Affichage des articles dont le libellé est M. Scott Peck. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est M. Scott Peck. Afficher tous les articles

Our Vision & Mission at Freedom Focused


Sir Winston Churchill
Two-time Prime Minister of Great Britain

Winston Churchill Inspires a Young Man, Who, in-turn, Motivates a Mere Boy


At the tail end of his long life, Winston Churchill gave a speech in England.  In his address, he told his listeners how he had always been motivated by a compelling desire to make a difference in the world.

Sitting in Churchill's audience that day was a young American missionary in his early twenties named Hyrum W. Smith.

Deeply touched by the aging Churchill's words, Smith realized he felt the same burning desire to "make a difference."

Nearly 20 years later, Smith served as one of the key originators of the world famous Franklin Day Planning system.  Ten years after that, Smith's company, FranklinQuest, went public on the New York Stock Exchange.  In 1997, FranklinQuest acquired the Covey Leadership Center to form the world famous training company, FranklinCovey.    


Hyrum W. Smith
Co-Founder of FranklinCovey
While in England, Hyrum Smith met my Dad, who was also in Britain doing missionary work.  Later, after both had returned to the U.S. to attend college, Hyrum introduced my Dad to his little sister.  Romance blossomed, and in 1966, Rex Jensen married Pauline Smith.  Thirteen years later, I was born.

Just a few short years later, in 1983, Uncle Hyrum started the Franklin Institute.  Age age eight, I attended my first Franklin Day Planning seminar -- taught by Hyrum himself.

At ages 12 and 14, I worked as a manual laborer on Hyrum's Southwestern desert ranch.  From this obscure vantage point, I observed my uncle summit a significant pinnacle of success as one of the greatest time management and personal development gurus in the world.

Concurrently, I began to recognize with increased clarity that I possessed the same deep desire that had driven both Sir Winston and Hyrum.  This desire was further enflamed by a relatively unremarkable incident that occurred one day at Hyrum's ranch home in 1992 -- the same year FranklinQuest went public on the NYSE.    

One Sunday afternoon at the ranch, we ranch hands were eating Sunday dinner with the Smith family.  Hyrum was home for the weekend.  At the conclusion of a delicious taco dinner (the Smith's Sunday tradition), Hyrum elevated his powerful orator's voice several decibels to make an announcement everyone could hear, whereby he proclaimed: "All right everybody, I'm offering five dollars to anyone who will do the dishes."

Without blinking or thinking twice about the work involved or whether the amount was worth the time investment, I quickly volunteered before anyone else, to which Hyrum approvingly replied, "Jordan, you are an entrepreneur; you will be a wealthy man someday."  I was only 12 years old, but this experience left a lasting impression on me.  

Dr. Jordan R. Jensen
Founder & CEO of Freedom Focused
I doubt Hyrum remembers this exchange, or that he even thought much about it five seconds after he said it.  Nevertheless, that simple statement has deeply resonated within my being throughout intervening years.  I suppose that in a sense, it became something akin to Hyrum's own "Churchill" moment, where one great man unknowingly passes a torch to a young boy who has plenty of potential and ample "fire in the belly."

Becoming wealthy for wealth's sake is not a primary motivator for me.  Making a difference, however, and leaving a positive legacy emblazoned in what I believe is the noblest career ambition of all (education), has been an incessant -- even an obsessive -- driving force in my life the past two-and-a-half decades.  As such, it was my potential to make a difference, not merely to become wealthy, that really burned in my bosom that day at the Ranch when Hyrum spoke out loud about my possibilities.

Despite this and other powerful life influences along the way, it took me several more years to gain clarity about specifically how I intended to "make a difference" in the world.  But by the year 2003, I had a pretty clear vision of my how.  Ever since that time, I have been on a MISSION to actualize that VISION.

Today's blog post shares the vision and mission of Freedom Focused, both of which are anchored firmly in the principles set forth in the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model.

I invite anyone who believes in the importance of Leadership, Character, and Life-Skill Education to seriously read this article, and then share it with your personal and professional networks.   




Our Vision at Freedom Focused


What is a vision?  Simply stated, it is a clear picture of what the future looks like.  What does the future look like to us at Freedom Focused?

Let's begin with a story...

The widely read M. Scott Peck, M.D., (of The Road Less Traveled fame) once wrote about his relationship with his Grandfather.  His memories of this relationship consisted mostly of a monthly visit to his grandparent's home in New York that included three double-feature shows at the movie-house.  While going to-and-from these cinematic excursions, Peck's Granddad would often garnish their conversations by sprinkling in some of the wise old proverbs.  For example: "'Don't cross your bridges until you've come to them,'" or, "'Don't put all your eggs in one basket.'" 

In Peck's own words, his Grandfather "was not a particularly smart man, and his speech was seldom more than a series of cliches."  Despite this, it was evident to Peck that his Grandpa loved him by virtue of all the time he was willing to spend with him, and in time, the old fellow's words ended up making a real difference in his life.  As Peck explains:
"It was on the walks with my grandfather, back and forth to the double features, that I was able not only to hear but to digest and absorb his proverbs, and their wisdom has stood me in very good stead over these years."  
As he reflected over the simple wisdom he gleaned from these very basic lessons learned from his grandfather, Peck lamented the loss of the old proverbs in today's educational processes (especially public education).  He further opines:
"I've often thought that it would be saving if we could develop some program of mental health education in our public schools ... [and] I hope someone will start instituting such a program [and] I hope it will be done soon.  For as my grandfather would have said, "'A stitch in time saves nine.'" (italics added) [1]
Years ago, I was in Eastern Canada on a small little plane flying to teach a seminar somewhere in New Brunswick.  It was during my flight that I first read these words.  As I did so, my heart was filled with a deep impression that I was that someone that Peck was talking about, or at very least, I was one of them.  Since then, I have been even more invigorated in my efforts to realize this hope held by Peck--and countless others throughout the last three generations.

The troubled period of time in America that began in the 1960s, and has been labeled historically as the "Postmodern Period," has been marked by dramatic departures from traditional educational approaches that focused as much effort on teaching and modeling principles of leadership, character, and life-skills as they do on 'reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic (and technological science).

Click HERE to learn more about postmodernists and the postmodern period.

Click HERE to learn more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM that has begun to eclipse postmodernism in the 21st century.    

