Driving home the other day, I passed a ghost with a sign. He was standing in the middle of one of the busiest streets in this country, or so it seems. There was a lot of traffic that afternoon and I had time to watch this ghost for a little bit.

He just stood there, alone; this ghost with a sign. No-one could see him but me.

I watched as swarms of traffic inched by him with not even a nod or acknowledgement. I felt bad; but not everyone can see ghosts. I was in the middle lane of a three lane highway and very agitated; we drive like maniacs. But I couldn't help wonder what the sign said. I wondered.

I drive this three lane highway often, and usually there is someone out there with one sign or another. There are the firefighters who always need assistance because government funds are always scarce when it comes to funding heroes. There are the kids looking to make that softball or football or baseball or cheerleading dream come true. There are the friends and loved ones of someone who is terminally ill or was in some kind of tragic accident. There are the homeless. Signs---signs---signs everywhere asking for help and assistance.

Most Americans in dire straits don't know a celebrity who can take up their cause. And why would a celebrity take up their cause unless the celebrity can somehow benefit from the situation or the cause is so powerfully moving and unique that it deserves national attention. Who makes that decision? The one who can make it happen. It's that simple.

As I drove closer to the ghost in the middle of the street, I noticed he was an older and worn man. He was looking down with sad and empty eyes. I could tell he was also wondering. The ghost was wondering why no-one could see him. And then I read the sign.

"Disabled Veteran, please help."

I forced my way into the left lane, and pulled out my wallet. At that very moment, the light turned red and I stopped one car length from the ghost that no-one could see. I pulled out five bucks and waved at him. The ghost slowly hobbled over and I handed him five ones.

"Everyone is ignoring me," he said. "Thank you."
"I know" and I drove away.

I watched the ghost vanish as I looked in the rear view mirror. And I thought to myself, "five bucks?"

Why are we so jaded and suspicious? I don't condemn anyone for it; it's our current reality. But sometimes we must reach beyond ourselves. Someone once said to me that you shouldn't give money to people on the streets because you never know how they will use it, or even if they are legit. Trust no-one. This is what we've come to in the greatest country---the "United" States of America.

Who can we trust? Well, just watch the news and read the papers. It seems the pat answer is no-one. Not organizations and not individuals. Man---we have issues.

But I can't be so blind and I can't be so jaded, at least not always. I choose when and where to do whatever it is I choose, consequences be damned. Everyone has a story and I choose to live my own. It's only partially about trust; it's also about our humanity and how far we are willing to go in our never ending pursuit of self-satisfaction at the expense of our brothers and sisters. I will give, but I often wish I could give more.

What is wrong with us?

As I pulled into the driveway that late afternoon, I thought about our soldiers. As I walked into the house I thought about our children; the beginning and the end, and I thought "---five bucks."

So I pulled out a twenty dollar bill and neatly folded it into the corner of my wallet. It is reserved for the ghost whose spirit resides in all of us even though only a few of us acknowledge his existence.

In June of 2007, I published a book using a subsidy publisher. I didn't do it to get rich or I'd be starving-- even though lots of sales would be nice. I've received two royalty checks from book sales that barely cover my gas expense to and from work. As I wrote this, I self-committed that a portion of all my proceeds will, retroactively and going forward, go to the Children's Hospital and Disabled Veterans.

---The beginning and the end.

Where is your ghost?

Semper Fi

Get in to work at 7:59AM. Leave work at 4:29PM. Take every single second of your break and lunch time. Throw in a little more time to hit the bathroom (make sure there's reading material) and go for that occasional walk outside to do whatever it is you do. This falls under the dual categories of attendance and productivity. Make sure you smile while being "productive".

Delegate all tasks. Don't worry if you can easily do it yourself or the information is sitting right there on your computer or filing cabinet; you don't have time to search for it. Some other person will reinvent the wheel, so don't waste your time helping someone else avoid redundancy. It's not your problem. This falls under the category of delegating. It prepares you for management. And smile when "delegating".

Complete every task with minimal effort. You deserve a break. This falls under the category of efficiency. And smile while being "efficient". Relegate the word urgency to only those times you might be exposed as slightly less than mediocre- at best. When cornered, get loud and get angry and make sure people can hear your frustration and sense of immediacy. After your colleagues have assured you of what a wonderful person you are and the threat has passed, you can relax and take an additional fifteen minute break to relieve the stress doing whatever it is you do to relieve stress. This falls under the category of stress management. And smile while you are "managing stress".

Hop on the Internet a few times a day and make sure that cell phone is on vibrate and right next to you. You wouldn't want to miss that pressing phone call. Continuously practice hitting the "alt-esc" keys on your computer keyboard to speed up the changing of screens for when someone in management is approaching. This falls under the category of "multi-tasking". You must get faster. Make sure the computer monitor is angled just right. And smile while you are "multi-taking".

When someone approaches you and asks for something, make sure you ruffle the paperwork on you desk, look up at the ceiling, tighten- just a little- the corner of your mouth, and let out a nice long sigh. These are all signs of a busy person, deep in thought, being interrupted. I suggest you practice in the mirror a few times a day- maybe on one of your walks. Make sure you have the right sequence of "alt-esc" on you keyboard lined up. This falls under the category of time-management. And smile while you are "managing time".

