SAL Book: The Model - A Construction Metaphor

I have always been fascinated by construction. When I was growing up, my Dad was, among many other things, a general contractor. From ages three to seven, I was the ultimate “Daddy’s Boy,” and eagerly followed Dad around wherever he went, especially when our excursions involved trucks, heavy equipment, power tools, lumber, and concrete or mortar. My interest in construction principles and processes remains alive and well to this day.

 

Beautiful Houston, TX skyline

I have also always been enamored with skyscrapers and big-city skylines. Growing up in a rural community in the middle of the sparsely inhabited mountainous deserts of the Four Corners area of the United States, skyscrapers were nowhere to be found (unless you consider mammoth rock formations to be skyscrapers). Perhaps this geographic isolation fueled my fervor to eventually visit these elusive cityscapes—an ambition I have vigorously pursued.

Over the years, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to visit nearly every major metropolitan area in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. From the matchless dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London to the cavernous crevices of Lower and Midtown Manhattan; from the unique urban spreads of Chicago and Toronto to the endless beach towers of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties; from the spectacular Southern skylines of Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston, to the breathtaking West Coast construction of L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, I have been continually entranced with and inspired by these magnificent urban centers. I have also been privileged to speak and teach in many of these cities, including inside some of their skyscrapers. Along my many journeys all over the English-speaking world, I have marveled at the architectural achievements of the Occident, and the ambition, courage, innovation, prosperity, and greatness they represent.

Bank of
America Plaza
Atlanta, GA

This lifelong interest in construction and skyscrapers led me to design the SAL model using a skyscraper construction metaphor. While I admire many of the buildings I have had the chance to see or visit, my all-time favorite is the Bank of America tower in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. I therefore asked my graphic artist to design the SAL Model’s image to resemble this paragon of Peachtree Street.

Just as there are certain laws, principles, and practices of engineering and architecture that apply to the sound construction of physical structures, there are likewise certain Universal Laws, True Principles, and sound practices that govern successful long-term living.

Over 100 years ago, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow taught us that we are “all are architects of Fate.” Self-Action Leadership provides you with the incredible opportunity to both design and construct your own life. What could be more exciting and engaging than developing and directing your own destiny?

SELF-ACTION RESEARCH

The purpose of the SAL Model is to organize disciplines and create habits that empower the successful undertaking of Self-Action Research, or SAR. Self-Action Research is, simply stated, action research applied to the self. Action Research (AR) is a four-step cyclical process of successfully identifying and strategically solving organizational problems. AR involves “four core processes.” [1]

Process 1: Planning:  Deciding how to deal with a problem

Process 2: Acting:  Implementing your plan

Process 3: Reflecting: Paying attention and recording what is happening

Process 4: Observing: Analyzing outcomes and revising plans for another cycle of acting [2]

Self-Action Research, therefore, is action research applied by, to, and for the self to gain self-awareness, aid self-improvement, solve personal problems, and earn Existential Growth.

The purpose of Self-Action Research is to strategically apply SAL principles in an effort to achieve specific, targeted objectives related to your own personal development. In this sense, life itself is, or ought to be, one, grand SAR project filled with many smaller SAR initiatives aimed at earning Existential Growth. [3]

The SAL Model incorporates the “four core processes” of action research by providing four analogous steps to take, or habits to develop, to earn Existential Growth. In addition to these four umbrella stages or habits, 21 sub-steps are also presented.

Image of the four stages of construction (and their 21 sub-steps) and the four processes of SAL (and their 21 sub-disciplines) can be viewed below, respectively.

 

The 4 Stages of Constructing a Skyscraper

[1] Kuhne, G. W., & Quigley, B. A. (1997). Understanding and Using Action Research in Practice Settings. In A. B. Quigley & G. W. Kuhne (Eds.), Creating Practical Knowledge Through Action Research: Posing problems, Solving Problems, and Improving Daily Practice (Vol. 73, pp. 23-40). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Page 25.
[2] Ibid.
[3] An outstanding example of a venerable self-action leader who dedicated his life to Self-Action Research is Mohandas Gandhi. He wrote about his many SAR projects, or his “Experiments with Truth,” in an autobiography—a book I highly recommend to all self-action leaders.

Self-Action Research & Self-Leadership Efficacy

In my last post, I explained that Self-Action Leadership differs from just plain self-leadership in that Self-Action Leadership must contribute to the long-term well being of self and others.

In making this contrast, I described how evil people like Adolf Hitler could be described as effective self-leaders in the short run.  These people could never be described as effective Self-Action Leaders because their actions are destructive in the long run.

According to my dissertation, Self-Action Leadership is:

The strategic, lifelong practice of Self-Action Research aimed at maximizing one’s Self-Leadership Efficacy for the purpose of contributing to the long-term well being of self and others (JJensen Dissertation, Vol. 1).  

Self-Action Research is action research conducted by and applied to the self.  What then, is action research?  It is a method of identifying and solving problems.  It has four steps, or stages: 1) Planning & Preparation, 2) Taking Action, 3) Observation, and 4) Analysis.

Self-Action Research, then, is action research applied by and to the self to gain self-awareness, aid self-improvement, and solve personal problems.

The goal of Self-Action Leadership is to continually practice the four-step process of Self-Action Research for the purpose of rising in your Self-Leadership Efficacy.  And Self-Leadership Efficacy describes the level of Self-Action Leadership development you are currently on in your life's journey.  It provides a tool to measure how effective you are as a self-action leader.  There are eight levels of Self-Leadership Efficacy.  These eight levels are explained in detail in the Self-Action Leadership Theory (see Chapter 29 of my book).   