1858-1919

The Quality of the Individual Citizen is Supreme


In 1910, shortly after leaving office, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a famous address at a University in Paris, France (The Sorbonne).  In this speech, Roosevelt proclaimed that, "The quality of the individual citizen is supreme" when it comes to building strong, self-reliant, and collectively prosperous republics.  In this address, Roosevelt taught that:
"Under other forms of government, under the rule of one man or very few men, the quality of the leaders is all-important. ... But with ... us [as Americans] the case is different.  With ... us .. in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average woman, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional cries which call for heroic virtues.  The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed.  The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation.  Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high; and the average cannot be kept high unless the standard of the leaders is very much higher."

Roosevelt went on to identify how to develop the kind of "quality citizens" of which he spoke.  His answer?  Education!  Again, in his own words:
"Let those who have, keep, [and] let those who have not, strive to attain, a high standard of cultivation and scholarship (education).  Yet let us remember that these stand second to certain other things.  There is need of a sound body, and even more of a sound mind.  But above mind and above body stands character -- the sum of those qualities which we mean when we speak of a man's force and courage, of his good faith and sense of honor.  ... Education must contain much besides book-learning in order to be really good.  We must ever remember that no keenness and subtleness of intellect, no polish, no cleverness, in any way make up for the lack of the great solid qualities.  Self-restraint, self mastery, common sense, the power of accepting individual responsibility and yet of acting in conjunction with others, courage and resolution -- these are the qualities which mark a masterful people.  Without them no people can control itself, or save itself from being controlled from the outside. ... I pay all homage to intellect and to elaborate and specialized training of the intellect; and yet I know ... that more important still are the commonplace, every-day qualities and virtues."
At Freedom Focused, we share President Roosevelt's vision of a robust educational culture that embraces a concrete commitment to skillfully teaching and effectively modeling the weightier matters of leadership, character, and life-skill education in conjunction with typical core curricula.

As such, our vision of the future is that of a nation where many, if not most schools, explicitly offer -- and even require -- students to take courses in subjects such as: 

* Self-leadership, self-reliance, & self-control
* Emotional intelligence
* Interpersonal relationship management
* Personal financial management
* Mental health
* Character development 
* Leadership
* Life skills
* Positive Mental Attitude
* Persistence and Determination
* Endurance

You know exactly what I am talking about -- all of the things students really need to learn and develop if they are going to be authentically successful over the long run -- in conjunction with core academic competencies that are already taught.  

When I published my first book in 2005 (a personal leadership guide for high school and college students), an esteemed leadership guru named John H. "Jack" Zenger was kind enough to provide the following endorsement quote for my work:
"The old paradigm of separating core academic curriculum from leadership, character, and life-skill education in America's schools is gradually beginning to shift.  The time is coming when classes in leadership will be equally as important as those in mathematics, biology, or English; and from a career standpoint, possibly more important."
At Freedom Focused, our vision of the future is a society where the "shift" spoken of by Dr. Zenger has become a reality, with cultural mores and educational paradigms widely embracing explicit instruction in leadership, character, and life-skill education.

Click HERE to view Dr. Jordan Jensen's groundbreaking speech entitled, A Twenty-First Century Vision of Education in America.  



The Mission Behind the Vision


At Freedom Focused, we comprehend the reality that this vision will be as difficult to realize as it is easy to conceptualize.  As such, where does one begin to tackle a task so monumental and daunting?

I have been asking myself this very question in great earnest since 2003.  In the intervening 12 years, I have spent literally tens of thousands of hours immersed in reading, pondering, studying, researching, collaborating, and writing (including doctoral level work), to develop "A CONCRETE PLAN" that can serve as a fundamental starting point for anyone and everyone interested and willing to engage processes that get us closer to realizing the grand vision of a character and leadership-based educational curriculum and culture.

This plan is outlined in the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model, both of which serve as universal constructs aimed at providing a firm foundation for any and all character-centric or leadership-based educational initiatives of any kind in any organization.   

What does the SAL Theory & Model offer to YOU?  In short, it means that whether you are a Civil Leader, Business Owner or Manager, Educational Administrator, Teacher, or Coach, Parent, or Individual seeking a curriculum or textbook offering a holistic range of fundamentals, it is now available.

In the words of Dr. Christopher P. Neck, an esteemed Associate Professor of Management at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University:
"Jensen has accomplished a task that is very difficult for any author to achieve, and that is to produce a single text that is highly relevant to multiple audiences at the same time. Because of the universal applicability of basic self-leadership principles, his message is germane ... to civic leaders, business professionals and workers of all kinds, educators, students, athletes, parents, and children—in short, to everyone. Indeed, I do believe that virtually anyone who reads this book will be able to take something away from it that will improve his or her life in a significant way. As an author myself, I am amazed at Jordan’s achievement in writing one book that carries the potential to reach such a wide variety of people—and that is the beauty of it."
Click HERE to read Dr. Neck's entire Foreword to Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom  

The Self-Action Leadership (SAL) Theory


The Self-Action Leadership Theory, or just "SAL Theory," for short, is rooted in an atmospheric and astronomical metaphor that compares an individual to a rocket ship seeking to travel throughout the dangerous and challenging levels of Earth's atmosphere into Outer Space and beyond.  The SAL Theory draws distinct and concrete analogues from the different layers of the atmosphere to the various "Stages" of personal growth we all must face and endure throughout our life's journey if we are to successfully realize our fullest potential both personally and professionally.  

The SAL Theory explains why other people often say and do things to make your journey more difficult, and what you can do to rise above the negative pressure exerted from these "Existential Crabs."  Furthermore, it prepares you mentally for difficulties that inevitably lie ahead of you as you traverse future adversity.  Perhaps most importantly, it awakens your awareness of the full extent of your personal and professional potential, opening up vistas of possibility you never dreamed existed.  

The 9 Levels (Layers) of Earth's Atmosphere.


The 9 Levels (Stages) of the SAL Theory


The Self-Action Leadership (SAL) Model


With the philosophical strength that comes with an understanding of the SAL Theory in tow, you are prepared to begin the incredibly exciting and engaging journey of designing and then constructing your own life and career as a self-action leader.

Rooted explicitly in a construction metaphor, the SAL Model shows you how to be the architect, builder, inspector, trouble-shooter, and fine-tuner of the metaphorical structure that is your own life and career.  

The Four Stages and 21 Sub-Steps in the Construction Process


The 4 Stages and 21 Sub-Steps in Building a Successful Life & Career

The excitement of the possibilities held in the SAL Model are perhaps best captured by the poet, George Washington Doane, who once eloquently penned:

Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy
With his marble block before him,
And his eyes lit up with a smile of joy,
As an angel-dream passed o’er him.

