor can we predict what this country will have to pass through before it makes it to the other side of the terrible gulf that presently bisects, trisects, and poly-sects us, but we at Freedom Focused remain optimistic about the long-term future of America. Barring an unforeseen worldwide calamity, we believe America’s greatest days are not only ahead of her, but may very well be just around the next corner in the near future. Be it sooner or later, however, America will rise from the ashes of her recent moral, educational, military, and political decline; America will lead the world once more. America will once again be a strong, vibrant, nation of optimists where the dismal din and damage of critics, cynics, pessimists, and evil doers is kept to the shadows and back-alleys where it belongs.

In the spirit of this optimism, we call on all Americans to embrace a vision of authentic unity that can only be achieved through conscience-guided Self-Action Leadership. We do not have to agree on every particular to live together peaceably. Unity can occur amidst a sea of great diversity, but only if conscience, character, compassion, tolerance, and integrity collectively carry the day. Diversity can create the seedbed of our greatest progress, but only if True Principles are adhered to by all voices at the table. This book has been written in a good-faith effort to identify and articulate those principles that are not unique to any one religion, ideology, or even one political party, but are rooted in natural law itself. Let us reinvigorate the vision of one of America's most prominent leaders, who, just over one decade ago boldly proclaimed:

There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. ... [Let us not] participate in a politics of cynicism, ... [but] in a politics of hope [3].

These words, spoken by Senator Barack Obama in 2004, stirred hope for unity in the hearts and minds of many throughout our land. His vision influenced millions to elect him President, not once, but twice. Unfortunately, the divisions Mr. Obama sought to bridge have only deepened during his own Presidency. Nevertheless, I believe in elements of his original vision. If we are willing to unite in a collective embrace of True Principles, we can once again be the kind of nation that rose up in unity to defeat the most powerful Empire on Earth to earn our liberty 224 years ago--that same nation that overcame a bloody Civil War and severed the chains of human bondage 150 years ago, that defeated Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan 70 years ago, that put a man on the moon 45 years ago, and that in recent generations has been, in very deed, the greatest nation the world has ever seen. Let us rise up and choose once again to become a “United States of America.”

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, I hope and pray we may all hang together in our quest to seek out and honor True Principles in a quest for individual freedom and collective strength and unity. If we fail to do so, I fear many of us will hang separately; and the noose of natural law will prove ghastly in its effects on the personal destiny of each victim that chooses abdication over self-sovereignty.

FREEDOM & UNITY THROUGH INTEGRITY TO TRUE PRINCIPLES

The only way to achieve strength through freedom & unity is to seek for that unity through integrity to True Principles. The purpose of this book is to identify and articulate those Principles that are rooted not in partisan ideology or personal preference, but in natural law. Our aim, therefore, is not to promote our own brand of goodness and rightness, but to articulate what goodness and rightness actually ARE. In the words of Emerson, “He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness.”[4] Therefore, let the principles throughout this book be submitted to a candid world[5] with Emerson’s conviction that “nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of [true] principles.”[6]

We invite you to join us in this movement to stop being part of the problem, and start being part of solution to the many and varied issues that plague our families, communities, organizations, states, nations, and the world-at-large. Join us in a twenty-first century revival dedicated to once again making the United States of America “The last best hope of earth.”[7]

Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We … will be remembered in spite of ourselves. … The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. … We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. … The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless.[8]

SAL Mantra

Peace through Strength
Strength through Freedom
Freedom & Unity through Integrity to True Principles

Next Blog Post ~ Monday, December 8, 2014; Chapter 12: Things that Enslave

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[1] Excerpts from President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961.

[2]From Abraham Lincoln’s House Divided Speech delivered in Springfield, IL on June 16, 1858.

[3] Excerpts from Senator Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, MA.

[4]Emerson, R.W. Self-Reliance. In Ziff, L., Ed. (1985). Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays. New York, NY: Penguin.  Page 178.  Italics added. 

[5]Phrase from the Declaration of Independence.  

[6]Emerson, R.W. Self-Reliance. In Ziff, L., Ed. (1985). Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays. New York, NY: Penguin.  Page 203.

[7] From Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress delivered December 1, 1862.

[8] Ibid. 

SAL Book: Ask Not

Self-Action Leadership is about taking action to lead yourself. Ironically, however, it is not ultimately about YOU. SAL is much bigger than the individual. Self-aggrandizement is not the goal of SAL, nor is self-improvement its endgame. While Existential Growth is vitally important, it is merely a means to accomplishing SAL’s real end, which is to serve other people.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others.’”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

(1929 - 1968)

The more you personally learn and grow, the more you will be able to contribute meaningfully to your family, school, business, community, state, nation, and world.