When in meetings, nod your head often and make sure the vice-president or president sees it. If the vice-president or president asks a question, be prepared to comment or follow-up on someone else's answer. You don't know much, but you know enough to add a comment after someone else provides an answer. It doesn't matter if the comment is out of context. This act falls under the category of contribution. And smile while you are "contributing."

If by some miracle you happen to know something, make sure you run into the president in the break-room. Get his attention, bump or trip him if you have to, and spill your guts. This falls under the category of communication. And smile while you are "communicating".

Expect a big raise or even possible promotion. Although you add no value, and have not attempted to add any value, you have been with the company a long time. You deserve it. You expect it. Why should you have to work or extend yourself? Since you don't do it, it is a fact that no-one else does it. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that you must earn more or be promoted. This falls under the category of career progression. And smile while you are "progressing."

Finally, you would be remiss if at every opportunity you did not bash a co-worker or anyone within a ten mile radius. Don't be stupid. You can't advance if everyone is equal so, since you have no real talent, your only choice is to elevate yourself. The only way to elevate yourself is to crush the competition, even if they are not in the building. Allocate a ten-mile radius to make sure all possible competition is eliminated and to ensure your supremacy. This falls under the category of team work.

And make sure to smile broadly when "team working".

Temperance is the final chapter in my Spiritual Factory series and it is appropriately last because it is the binding that keeps knowledge, courage and integrity reasoned and balanced.

Temperance is the ability of an individual to recognize when enough is enough--restraint.

The leader who practices temperance will have mastered an important virtue on her journey to wisdom and success. The temperate leader is humble and unassuming with the capacity to adapt her character when a situation calls for such behavior. A temperate leader is not weak. She is an experienced and introspective individual with the capacity to manage her environment and not let her environment dictate outcomes. A temperate leader takes an abundant and long lasting view of all-around success.

In his best selling book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Stephen Covey quotes Harvard Business School Professor Hrand Saxenian on his definition of maturity: "the ability to express one's own feelings and convictions balanced with consideration for the thoughts and feelings of others." As in most areas in life, there are varying views on the definition of any one thing. In the case of consideration and respect for others, it's the difference between maturity and seasoned maturity. For a seasoned leader, temperance ensures the reasoned consideration of everyone else not only when communicating but always. The lack of seasoning and self-restraint is largely responsible for the downfall of many mature leaders.

The news is racked with stories of high level management indiscretions. What is it that makes a man responsible for the well being of other men betray that solemn trust? The answer is simply greed and cowardice--the antithesis of the Spiritual Factory. Because of temptation and human weakness, temperance must be one of the toughest of all virtues to consistently practice. Things happen, but a breach of trust where another human is irreparably damaged in some financial or physical way is a personal transgression of the highest order and should be dealt with accordingly.

I have witnessed the lack of self-restraint by management at all levels because of two reasons: lifestyle and bonus plans. The result is a manipulation of facts and questionable decision making so that bonus objectives are reached and lifestyles are maintained. For the intemperate and unseasoned leader, it is a dependency that causes the redefining of personal ethics in a manner that discreetly blurs any definition or application of integrity. That is discreetly until someone gets hurt or some unpredictable event causes a revelation of the indiscretion(s).

There is another reason for intemperate decision making among management ranks: fear. Corporate leadership often create forecasts and subsequent metrics that look great on paper and PowerPoint presentations, but do not always reflect practical reality or evolving economic conditions. The result of such short-term thinking is the bending of truth and tweaking of facts by those who would protect their reputations, salaries, and careers. In today's business landscape the higher you are on the corporate food chain, the more you have to lose by not reaching objectives. The fear of losing jobs results in questionable management practices. "Tell me your silly rules and I'll play your silly games," my friend once said to me.

People act according to their interpretation of facts and rules given a set of circumstances and their view of the world as formed by their training and experiences. The temperate and seasoned leader brings order to a chaotic set of internal and external conditions and acts with the concomitant goals of preservation, stewardship, and evolvement.

The temperate soul will know serenity.

The Greek Philosopher Plato wrote: "If we disregard due proportion by giving anything what is too much for it, too much canvas to a boat, too much nutrition to a body, too much authority to a soul, the consequence is always shipwreck; rankness runs in the one case to disease, in the other to presumption, and its issue is crime." –The Collected Dialogues

A few years ago, I accidentally came across a document that enumerated corporate bonuses. There were no names on this document, but it had departments and amounts budgeted. You could look at some of these numbers and surmise, at a high level, who was receiving some of the significant percentages.

I then walked out into the warehouse I managed and just watched employees while I was deep in thought. We are an accumulation of our life's experiences and we are responsible for our place in life's human ecosystem. Where we are today and what we do is based on cumulative decisions, actions, and consequences. We are accountable. But, while standing there looking at some of the employees who could barely meet their rent payments or required two jobs to make ends meet, I couldn't help but wonder why the chasm in pay had to be so great between blue collar and white collar employees; between executives and everyone else.