He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;
With heaven’s own light the sculpture shone,—
He’d caught that angel-vision.

Children of life are we, as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God’s command,
Our life-dream shall pass o’er us.

If we carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own,—
Our lives, that angel-vision. [2]

What are YOU going to do with the "Marble Block" of your own Existence?


My enthusiasm for creating something magnificent out of the "Marble Block" of my own life began in part while attending my Uncle Hyrum's time management seminar at age eight.  It grew steadily from that point on.  It was further bolstered when, as a freshman in college, I drafted a "Personal Leadership Statement" in a leadership course I was taking at Brigham Young University.

Utilizing the Genius of the Founding Fathers to
Realize Personal & Professional Success in YOUR Own Life
Unlike most assignments or projects you do in school and then quickly throw away and forget about, I kept working on my Personal Leadership Statement.

Over time, this statement of personal vision, mission, values, goals, etc., evolved into my "Self-Constitution," and "Self-Declaration of Independence," two vital documents that a self-action leader drafts during one's study of the SAL Model, and which have become key cornerstones of my present confidence and success.

Click HERE to watch Dr. Jensen teach the principle of writing a Self-Declaration of Independence and Self-Constitution.  


The idea that I could become an "architect of [my own] fate" (Longfellow) has always intrigued me deeply.  It has motivated me to write down careful "blueprints" for my life in the form of a Self-Declaration of Independence and Self-Constitution.  More importantly, these documents have served as a concrete impetus for successfully carrying out my plans.  Even though my life's journey remains imperfect, having carefully laid out plans (mission) complete with a clear and compelling goal (vision), has dramatically empowered my capacity to realize both.

The Builders [1]

By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

ALL are architects of Fate,
   Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
   Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Nothing useless is, or low;
   Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
   Strengthens and supports the rest.

For the structure that we raise,
   Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
   Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fashion these;
   Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
   Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of Art,
   Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
   For the Gods see everywhere.

Let us do our work as well,
   Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
   Beautiful, entire, and clean.

Else our lives are incomplete,
   Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
   Stumble as they seek to climb.

Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
   With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
   Shall to-morrow find its place.

Thus alone can we attain
   To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
   And one boundless reach of sky.


“Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, [and] doubters do not achieve.”

~ Bryan Hinckley


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


The SAL Theory and Model are both outlined in great detail in my new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.  

Lee Ellis, Founder & President of Leadership Freedom is a former Colonel in the United States Air Force.  Colonel Ellis spent five years as a prisoner of war in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War.  Ellis provides the following endorsement of this comprehensive work on self-leadership:
"In Self Action Leadership, Jordan Jensen has assembled a leadership masterpiece anchored steadfastly in true principles of philosophy and human behavior. In wonderfully written prose, Jordan reminds us of who we are and what it takes to live and lead with honor. Moreover, he challenges us to live up to the high calling of being human beings with a special mission on this Earth. To accomplish our mission, we must do two major things: grow in our sense of personal responsibility, and in turn, care for others and help them to do the same. I grappled with these two areas in a primal way during more than five years as a POW in Vietnam. Now I’m thrilled to see how Jordan has laid out SAL by using the vehicle of story to illuminate his own, unique journey of transcending adversity. In so doing, he has inspired us all to become who we are capable of becoming. Bravo!”
Colonel Lee Ellis (retired)
U.S. Air Force, Vietnam POW Survivor (Hanoi Hilton), author of Leading With Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton, and President & Founder of Leadership Freedom LLC and FreedomStar Media


The express PURPOSE of this book is to serve as either a primary or supplementary textbook in any educational setting where leaders and teachers intend to teach any subjects related to leadership, character, and life-skill education.


In other words, all of you who share our vision, but feel frustrated because there don't seem to be any textbooks to serve your desired purposes, can now rest easy.  The textbook has been written!  All that is needed now are leaders and teachers to read it, become trained on it, and then use it to teach their own students/employees/constituents.

What will this book do for you and those you teach?  in the words of Dr. Christopher P. Neck:
"This book will do much more than just teach you about Self-Action Leadership. It will cause you to think deeply about how you are currently living your own life, and how you could better lead yourself to achieve the results you most desire in the long-run. More importantly, Jensen’s compelling story and courageous personal example, combined with his percipient ability to effectively teach the corresponding self-leadership principles, will inspire and motivate you to actually do something about what you will learn. In the process, it might even touch emotions in your heart that will move you to joy and tears. It takes a talented writer to do all of these things, so I know you’ll enjoy reading this book. More importantly, I know you’ll come away a wiser person with an increased motivation to begin taking action to realize your own Self-Action Leadership potential, an opportunity we can all take full advantage of, if only we will."

Click HERE to read what other experts are saying about Jordan Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership.

If you are a leader or teacher reading this article right now, you may be asking yourself, "How exactly do I use it?"  That is a good question, and  I will answer it in the next section.

How to Use the Self-Action Leadership Textbook


There are three basic steps to using the Self-Action Leadership Textbook for a given audience.  Depending on who you are and what your situation entails, you may choose to take one or more of the following steps, depending on your group or organization's individual needs.


STEP ONE: Read the Book YOURSELF


There is great danger in lazily judging a book by its cover, or by a blogpost--even if that blogpost seems really comprehensive (as I hope this one does).

There are over 700 pages in the SAL book.  If you don't actually take the time to read it for yourself, you will know very little about what is actually contained therein.  You will remain "in the dark" with regards to the mountains of golden educational nuggets you could be sharing with your audience and teaching to your employees/students.

We also encourage you to complete the SAL Master Challenge contained inside the book.  The SAL Master Challenge consists of 25 specific assignments that accompany your study of the material.

Experienced teachers and administrators may have already completed personal development homework analogous to the SAL Master Challenge.  If so, you may choose to focus your efforts on immediately challenging your employees or students to undertake the challenge and then supporting them as they work through this work-intensive and time-consuming, but wildly rewarding process.

Click HERE to download the SAL Master Challenge Requirements

Click HERE to download the 25 SAL Master Challenge Assignments/Exercises

STEP TWO: Get professionally trained on the SAL Theory & Model


While you will surely mine many wonderful nuggets of insight from reading and studying the book yourself, you will derive much additional benefit from being professionally trained on the SAL Theory and Model from Dr. Jordan Jensen himself.  Doing so allows you to both learn from and tap into the mind and heart of the educator who painstakingly developed the material himself--over the course of more than a decade of reading, researching, pondering, collaborating, and writing.