THE QUEST FOR NATIONAL EXCELLENCE & UNITY: REANIMATING THE AMERICAN DREAM

I have always been inspired by the Olympic Games, especially the Summer Olympics. My earliest Olympic memory was watching Mary Lou Retton win a gymnastics gold medal in the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. I was just shy of my fifth birthday, but I can still recall her famous performance on the vault, and the All-American smile that followed her perfect landing.

Watching subsequent Olympics further fueled my passion for competitive sport, goal setting, and the quest for national excellence and unity. To this day, there is nothing quite like watching an American athlete stand atop the first-place medal stand, receive his or her gold medal and flowers, and then hear the regal refrains of the Star-Spangled Banner reverberate gloriously as the athlete sings the stirring lyrics of Francis Scott Key’s inspired anthem. As a boy, I often envisioned myself someday standing atop the winner’s podium to receive a gold medal and sing patriotically before a worldwide audience.

The closest I ever came to competing in the Olympics was racing in the 1500-meters final at the 2003 Junior College National Championships in Levelland, Texas. I took second-to-last place in the race, but just to have qualified for that elite field was an honor and thrill I will always cherish. Though my natural talent never rose to the Olympic standard, I relished each chance I got to place my hand over my heart and sing the national anthem prior to an athletic competition in which I played or raced. Olympic champion or not, I was always proud to be an American athlete who strived to honor my country through personal excellence.

There is value and power in patriotism because it allows individuals to dedicate themselves to a cause greater than themselves. As an American, I hope you will choose to take pride in your citizenship, if for no other reason than the hope of making your country a better place through the exercise of your own Self-Action Leadership. Good-faith displays of citizen patriotism can be an honorable means of developing and then celebrating noble character and high achievement. 

As important as individualism is to Americans, our strength is also rooted in our collectivity. Unfortunately, a growing lack of unity is paralleling America’s present decline. Like Greece, Rome, Spain, France, Germany, Britain, and the Soviet Union before her, our land has begun to fall prey to humanity’s perpetual propensity for moral entropy, and the political, military, and cultural enfeeblement that inevitably follows.

This is sad because it doesn’t have to be the case. Our moral, educational, political, military, and cultural deterioration are not the results of external foes; they are the natural consequences of a collective character crisis. If the United States is ever conquered, it will not be from an external foe. It will result from an internal spoilage. Abraham Lincoln, who presciently spoke the following words more than two decades before the onset of the Civil War, understood this:

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? – Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! – All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the Earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."[1]

MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATION I LOVE

I have great respect for the United States military, including all the volunteers who serve or have served the Stars and Stripes in uniform. As a professional seminar facilitator, I have had the honor of training soldiers and civilians in all five branches of the U.S. Military (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard). It is always a privilege to work with these fine men and women, who dedicate their careers—and sometimes their safety and lives—to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, and the values and virtues that undergird our nation's greatness.

I greatly admire the tremendous contributions made by U.S. servicemen and women throughout history. Some of my own ancestors and relatives have served in uniform, and in several cases seen combat in past conflicts. My fifth great-grandfather served in General George Washington’s Continental Army during our Nation’s founding conflict, the American Revolution. During World War II, my grandfather – an army radioman – landed on Utah Beach following the Allies’ D-Day attack. My own Dad was two years old before he met his father in late 1945, following his honorable discharge from the Army following V-E Day. One of my uncles flew helicopters in Vietnam, and another is a former F-15 Eagle fighter pilot and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. My cousin, a former dentist in the Army, served in Iraq, and one of my best friends (also a dentist) served in the Air Force. On two separate occasions, I considered serving myself. The first time I investigated the opportunity, I learned I was ineligible because I was taking medication to treat OCD and depression—a categorical disqualifier of any applicant at the time. The second time, when I was no longer on medication, another professional opportunity replaced any would-be military consideration.

Although I have never had a chance to serve my country in uniform, I have always been eager to know what I could do to serve out of uniform. This desire is fueled not only by my admiration for those who have served, or are serving, but by my recognition of the tremendous liberties and endless blessings I enjoy as a result of my U.S. Citizenship. America has done so much for me. The real question is: what have I done for America?