1). Education Stage

2). Beginner’s Stage

3). Practitioner’s Stage

4). Refining Stage

5). Polishing Stage

6). Actualization Stage

7). Leadership Stage

8). Self-Transcendence

The goal of Self-Action Leadership is to practice the four steps of Self-Action Research in an effort to eventually reach the highest level of Self-Leadership Efficacy.

To assist self-action leaders in this process of rising steadily in their Self-Leadership Efficacy, I have developed the SAL Model.  This Model is based on a construction metaphor.  It utilizes the four steps used in Action Research and, by extension, Self-Action Research.  This process mirrors the same basic steps used in project management.  

Project Management Cycle ~ Building a Skyscraper (click to enlarge)

Self-Action Leadership Model ~ Building a Successful Life (click to enlarge)

In his poem entitled, The Builders, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote that, "All are architects of fate."  The Self-Action Leadership Theory and Model is designed to provide a template for the construction of your life in the same way that principles of architecture and engineering are used to construct a building.  As you learn the principles of the Theory and Model, you equip yourself with an increased capacity to successfully navigate the challenges of your life and take advantage of the opportunities that will help you to realize your potential.

"Build to-day, then, strong and sure,

With a firm and ample base ;

And ascending and secure

Shall to-morrow find its place." 

(Longfellow, The Day is Done, reprinted from The Poetical Works of Longfellow.

Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press (1912, p. 186).

Over the weekend, my wife, son, and I traveled to San Antonio, Texas. I was one of the authors invited to speak at a conference sponsored by OCD Texas, an affiliate of the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation (IOCDF).  In my next post, I will share some of the lessons and highlights from this unique, educational experience.  

So What is Self-Action Leadership?

What, exactly, is Self-Action Leadership, and how does it differ from just plain self-leadership?

According to scholars Christopher P. Neck, Ph.D., and Jeffery D. Houghton, Ph.D., self-leadership is defined as:

“A process through which individuals control their own behavior, influencing and leading themselves through the use of specific sets of behavioral and cognitive strategies.” (Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2006, p. 270-295). 

Self-Action Leadership, on the other hand, is:

"The strategic, lifelong practice of Self-Action Research aimed at maximizing one’s Self-Leadership Efficacy for the purpose of contributing to the long-term well being of self and others" (JJensen Dissertation, Vol. 1).  

A key differences between self-leadership theory and Self-Action Leadership (SAL) theory is that SAL theory invokes a moral imperative, while self-leadership theory alone remains morally neutral.  The moral imperative I speak of involves "contributing to the long-term well being of self and others," (JJensen Diss. Vol. 1).

Self-Action Leadership (SAL) takes self-leadership to a new level by taking into account the presence of Natural Laws of Acquisition in our World.  Natural Laws of Acquisition (NLAs) come in the form of causes and consequences and set the price for acquiring lasting success.  For example, if you want oranges, you better not plant apple seeds.  If you wish to be fit, you better get off the couch to exercise regularly.  There is no other way.  You cannot cheat natural systems.

NLAs describe the way things really are in the World.  They form unalterable decrees regarding the price you must pay in time and effort to achieve real results that possess lasting value.

While it is important to apply “behavioral and cognitive strategies” to get results in your life, what good will it do if those results do not stand the test of time and benefit others along the way?  Moreover, what is the use of getting something if you do not become a better person in the process?  What is the use of a piece of paper that says you have a degree if you have not become more intelligent and capable of serving others?

To further illustrate this point, consider the many evil people in the World who exhibit effective self-leadership.  One of history’s most salient examples is Adolf Hitler.  A talented, disciplined, and remarkably capable self-leader, this fiendish führer effectively used a variety of “behavioral and cognitive strategies” to get unbelievable results, at least in the short run.

The problem, of course, was that his actions were immoral, unethical, and devastated multitudes of people along the way.  Moreover, because Hitler ignored Natural Laws of Acquisition, the results he did get had a relatively short shelf life.  The thousand-year reign Hitler promised his people lasted only 12 years.  Furthermore, it cost between five and seven million of the lives of his own people – not to mention the tens of millions of others who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis.  And for what?  Germany, and much of Europe, was in shambles when Hitler cowardly took his own life in 1945.  It was a pathetic, yet predictable end to the life of a monster whose self-leadership lacked a moral compass.

Self-Action Leadership provides a moral compass that self-leadership theory alone lacks.  SAL allows a self-leader to not just succeed, but to succeed permanently in a way that benefits others along the way.  While self-leadership alone may help you to do impressive or great things, Self-Action Leadership will empower you to actually become great, allowing you to leave an honorable legacy that prevails long after you are gone.

But wait, there is more to Self-Action Leadership than just attaching a moral compass to self-leadership. In addition to "contributing to the long-term well being of self and others," (JJensen Diss. Vol. 1), Self-Action Leadership is also:

“The strategic lifelong practice of Self-Action Research aimed at maximizing your Self-Leadership Efficacy”  (JJensen dissertation, Vol. 1).

To fully understand what Self-Action Leadership is, you must also understand the meaning of Self-Action Research and Self-Leadership Efficacy.  These two terms will be explained next week, so stay tuned to more fully understand what SAL is and how you can practice it for your personal benefit.