Click HERE to view the Self-Action Leadership Training Overview and Consider Seminar Options

STEP THREE: Imbed SAL concepts into your organizational culture through rote learning and continual training over time.    


Once you have read the book and been professionally trained, we strongly encourage you to continue to teach and reiterate the principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model to ALL of your employees and students (IN-HOUSE) in an effort to create an organizational culture over time that both understands and embraces the concepts contained in the SAL Theory & Model -- including the all-important concept of EXISTENTIAL GROWTH (holistic personal growth spanning the spiritual, mental, moral, physical, emotional, and social realms of each of our natures).

One of the most vital "Old Proverbs" to use Dr. Peck's terminology, is: "You get out of something what you put into it."  I have invested 12 years of my life to ensure the veracity and efficacy of the SAL Theory & Model, as well as to guarantee the quality of the corresponding training material.  Likewise, the return that YOU and your students/employees get out of the material will be commensurate to the time and effort you invest therein.

To maximize the value of the material, you must be willing to commit to interweaving the concepts into everything your organization does.  For those so willing, the results will be astronomically astounding.  I know because I have tested it out in the laboratory of my own life, career, and relationships, and the results have exceeded even my very high expectations.  As a result, my personal, professional, and relational lives are all in a highly desirable position -- with the best yet to come.  And the cool thing is that there is nothing inherently special about me or anyone else at Freedom Focused; but everything is special about SAL Principles.  As such, you and your colleagues, employees, and/or students will likewise reap growth and a myriad of other benefits commensurate to your desire and willingness to work hard to learn and apply the same principles.


To buy Jordan's Book, Self-Action Leadership, Click HERE.


To bring a SAL Seminar Training to your organization or school today, call 832-618-5451.   




To learn more about Freedom Focused and our Vision and Mission, visit:


www.freedomfocused.com



Click HERE to view Dr. Jordan Jensen's Complete 1-hour Self-Action Leadership Seminar for FREE

Click HERE to view Dr. Jordan Jensen's groundbreaking speech entitled, A Twenty-First Century Vision of Education in America.


NoteFreedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation.  As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures.  We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.

Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."

Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen.




Notes:

[1] Peck, M.S. (1993). Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Toward Spiritual Growth. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Pages 141-144.
[2] Doane, G.W. (1920). Life Sculpture. In R.J. Cook, Ed., One-Hundred and one Famous Poems: With a Prose Supplement. (Google Books version). Chicago, IL: The Cable Company. Page 136.
[3] Longfellow, H.W. The Day is Done, reprinted from The Poetical Works of Longfellow (1912). Henry Frowde, Oxford University    Press. Page 186.
    
  

SAL Book: Self-Action Leadership Theory (Part 3)

Review an explanation of the Self-Action Leadership Theory and its metaphorical analogy to space travel HERE.

Review the explanatory information on the first four levels of the SAL theory HERE.

LEVEL 5: THE POLISHING STAGE


The Polishing Stage corresponds to the ionosphere, where the dazzling aurora borealis and aurora australis (Northern & Southern Lights) occur. For those who make it past the painful challenges of the Refining Stage, the views in the Polishing Stage are are spectacular—and “sorely welcome.”[1] While passing through the adversarial depths of the Refining Stage, you may question whether it is worth it to keep striving. This vacillation of purpose occurs not only because the Refining Stage is so difficult, but because it can also last a long time. I have personally spent more than half of my life in the Refining Stage. At times, the pain of the refining process in my life proved horrifically excruciating, and often seemed like it would never end.

By the time you arrive at the Polishing Stage, you discover by degrees that all your efforts and sacrifices were worth it many times over. While I shudder to think about “doing it all over again,” (I thank God I don’t have to), I can say without reservation that I am incredibly glad I chose to successfully endure. Life looks very different from the “far side” of the Refining Stage than it does from the “near side.” I have come to learn that in some respects, life doesn’t even begin until after you’ve entered the Polishing Stage. Such a vantage point clarifies the tragedy of an individual’s decision to quit short of the goal of transcending the Refining Stage.

“I wouldn’t give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity; I would give my right arm for the simplicity on the far side of complexity.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935)


Moving from the Refining Stage to the Polishing Stage is like advancing from the mesosphere to the ionosphere. In the Polishing Stage, successes usually come more quickly than they did before. After all the heartache you faced in the Refining Stage, this may initially be a welcomed change. However, new opportunities come with new challenges, so your entrance into the Polishing Stage is not a cue for idleness or rest, but a chance to exercise your growing capacity that has been so beautifully refined in previous stages.[2]

“The reward which life holds out for work is not idleness nor rest, nor immunity from work, but increased capacity, GREATER DIFFICULTIES, MORE WORK.”
– Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)


Having significantly matured as a self-action leader, you can now take joy in doing more with yourself and your surroundings. It is now time to begin “polishing” the skills that have been refined.

The Refining Stage does more than merely test your character; it forges it. Once a steel sword has been removed from the refiner’s fire, it cools and eventually hardens. It is now ready to be polished. Likewise, your own mettle has been forged in the fires of the Refining Stage, and now has a chance to cool off and harden into consciously chosen traits of character, which can now be polished to shine ever brighter in your personal decisions and interactions with other people. This stage offers you the opportunity to take skills, attributes, character traits, and talents to the next level by adding a degree of polish that the Refining Stage alone cannot produce. This polish comes through further practice and the acquisition of additional knowledge.

By the time you arrive at the Polishing Stage, your character and integrity will have developed great strength. This does not, however, mean you are immune from future trials, nor does it guarantee you will never digress backwards to earlier stages. While this stage doesn’t preclude you from experiencing hardship, you have become a self-action leader that will likely weather future storms with dignity and poise. As a result, future adversity will actually have the effect of polishing you up rather than grinding you down.

A measure of financial security (not to be confused with financial independence) will typically accompany your entrance into the Polishing Stage. This means you no longer rely on anyone for your temporal subsistence. You likely also have an emergency fund to cover all expenses for three to twelve months, and have started saving for retirement. Moreover, you have acquired enough knowledge and developed your skills sufficiently to successfully absorb and rebound from a job layoff or other temporary financial setback. At this point in your existential development, you have purged toxic relationships in your life, and you are secure enough to laugh off detractors, naysayers, and other Existential Crabs. This feeling of being “at home” in your own skin, and satisfied and happy with yourself and your life, is a precious—and well earned—commodity of the Polishing Stage.