In 1961, in his Inauguration Address, President John F. Kennedy uttered the now immortal words:

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Since I first learned about my remarkable heritage as an American, I have been asking myself this question. One of my goals in writing this book is to give something back to the country that has done so much for me. This nation has made it possible for me to have dreams, pursue them freely, and eventually accomplish them.

It is payback time.

While this book may be a paltry contribution compared with others who have dedicated entire careers—or even their lives—to the defense and betterment of the USA, a literary contribution is something I can do; therefore, it is what I will do. In writing this book, I have – to the best of my ability – attempted to articulate and explain the principles and practices I know can reanimate the American Dream for anyone willing to learn and apply them.

The American Dream has become a reality for my wife and me, and it can become a reality for you, your children, and your children’s children. But remember that the American Dream is just that—a dream—unless you are willing to learn about it and then seek after it with all you’ve got. It will not simply walk up and knock on your door. Prosperity is not a right guaranteed by citizenship; it is a privilege earned through Self-Action Leadership. Therefore, in the end, it doesn’t really matter who your parents are or aren’t, or how much money, opportunity, or love they did or didn’t bequeath to you. The true American Dream is no respecter of persons. It is available to all; but it must be chased with energy and ambition if it is to be caught and realized.

Are you up to, and ready for, the chase? If so, READ ON…


[1] Excerpt from Lincoln’s speech entitled, The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions, given at the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois; January 27, 1838.  For a full transcript of the speech, visit URL: http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/lyceum.htm

SAL Book: Final Prefacing Material

Dear Readers:

In preparation for Monday’s launch of the official online serial publication of Self-Action Leadership, I present the final pre-launch prefacing material. After reviewing this information, I invite you to encourage a family member or friend to sign up to receive the Freedom Focused blog in preparation for Monday’s launch.

-Dr. JJ

Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal & Professional Freedom

A Comprehensive Personal Leadership Training Resource for Governments, Businesses, Schools, Homes, & Individuals

By: 

Jordan R. Jensen, Ed.D

Table of Contents

BOOK THE FIRST: An Introduction to Self-Action Leadership

Chapter 1: What Sets This Book Apart from Other Self-Help Reads?

Chapter 2: The Freedom to Change

Chapter 3: The Price of Change

Chapter 4: Your Responsibility to Change

Chapter 5: The Age of Authenticism

Chapter 6: The Cause of Freedom

Chapter 7: Freedom Focused

Chapter 8: Ask Not

Chapter 9: The Essential Role of Education

Chapter 10: The Last Best Hope of Earth

Chapter 11: Things That Enslave

Chapter 12: Emancipation through Self-Action Leadership

Chapter 13: The Challenge & Quest to Become

Chapter 14: A Moral Imperative

Chapter 15: The Power of Personal Experience

Chapter 16: SAL Variables

BOOK THE SECOND: The Self-Action Leadership Theory

Chapter 1: A Theory of Existential Space Travel

Chapter 2: You and I are a Lot Alike

Chapter 3: My Story

Chapter 4: Your World

Chapter 5: Freedom & Consequences

Chapter 6: Taking Complete Responsibility

Chapter 7: Nat’s Story

Chapter 8: Paying The Price Over a Lifetime

Chapter 9: Leadership by Example

Chapter 10: Natural Laws of Acquisition

Chapter 11: Jason’s Story

Chapter 12: Creating Your World from the Inside Out

Chapter 13: Felicia’s Story

Chapter 14: Existential Growth is Difficult

Chapter 15: OCD is Hell

Chapter 16: The Rocky Road of Romance

Chapter 17: Existential Gravity

Chapter 18: Pete’s Story

Chapter 19: Your Existential Rocket Ship

Chapter 20: Inner Growth Creates Outer Transformation

Chapter 21: Famous Stories of Self-Leadership

Chapter 22: Right & Wrong are Real

Chapter 23: The Way Things Really Are

Chapter 24: The Power of Beliefs & Experiences

Chapter 25: Truth’s Greatest Mysteries

Chapter 26: Making a Commitment to Reality

Chapter 27: Finding Purpose & Meaning in Your Life

Chapter 28: Declaring War on the Enemy Within

BOOK THE THIRD: The Self-Action Leadership Model

Chapter 1: The Seeds of Self-Help

Chapter 2: A Construction Metaphor

Chapter 3: SAL Model Part I

Chapter 4: Drafting Existential Blueprints

Chapter 5: SAL Model Part II

Chapter 6: SAL Model Part III

Chapter 7: SAL Model Part IV

Chapter 8: Tips for Implementing the SAL Model into Your Life

BOOK THE FOURTH: A Pedagogy of Personal Leadership

Chapter 1: The Great Education Gap of Our Time

Chapter 2: Personal Leadership in the Classroom: Real Life Example 1

Chapter 3: Personal Leadership in the Classroom: Real Life Example 2

Chapter 4: Personal Leadership in the Classroom: Real Life Example 3

Chapter 5: Personal Leadership in the Classroom: Real Life Example 4

Chapter 6: Personal Leadership in the Classroom: Real Life Example 5

Chapter 7: Pedagogies of Personal Leadership: A General Template

BOOK THE LAST: You Are Sovereign

Chapter 1: Now What?

Chapter 2: Opening Yourself up to Grace

Chapter 3: Dream Big

Chapter 4: You are Sovereign

Chapter 5: The Art of Being Alive

Chapter 6: A Key to Everything

Afterword by Dr. David G. Anthony

Appendix A: The SAL Theory & Model in Brief

Appendix B: Books for Further Reading

Appendix C: SAL Mantras, Quotes, & Poems

Appendix D: SAL Task Tracker Template

About Freedom Focused

Freedom Focused Declaration of Independence

Freedom Focused Corporate Constitution

About the Author

Authors Note

This book is an abridged revision of the author’s doctoral dissertation, and other papers he wrote as a graduate student. To review Dr. Jensen’s full dissertation—including additional narrative detail and scholarly literature reviews of self-leadership, autoethnography, action research, and obsessive-compulsive disorder—visit our website at www.freedomfocused.com and click on Books & Free Downloads.

Throughout the book, the terms SAL and SAL-Philosophy are used to refer to Self-Action Leadership (SAL) and its accompanying philosophical underpinnings (SAL-Philosophy). SAL-Philosophy is essentially shorthand notation for all premises and paradigms contained in the SAL Theory & Model.

SAL

Shorthand term for Self-Action Leadership.

SAL-Philosophy

The philosophical premises undergirding the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model. 

How This Book is Organized

This book is divided into FIVE parts. BOOK the FIRST sets the stage by providing a Freedom Focused introduction to Self-Action Leadership. BOOK the SECOND contains the SAL theory. BOOK the THIRD contains the SAL model. BOOK the FOURTH is dedicated to academic, business, cultural, and familial educators. It introduces a Pedagogy of Personal Leadership for use in classrooms (literal and figurative) everywhere. BOOK the FIFTH offers concluding remarks on SAL Philosophy and further fleshes out the concept of self-sovereignty.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Today, I am honored and grateful to share some special tributes to THREE authors and thinkers whose work proved FOUNDATIONAL to the 13-year development of the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model.

John Donne

The English poet John Donne (1572-1631) once wrote, "No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main."

So it is with you, and so it has been with me. No one is an island. Despite any talents or abilities I may possess, the development of the SAL Theory & Model would have been impossible without the aid of countless other men and women who have profoundly influenced my personal journey. From Shakespeare & Chaucer to Abraham Lincoln & Martin Luther King, Jr.; from Emerson & Longfellow to C.S. Lewis & M. Scott Peck; from Abigail Adams & Florence Nightingale to Confucius & Jesus Christ; from brothers, sisters, and parents to uncles, aunts, cousins, and ancestors, my journey has been touched on every side by men, women, and Divine Beings, whose examples became a "lamp unto my feet." (Psalm 119:105).

Sir Isaac Newton

One of the first things I share in my book, Self-Action Leadership, are three tributes to individuals whose life's journey and work has been particularly important and foundational to mine. These individuals are: Hyrum W. Smith, Stephen R. Covey, and Charles C. Manz.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

– Isaac Newton

Tribute #1

Hyrum W. Smith

Co-Founder of FranklinCovey Company & Author of: What Matters Most

Hyrum W. Smith is a Co-Founder of FranklinCovey Company and an originator of the world famous Franklin Day Planning System. Brilliant in business, sales, and public speaking, Smith is one of the World’s premier authorities on time management and personal development.

If it weren’t for Hyrum Smith, I may not be here today – literally. To explain why, let’s turn back the clock more than a half-century.