As you work to increase your knowledge and sharpen (polish) your skills, your life’s purpose becomes increasingly clear and illuminated. You have begun to comprehend who you really are, why you are here in this world, and where you are going in your life. You are preparing yourself to enter the next level – Actualization – on your ongoing journey to Self-Transcendence.

A fascinating component of the Polishing Stage is the presence and actions of Serendipity, which show up in powerful ways to clean up a host of residual challenges, stress, suffering, financial issues, or burnout that may linger from the crucibles recently passed through in the Refining Stage. This may explain why many who rise to this stage or beyond often exclaim humbly that they did so “only by the grace of God.”

In truth, these persons are, of themselves, among the smartest, strongest, and most savvy people on Earth. Because they are also wise, they understand they can’t legitimately claim sole responsibility for their successes. They recognize—and acknowledge—the enormous physical and metaphysical help they received all along the way. While Serendipity plays an active role in all stages of your Existential Growth, it is usually the most active (and ironically undetected), in the Refining Stage, and then most apparent in the Polishing Stage and beyond, where you may see for the first time, the enormous footprint that Serendipity has had in your life all along—and especially during your life’s most difficult tempests.

LEVEL 6: THE ACTUALIZATION STAGE


Just as man-made satellites and spaceships begin to orbit the Earth in the thermosphere, graduating from the Polishing Stage into the Actualization Stage launches you into metaphorical “orbit” as a self-action leader. This “arrival” does not signal the end of your journey, or of adversity. It does, however, mean you will have to burn less fuel to maintain the same level of performance in the future. In this regard, life does become easier once you have “entered orbit.”

Once you have entered into your own personal “orbit” in the Actualization Stage, the chances of digressing back to former stages is unlikely because your refining trials have strengthened and matured your character and integrity.

All human beings who come to this Earth have a purpose. At Freedom Focused, we believe this purpose, generally speaking, is to become self-actualized, and then help others do the same. Self-actualization looks a little different for each person, based on your own unique disposition, personality, desires, and talents. The process of becoming self-actualized is, metaphorically speaking, akin to boarding a train, and not just any train, but the unique existential train that life intends for you to board based on your unique potential for growth, achievement, and contribution.

Boarding this metaphorical train is not an easy endeavor in the traditional sense. You cannot merely buy a ticket and board at your leisure because your train makes no station stops. It stops for no one, not even for its intended occupant—YOU. Hence, you must catch your train while it is already charging down its tracks at full speed. To succeed in doing so, you must become well acquainted with how your train works. You must also develop the speed, strength, and agility required to catch it as it zooms by. No one boards one’s train on his or her first attempt. For most of us, many attempts are required. Your initial failures will result in all kinds of scrapes, bruises, and perhaps even dislocated or broken bones. Failing to board your train at each attempt will hurt, sometimes badly so. In fact, the only thing that can possibly hurt more than trying to board your train is suffering the pain of regret at having forfeited your opportunity to do so.

To succeed at boarding your train, you must repeatedly “pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.” It is an exhilarating, but terribly challenging, endeavor fraught with seemingly endless frustration – and sometimes discouragement, bitterness, and regret. There may even be times when you choose to turn your back to your train and stop trying to board it for a while. You may even begin denying that your train exists at all, and deceive yourself that moseying along through the prairie grass in an ox-drawn wagon is really preferable to a magnificent train ride anyway. But for those who endure the trials of boarding their trains, the ride is truly “out of this world.” Aside from being full of creature comforts and other personal and professional benefits, finally catching your train earns you a first-class suite whereby you will be able to comfortably reside while simultaneously teaching and helping others to catch their train (become self-actualized). Catching your train is a tremendously significant event in your life because as long as you choose to stay on the train, all tracks eventually lead to the highest levels of Existential Growth (Self-Transcendence and the Creation Stage).

Level six, the Actualization Stage, is an analogue to Abraham Maslow, self-actualization, which “refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely…the desire to become…everything that one is capable of becoming.”[3] More than merely becoming what you are capable of becoming, SAL actualization refers to your “making it” personally and professionally. It is marked by a clear realization of who you are, and what your purpose in life is. It represents a quasi-mastery of all principles and practices elucidated in the SAL theory and model. Still a long ways from perfection, you have nonetheless reached a high level of both understanding and application. Having become a person of great capacity and integrity, you have also begun to exert increasing levels of influence among others who seek the Existential Growth you have already achieved.

The Actualization Stage is likened to the thermosphere, where satellites and space stations orbit. They orbit in the thermosphere to obtain knowledge about outer space as well as to transmit information back-and-forth to Earth. Similarly, if you have reached the Actualization Stage and desire further Existential Growth, your focus shifts increasingly away from yourself towards helping those at lower levels rise in their Existential Growth.

Persons entering this stage possess high levels of personal integrity and moral character. They are proactive, emotionally intelligent and resilient, and possess an extraordinary capacity to respond maturely to a variety of people and situations. Although it might seem that these people all look alike, in fact, quite the opposite is true. The individuality of the SAL-Actualized person is more pronounced than at any preceding level. As C.S. Lewis once put it, “How monstrously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been: how gloriously different are the saints.”[4] M. Scott Peck put it similarly:

If one ever has the good fortune to meet a living saint, one will have then met someone absolutely unique. Though their visions may be remarkably similar, the personhood of saints is remarkably different. This is because they have become utterly themselves. God creates each soul differently, so that when all the mud is finally cleared away, His light will shine through it in a beautiful, colorful, totally new pattern.”[5]

In lower levels of X-Growth, insecure self-leaders often equate individualism and originality with marked deviations from traditional mores surrounding one’s choice of fashion, cosmetics, vernacular, and social milieu—and the stranger the better. In reality, such actions have little – if any – connection to one’s true identity and potential, to which they are virtually blind—and are typically undertaken to mask devastating insecurities with habits and accouterments which blaspheme the name of authentic originality. Conversely, the rich inner lives of authentic self-action leaders may appear modest and non-descript on the outside. Their tremendous inner security precludes the need to “make a statement” or otherwise attract unnecessary attention to their outer appearance.

Professionally speaking, you have developed natural talents and practiced skills and are rightly referred to as an expert. Because everyone is unique, SAL Actualization will look different from person-to-person. This is another way that SAL Actualization mirrors Maslow’s Self-Actualization. “In one individual [actualization] may take the form of the desire to be an ideal mother, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventions.[6]

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could be someone else? By the time you become self-actualized, such wishes, borne of poor self-esteem, will have vanished from your life. Self-actualized persons sincerely like who they have become. As a result, insecurities, diffidence, jealousy, and covetousness will have almost entirely evaporated from your internal world. You no longer see the world through a mindset of scarcity, but a paradigm of abundance.[7] Your new mentality engenders genuine appreciation for, and satisfaction in, the growth and achievements of others. You may even find yourself beginning to take more joy and satisfaction in the accomplishments of others than you do in your own successes. Knowing that everyone possesses the same existential worth, and therefore Existential Potential, there is no need to compare yourself to others any longer. The sense of inferiority or superiority toward others no longer troubles you. Your own inner peace and maturity makes it irrelevant; at this point, competing with other self-action leaders seems a silly pursuit. Your only authentic goal is to continue to be the best YOU of which you are capable.

Actualization as a self-action leader is a significant touchstone along your journey to Self-Transcendence and beyond; it is a considerable personal achievement. In a sense, it is the only level where you can legitimately claim to have arrived. As such, it represents less a stage and more an accomplishment, or milestone. It also represents an enormously important decision point in your life, where you decide whether you will take it easy and live for yourself, or dedicate your life to helping others join you in becoming SAL-Actualized. If you choose to settle down on Easy Street and live for yourself, you will remain at level six, or (more likely) digress back to lower levels. If you opt to dedicate your life to helping others progress to the Actualization Stage and beyond, you simultaneously choose to advance to the next stage: the Leadership Stage.

Although level six represents a huge “arrival” in your Existential Growth, it is not the highest level you can attain. If you seek further growth, this level becomes a preparatory stage where you ready yourself to lead others to achieve the same Existential Growth you attained. Regardless what you have become or accomplished in the past, the Leadership Stage is where you will begin to make your life’s most meaningful and important contributions. In this sense, life – or at least your new life – is just beginning in the Leadership Stage.

LEVEL 7: THE LEADERSHIP STAGE


The Leadership Stage is likened to the Exosphere, the top layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. It is also the thickest layer. The distinction between the Exosphere and Outer Space is slight. In this layer, the Earth’s atmosphere eventually fades entirely, preceding an astronaut’s entrance into deep Outer Space. The gravitational pull of the Earth is almost non-existent in the Exosphere. Likewise, the tugs and pulls of Existential Gravity are typically much slighter than in lower levels—so much so that highly developed leaders may not notice it at all. Moreover, Existential Crabs are virtually extinct. It’s not that they don’t exist, but only extremely crazy crabs are foolish enough to even try messing with you at this point, and those who try are typically marginalized and even scorned. The vast majority of X-crabs are too intimidated and frightened to even open their mouths in your presence because the metaphysical emanations of your leadership influence repel and shut them up. It is often comical to watch a X-crab try and take on a true Leader. It simply doesn’t have any palpable effect, and the crab ends up looking like bloviating buffoons in the attempt.

Upon reaching the Actualization Stage, the typical desire of a self-action leader is to help and empower others rise just as you have done. Whereas you were once focused on seeking out leaders, mentors, teachers, and consultants, you now become the leader, mentor, teacher, and consultant. Sympathy, empathy, compassion, and a truly altruistic desire to see others succeed are a natural outgrowth of inhabiting this stage.

In the Leadership Stage, your focus shifts from being primarily about your own growth and development to being primarily about the development and growth of others. Leaders at this level have an amazing capacity to forget themselves and go to work[8] on behalf of other people and causes larger than themselves. You are no longer "content with blessing [your] family alone, but [are] anxious to bless the whole human race."[9]

In the Leadership Stage, you become increasingly aware of the legacy you are leaving behind, and you seek to enlarge that legacy in a way that allows you to help even more self-action leaders. Many who reach the Leadership Stage have, through diligence and excellence in their professional pursuits, acquired sufficient resources to support themselves and their families without further employ. Thus they are empowered to direct their efforts toward service, humanitarian aid, writing, speaking, traveling, and philanthropy.

While the Leadership Stage is largely immune from Existential Gravity and negative influences, it is not free of temptation. Since those on this level are almost exclusively leading others, they often find themselves in positions of great power, authority, and influence. Accompanying these newly acquired “perks” are often the veneration and adulation of throngs of admiring followers. At this point, and with enough authority and influence, a cult of personality becomes a very real danger to even the morally conscientious, making it easier than ever before to succumb to greed and debauchery. If the leader chooses to engage in greed, lust, or unfair and unethical dominion over others, that leader will surely fall and digress to lower levels; the only question is when and how far?

Unfortunately, many leaders who enter the Leadership Stage are seduced by whatever fame, fortune, or increased power and influence they allocate. These individuals end up returning to lower levels. If proper amends are not made, they are sure to leave a legacy of disappointment, shame, and unrealized potential.

Fortunately, some leaders remain humble, steadfast, and compassionate no matter how high they rise or how powerful they become. Such leaders continue their Existential Growth toward Self-Transcendence and beyond. These leaders no longer care much, if at all, about who gets the credit; they are focused almost exclusively on results, and on lifting up those whom they serve at equal or lower levels of Existential Growth.

LEVEL 8: SELF-TRANSCENDENCE


The Self-Transcendence Stage, also known as the “Freedom Zone,” is the last official stage of Existential Growth. It is likened unto deep Outer Space. Just as a rocket ship has is no longer subject to gravity after exiting the exosphere, self-action leaders who reach this level are no longer subject to Existential Gravity. Having fully conquered the enemy within, they have become truly free. Self-action leaders at this level have become so fully actualized they are no longer candidates for regression to lower levels. On all the first seven levels, even the strongest self-action leaders remain susceptible to failure and regression. But upon reaching Self-Transcendence, you have finally “made it.” This doesn’t mean you are perfect in every particular—no human being ever is; it does, however, mean there is no longer any “air” whereby the seeds of moral failure can germinate or sprout.

At the level of Self-Transcendence, it’s not so much that your “ship has come in,” as it is that you voluntarily swam out to your ship, and conquered all the swells, wind, rain, hail, and storms on the way. As a result, those who transcend themselves through personal effort and serendipity enjoy almost unlimited personal freedom. They are almost always financially secure, and in many cases are financially independent. They are those who have received and embraced outlying opportunities to positively influence and meaningfully contribute to the lives of others. They have many relationships with others people that are deep, rich, and founded on impeccable trustworthiness. If they have a significant other, they have usually been with their mate for decades, are more in love with him/her than they were when they got married, and have a healthy, mutually satisfying union.