In 1962, Smith crossed the Atlantic to serve a two-year, full-time, voluntary mission in the British Isles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. About a year later, my Father, unknown to Smith at the time, traveled to England for the same purpose. During their concurrent service in England, Hyrum Wayne Smith and Rex Buckley Jensen served together as missionary companions on three different occasions in three different locations during three different calendar years. Meant to be? Coincidence? Either way, when my father returned home to attend Brigham Young University in 1965, Hyrum introduced him to his little sister, Pauline. The two were married in 1966. Fourteen years later, I was born – the sixth of seven children.

I was eight years old when I first attended one of “Uncle Wayne’s” time management seminars and obtained my first Franklin Planner. It was a pivotal event in my young life, and planted early seeds that would eventually spring forth into my choice of profession.

Hyrum is a magnanimous man whose personal generosity has reached down to bless my life on many occasions. He also has a good sense of when to say no. For example, he wisely declined my request for financial backing when I first incorporated my company over a decade ago. Knowing his own achievements were earned through self-reliance and successfully passing through the “School of hard knocks,” he knew giving me money would do more harm than good in the long run. How right he was!

It was a bitter pill to swallow at a time in my life when I was being rejected at every turn and everything seemed to be going wrong. This was good, too, because Life prescribes a brimming bottle of “Bitter pills” to everyone, and those who seek to grow must choose to humbly consume, dutifully digest, and honorably transcend each one. It does no good to kick against the pricks.

Hyrum’s discretion, borne of experience-based wisdom, trumped my well intentioned, but ultimately naïve zealotry borne of youthful inexperience. And now I am glad of it. In the words of Garth Brooks: “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

Instead of money, Hyrum gave me endorsement quotes and good advice. He even invited me down to his Ranch for a weekend so I could pick his brain. He gave me everything I really needed while wisely withholding what he knew would provide only short-term benefits—and might even harm me in the long run.

Hyrum’s decision provided a golden opportunity to further apply the very principles and practices I ardently yearned to share with the world. Rather than retard my long-term progress, his wise declination actually accelerated it by lending greater credibility to the message of Self-Action Leadership, and bolstering my ethos as its messenger. Looking back, I am grateful for his judicious response to my shortsighted request. It was a key “course” I had to take and pass in my own education in Self-Action Leadership and adversity. I am a better man for having taken that course, and am grateful to my professor for loving me enough to hurt me in the short run in order to help me in the long run.

Hyrum’s life has blessed and inspired my own journey in countless ways. From my earliest memories of him, I always had a deep sense that he was a great man; and indeed he is. Thank you, Uncle Hyrum, for everything you have given and taught me—knowingly or unknowingly. Your life’s example has helped to shape my life’s story.

I am grateful for an uncle and father – whose friendship was a seedling of my mortal existence – who chose to teach me correct principles and then let me govern myself. Such liberty and opportunity, empowered by the lessons gleaned from their respective precepts and examples, is something I will always cherish. It is, for me, a proof of the purview of Providence upon this project from inception to completion.

Tribute #2

Stephen R. Covey

Co-Founder of FranklinCovey Company & Author of the World-Famous: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

While Hyrum and I share a blood relation, I may actually have more in common with FranklinCovey’s other Co-Founder—Dr. Stephen R. Covey. This is because my native skill set – like Covey’s – is rooted more in philosophy, pedagogy, administration, and composition, than in sales, marketing, business, or profit. While I begrudgingly accept my duties in the latter, I welcome and embrace my opportunities in the former. In my heart of hearts, I am – and always will be – a pedagogue, philosopher, and poet before I am a businessman or entrepreneur.

Many capable self-help authorities helped to pioneer the modern self-help movement (i.e. Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill, et al.). What will Covey’s place be in the pantheon of self-help gurus? The answer is subject to history and opinion. In my view, Carnegie is its father, and Covey its more recent godfather.

I first read, listened to, and studied Dr. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in 2001 as a college freshman. I read the book to fulfill a requirement in a summer leadership course at Brigham Young University. It profoundly impacted my life.

The lesser-known subtitle of Covey’s classic is: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. As I hungrily consumed the 7 Habits material, a growing realization of the personal power I possessed to change, as well as to consciously design and direct my own life, resonated deeply in my mind, heart, and spirit. I took particular interest in Habits One, Two, and Three, which focus on personal leadership, at a time in my life when I desperately needed to lead myself through a series of deep and difficult personal obstacles involving romantic relationships and mental illness.