Such individuals have both the time and ability to contribute meaningfully to other people and their causes of choice. They also have the freedom to choose where and when they spend their time and money. While they may not be an organization’s formal leader, they usually have significant influence on great (sometimes vast) numbers of other people. They usually leave a deep and lasting posthumous legacy of greatness, honor, love, and charity for others to admire and follow.

Only a small percentage of the population reaches the level of Self-Transcendence during the course of their lives. Typically, people who do reach it are well known figures, who, in some cases, founded entire movements. For example, Jesus Christ, Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha), Confucius, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and others like them are examples of historical and religious figures I believe reached, or may have reached, the level of Self-Transcendence.

You do not have to have a name as recognizable as Gandhi to transcend yourself and reach this level of Existential Growth. In fact, I believe the number of obscure individuals reaching this top stage far outnumber the number of high profile persons who have done so. Such impressive, albeit socially obscure, persons may not be known beyond their own families, friends, and communities; there is no specific audience size required to reach this milestone. Seemingly ordinary mothers and fathers are often candidates, many of whom eventually join the magnanimous milieu of transcendent achievers. In the insightfully queried words of one theological sage:

When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses?[10]

Never underestimate the potential of any human being to eventually reach this level of Existential Growth. Don’t let the simplicity of your station in life, or the provinciality of your profession fool you into thinking you can’t achieve existential greatness. The homeless and starving ultimately possess as much existential potential as presidents and potentates. Anyone who has an opportunity to learn the principles that lead to Self-Transcendence has the freedom to choose to advance as far as their desire and work ethic will take them.

Remember also that someone like Confucius did not transcend self primarily because he founded a popular belief system. He reached it primarily because of what he became inside as a self-action leader. The movement he founded was merely an outgrowth of his inner accomplishments. When someone transcends self, extraordinary moral authority is an inevitable by-product of their personal greatness. Whether that greatness influences one billion, one million, one thousand, one hundred, or simply one, it is still greatness of a grand degree and kind.

LEVEL 9: THE CREATION STAGE


Something truly wonderful awaits you on the other side of Self-Transcendence. That something is the Creation Stage, which is likened to astronomical bodies throughout the Universe (e.g., stars, planets, galaxies, comets, etc.).

In the Creation Stage, a self-action leader is a builder of institutions, cultures, movements, philosophies, and religions. Most importantly, you work to develop other self-action leaders in hopes of helping them to join you in transcendence and creation. At the Creation Stage, there is no jealous threat of competition or one-upsmanship. All self-action leaders in the Creation Stage value each other as much as they value themselves, and take as much joy and satisfaction in the creations of others as they do in their own.

Men like Jesus, the Buddha, and Confucius created whole new religions upon entering level nine. Men like Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln discovered, created, and saved—respectively—an entire country that would eventually rise to an unprecedented status of power, magnanimity, influence, and moral leadership. Others like Florence Nightingale, Mohandas Gandhi, and Mother Teresa created powerful, positive changes in hospitals, subjugated nations, and poverty-stricken cities. I do not mention these individuals to suggest they led perfect lives; no mortal being has ever lived a perfect life. I mention them simply to provide examples of imperfect, yet visionary and impressive human beings that “created” extraordinary opportunities for millions of their fellows to better their own lives. People who arrive at the Creation Stage change the world and make it a better place to live—and their lasting legacies are burnished only brighter by the passage of time.

Depending on your visibility in a social setting, such contributions may be home impacting, neighborhood influencing, community changing, state improving, nation blessing, or even world altering.



CLIMBING UP THE LADDER OF SAL GROWTH


To illustrate how one’s Existential Growth grows from the Education Stage up to the Creation Stage, consider the career trajectory of a doctor. She starts by learning of her potential to someday become a doctor (Education Stage). Then, she throws herself into her K-12 studies to lay the foundation for her college and medical school (Beginner’s Stage). After successfully graduating from high school, she begins the process of her four-year undergraduate program majoring in a pre-med field of study (Practitioner’s Stage). Then she attends four more years of medical school. She also “pays her dues” by completing her residency and internships and overcomes whatever unexpected challenges that stand in the way of a good job (e.g., rejections, disappointments, failures, timetable setbacks, personal health issues). All of these difficulties represent the Refiner’s Stage. Transcending them to land her first full-time, full-paying job, she enters the Polishing Stage where she begins to fine tune and hone her reputation, credibility, and pay back her student loans.

Eventually, the day arrives when she is personally successful, professionally respected, debt-free, and making a handsome salary. As a successful doctor, she has fulfilled her goal and entered the Actualization Stage. As her career progresses, she becomes a well-respected doctor who eventually teaches, mentors, and leads others to greatness (Leadership Stage). Later in life, having earned all the money, acquired all the recognition and rewards, and helped all the people she has desired to help, she realizes she has truly become the doctor of her dreams (Self-Actualization). With nothing left to achieve at the hospital, she decides to invest her surplus time, effort, and resources, in starting her own hospital, research laboratory, school, or movement within a field she feels passionate about and knows she can contribute meaningfully to (Creation Stage).

THE DARK SHADOW


You may recall from your study of definitions in Book the First that there is a difference between self-leadership and Self-Action Leadership. The latter carries comes with a moral imperative to be honest, fair, transparent, and otherwise live a life of integrity so that your speech and actions create positive long-term consequences for yourself and others.

Unfortunately, some of the worst people on Earth are also some of our Planet’s best self-leaders. For example, Adolf Hitler – history’s most salient example of evil personified – was in fact a remarkably disciplined, diligent, dedicated, and hard working self-leader. He possessed remarkable amounts of vision, discipline, and passion. What he lacked, of course, was a conscience.[11]

In our world, some leaders, scholars, politicians, philosophers, journalists, pundits, business men and women, teachers, artists, athletes, actors, parents, et cetera, rise up in the world to achieve great power, popularity, and influence by defying conscience and disregarding honesty, integrity, and morality. Counterfeit rises up the hierarchy cannot be equated with authentic Existential Growth. Such pseudo progress is actually a progressive regression down an inverse plane of the SAL hierarchy known as the “Dark Shadow.” While it may appear on the outside that someone is making great strides toward higher levels of Existential Growth, such progress cannot be fully validated except through the passage of time.