Covey’s words opened my mind to my own personal deficiencies and inadequacies while simultaneously illuminating my potential and enlivening my desire to overcome them, and then teach others to do the same. Quite simply, his work changed my life, and led directly to the writing of this book. Before I had even finished the book, I began sensing that one of my life’s primary callings was to write a comprehensive analogue to the 7 Habits that could serve future generations as ably as Covey’s work had served previous ones.

It was an audacious ambition, and an incredibly rewarding goal. Once my mind and heart had been touched by the power and profundity of the principles Covey organized, and his unique capacity to articulate them, I became completely consumed with the meaningfulness and importance of promoting a Pedagogy of Personal Leadership throughout the world. There was no going back. I have been on an almost obsessive mission ever since (OCD has not been all bad for me).

Aided by Covey’s words, the Inspiration of the Ages, and the driving, and sometimes naïve, ambitions of youth, I zealously went to work. Though fraught with disappointment, failure, rejection, financial duress, and disillusionment all along the way, this difficult journey – now in its 13th year – has simultaneously produced countless blessings, insights, moments of euphoria, and extraordinary personal growth.

This 13-year effort is now finished – or perhaps begun, depending how you look at it. Were Stephen alive to review this present manuscript, I hope he would find it to his satisfaction, and choose to endorse it this time around.

After more than a decade of putting Stephen’s teachings to work in my life on a daily basis, I continue to vouch unequivocally for their clarity, concision, cogency, and veracity. As I have worked with thousands of business professionals in hundreds of audiences throughout the English Speaking World, I have quoted him and taught his material more than any other author or teacher. My seminar attendees rarely leave one of my seminars, regardless of the topic, without a clear understanding of my passion for the work of Stephen R. Covey, and a growing understanding of his work.

Dr. Covey passed away in 2012. In the years since I first studied the 7 Habits, I have sometimes wished I could have spent more time with him personally. Despite two chance meetings – neither of which he would likely recall – and a generous phone call on Christmas Eve, 2003, in response to a letter I had written to my hero desiring to meet him, I did not know him personally beyond second-degree familial connections. Nevertheless, the ripples of his work have penetrated—and continue to reverberate powerfully throughout—the depths of my mind, heart, and soul in ways that proved providentially foundational to this work.

Another vital professor in my existential education, Stephen—like Hyrum—also taught me some invaluable, albeit just as painful, life lessons by saying “No.” I share the experience of one such rejection in this book. Like the lessons Hyrum taught me, I would not, in hindsight, change anything even if I had the power to do so. I am even more thankful for what Hyrum and Stephen didn’t give me as I am for what they did give me.

Such experiences taught me that many of life’s greatest blessings arise not from tangible assistance, but from intangible inspiration derived from the simple, but powerful, moral force of one’s example, teachings, and legacy. Instead of giving me a few fish I would have quickly consumed, Hyrum and Stephen both – and mostly without knowing it – taught me how to fish. This book displays the results of my “catches” thus far. Whatever its weaknesses, I am proud of the harvest, and grateful to my teachers. I hope they will be proud of it also.

I am, and always will be, profoundly grateful to Stephen for providing a vital substructure (theoretically and culturally speaking) to the SAL theory and model. I publicly acknowledge the impact of his life’s example on mine as well as the profundity of his life’s work – a work I believe he continues in another realm. It is my explicit intention for Self-Action Leadership to serve the World in coming decades as capably as the 7 Habits did throughout the turn of the last century.

Tribute #3

Charles C. Manz

Father of the Self-Leadership field in the Academe, and Professor at the University of Massachusetts

Dr. Charles C. Manz is the Father of the self-leadership field in the Academe. His pioneering academic publications on the subject date back to 1983, when I was just 4-years old.

It is interesting to me that it took until the mid 1980s for universities to begin addressing this vital subject as a topic of legitimate scholarly inquiry. The credit for this worthy legitimization – as well as for much of its subsequent proliferation – goes to Dr. Manz.

Addressing self-leadership at the doctoral level would have been much more difficult without the pioneering efforts of “Chuck” and his capable colleagues around the country (i.e. Chris Neck, Arizona State University, Hank Sims, Jr., University of Maryland, and Jeff Houghton, West Virginia University).

The work of these scholars has provided a vital academic foundation to the superstructure of new ideas I put forth with the SAL Theory & Model. Charles Manz is a highly accomplished, distinguished, and capable scholar and educator. He is also a man of integrity and a generous human being. I will forever be indebted to him for his foundational academic work in the field of self-leadership. I appreciate so very much all he has accomplished, and am deeply honored he chose to endorse this work.