To illustrate, I reiterate the contrasting lives of Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela. The first few decades of these men’s respective lives were strikingly similar in some ways. For example, they were both marginalized socialists with an axe to grind. Moreover, both men ended up in prison for attempting to overthrow their adversaries by violent means. However, the seemingly convergent paths that led them both to prison took startlingly divergent journeys after their respective incarcerations. Hitler spent his time in jail authoring Mein Kampf and otherwise planning his devious and diabolical plans for genocide and world domination. Mandela, on the other hand, who was serving a much longer sentence, allowed his heart to become softened, and was further inspired by the words of William Ernest Henley’s famous poem, Invictus.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.[12]

With Mandela's Statue in London, England
Nelson Mandela is an example of a good man who rose to the highest level of the authentic SAL hierarchy of Existential Growth. Adolf Hitler is perhaps the supreme example of an evil man who fell to the lowest levels of the Dark Shadow. Both men ended up achieving remarkable things on the levels of Creation, but only Mandela’s have lasted—and are honored and revered today. Hitler’s creations were vaporized by Allied bombs, and have since been relegated to the pages of history where they belong.

The Mandela/Hitler example is a valuable illustration of this vital contrast because of its extreme salience and clarity. It should be noted, however, that most people who rise in their personal or professional lives by “falling” to the lower levels of the Dark Shadow do so with much less pomp, circumstance, and visible destruction than Hitler did. As such, it can be more difficult to identify, arraign, and justly convict them of their unjust doings in the court of public opinion, or, if needs be, a court of law.

In identifying those caught in the Dark Shadow, the most important sign to watch for is deception. Frequenters of the Dark Shadow come in many shapes, sizes, and colors, but they always have one thing in common: the truth is not in them. Nevertheless, because they are often smart and gifted communicators, their deception will almost always come in the form of half-truths and other sophisticated contortions of reality—for they know that outright lies are too easily exposed.

Beware of these wolves in sheep’s clothing, these venomous vipers cleverly disguised as purveyors of wisdom. They have little interest in your welfare, and will do virtually anything to aggrandize their own power, position, and pocketbook. Such “People of the Lie,” are infected with “the ultimate disease”; for “despite their pretense of sanity, the evil are the most insane of all.”[13] Avoid such persons like you would a deadly plague, and when possible, expose and indict them when necessary and possible—to the benefit of yourself and others.

REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS FOR EXECUTIVES


Without real life application, the SAL theory isn’t worth much. I myself am just beginning to unearth the treasure trove of wisdom available in this theory. Nevertheless, there are a few key points worth bringing to the forefront of any discussion of SAL theory as it relates to C-level leaders. This is not to say the theory is not applicable at other, lower, levels of an organizational hierarchy—but SAL theory may be more interesting and useful to executives, while the SAL model may be more interesting and useful to mid-level managers and front-line workers.

1. Executive, or C-level leaders will be more successful if they have achieved the Polishing Stage or higher. Executives and managers, therefore, ought to celebrate, not denigrate applicants who have faced great challenges and overcome them. Leadership expert and author Lee Ellis said it best when he wrote:

"Because wisdom and maturity are forged in trials, I would think twice before hiring someone for an executive leadership role who has not been humbled through significant struggles. Leaders devoid of crucible experiences are likely to be overly confident about their ideas, less sensitive to those of others, and surprisingly more susceptible to fears. Leaders motivated by fears and selfishness tend to make choices and cultivate attitudes that undermine the growth of the organization and its people."[14]
2. Executives can determine what level(s) of Existential Growth should serve as prerequisites for hiring various positions within the organization. 

3. Executives would be wise to develop their own personal plans for Existential Growth and review them regularly. Consider again the words of Dr. James Clawson:
“One of the biggest leadership issues [throughout the World today] is the inability of people – even and especially managers and executives – to lead themselves."[15]

4. Executives should provide training on the SAL theory and model to all managers and employees in the organization. They should encourage their workforce to likewise develop personal plans for Existential Growth, consistently execute those plans, and regularly review their progress with a mentor. With consistent SAL training throughout the organization, a culture of upward progress in the face of Existential Gravity can eventually permeate the entire organization. This will lead to dramatic increases in company cohesiveness, efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity. Company cultures that are founded on the SAL principles and Existential Growth will see unprecedented success in the long run. It will take time, but if implemented properly and persistently, stunningly positive consequences are inevitable.

5. The Nine Stages of Existential Growth have many applications to the Law of Attraction. First, persons will typically be naturally attracted towards those who are on the same level as they are. Hence, association becomes an easy way to discover clues about a person’s Existential Standing. Second, persons with authentic desires to rise to higher levels will seek out and spend time with those on higher levels; this behavior results from a genuine desire to learn from and attain similar growth and success. Such individuals—regardless of their background, education, and training—should be viewed as valuable employees in which to further invest through education, training, and mentoring. Third, honest, transparent, persons of integrity will be attracted to others of their character. Conversely, those more apt to deal in deception will likewise congregate over time. By observing this “grouping” over time, you will be able to take necessary actions to “accentuate the positive” and mentor, reform, or “eliminate the negative.” 


[1] A clever phrase I learned from Val Killian, who used it creatively in a personal conversation with me in 2010 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
[2] Hubbard, E. in Hubbard, A., Editor. (1946). An American Bible. New York, NY: Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc. Page 8.
[3] Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review. Volume 50, Issue 4, p. 370-396. Page 382.
[4] Lewis, C.S. (2001). Mere Christianity. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco. Page 226.
[5] Peck, M.S. (1983). People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil. New York, NY: Touchstone. Page 264.
[6] Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review. Volume 50, Issue 4, p. 370-396. Page 383.
[7] See Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York, NY: Fireside. Pages 219-220.
[8] Advice of Bryant S. Hinckley to his son, Gordon B. Hinckley, during a trying period in Gordon’s life.
[9] Smith, J., Jr. (2010). Joseph Smith Resource Center (Quotes [online]). Page 1.
[10] Maxwell, N.A. (1978). The Women of God. (Public Address).
[11] Covey, S.R. (2004). The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. New York, NY: Free Press. Pages 68-85.
[12] Invictus by William Ernest Henley. In Cook, R.J. (1958/1997). One Hundred and One Famous Poems: With a Prose Supplement (Revised Edition). Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books.
[13] Peck, M.S. (1983). People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil. New York, NY: Touchstone. Cover Page & Page 264.
[14] Ellis, L. (2012). Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton. FreedomStar Media. Page 183.
[15] Clawson, J. G. S. (2008). Leadership As Managing Energy. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. Volume 16, Issue 3. p. 174-181. DOI:10.1108/19348830810937943. Page 175.