I am not arguing that those who commit to personal education, growth and achievement should not be highly compensated; after all, an investment of time, money and resources should always have a profitable return. But, I wonder if the gap has to be so great.

I wonder, how much is enough?

Technology created it.

Modern medicine is oblivious to it.

Humans don't recognize it.

But it's coming. We just don't know it yet.

And psychologists and pharmaceuticals will make millions from it. Because that is what we do; we medicate everything away.

What is this horrible affliction that no-one is immune to; not young or old, male of female? I share my story with the hope that others can avoid my pain and my discomfort.

I recall a time when the only means of contacting me was either through my phone at home or through a pager (a pager is a small box that vibrates and displays a number for the wearer to call). But miraculously, if I was unavailable, the sky did not come crashing down--callers adapted, waited and life continued. But, life and technology have evolved. However, before I get to this new affliction let me say a word about technology and some simple common sense: consideration.

Before cell phones (BCP) people were not so rude. People did not interrupt everyone to pick up this thing called a cell phone. They did not interrupt everything to check this thing called a Blackberry. Is everyone on the face of this earth so important? Or, is it a need or desire for individuals to be important; to be wanted. In the year 2007, I couldn't have a conversation without being interrupted by the need for someone to check their voice mail, email or text messages. In the year 2007, I avoided approximately four accidents because of some challenged individual unable to multi-task, i.e., cell phone use and driving.

Must technology breed inconsideration or stupidity? So far, it seems that way. But, technology breeds other things. And, it is one other thing that prompted me to write this essay: the affliction.

I carry a cell phone on my belt and more times than not, it is in vibrate mode. I keep it on vibrate because when I am speaking with someone, I will not pick-up my cell phone or check my text messages, unless I have some pressing matter looming. The other day, I was sitting in my office when my phone vibrated.

I reached down to check it, and it was not there.

But, I felt it. I felt the vibration. And then it happened again. As I was searching for the phone on my belt (knowing it wasn't there), my waist vibrated. What the!?

It was my stomach. I was starving. My stomach sent a message, and I tried retrieving it from my cell phone. If that isn't a technological affliction, then I don't know what is.

Stomach pangs aside, the vibrations continue to haunt me. So I checked with some friends and colleagues and they seem to share the same feeling of constant contact by a vibrating waist. We laughed about it.

I suspect that, eventually, someone will need to be medicated to control the phantom cell phone vibration. You see, there is no drama or money in self-control and doctors and pharmaceuticals are ever on the alert to cure whatever ails us--even when what afflicts us is us.

And technology evolves the human.

We live in an insulated world. We need to uninsulate.

This video was forwarded to me by a friend who is my sister. It's not about religion or ideology. It's simply an appreciation of our Armed Forces and the sacrifices they make and have made. The founding of the United States came with a price. The preservation of the United States has a price.

Watch it.

No more words are needed.

Semper Fi

I'm not big on pranks. I don't mind innocent pranks, but some pranks cross the line by inconveniencing people or emotionally scarring them--alright maybe that is too dramatic. But imagine thinking you won the lottery and the emotional high that might come with it, only to find out that it was a joke. Ouch.

I manage a warehouse. This morning I arrived to work early as usual and was reading an article in a trade journal. I was preparing myself for a hectic day when the phone rang at 7:30AM. It was a very irate driver telling me how he had been parked in our loading dock for forty-five minutes, banging on the door and no-one would let him in. He told me he had an appointment at 7:30AM.

I told him that was impossible since we did not open until 8AM. The man insisted he had an appointment and would bill me for the additional wait time. He was getting loud and more irritable by the word. I restrained myself: "Sir, I will open the door for you," I calmly spoke and I hung up the phone.

I walked to the other end of the building and opened the dock door. Nothing. I opened dock door number two. Nothing. I opened two more dock doors. Nothing. You can't just look across the yard because empty trailers are parked along our walls.

I then walked outside the length of the building looking for a parked truck. Nothing.

It was outside, at the other end of the building when it dawned on me; I had just been pranked by one of the warehouse guys. To make matters worse, it is not the first time this man gets me.

"MICHAEL", I yelled when I returned to the building. He was nowhere to be found. To add insult to injury, the guy wasn't even in the building when he called me from a cell phone I would not recognize.

When he arrived to work, I confronted him, but he could not maintain a straight face. After a feeble attempt at denial, he confessed. And we cracked up.

A few weeks ago, I witnessed an employee get so worked up during a phone call that we had to intervene to calm him down, "MICHAEL." This time Michael almost had to run and hide. He's good, no doubt about it.

But, I've warned him. His turn is close. And he won't see it coming.

I can wait.

Beware of those who practice situational ethics. At some point, it will be practiced on you.

Possessing moral principles or professional codes of conduct is integrity. Integrity is also defined as being complete or whole like in environmental integrity.

When I sit back and think of our time on this earth; our social time; our professional time; our personal time, I reach the conclusion that our lives are cycles evolving around universal principles. And there are universal principles; I am convinced. Life is a process and the integrity of that process must remain whole regardless of our personal or environmental realities--our human ecosystem.

One example of a universal principle that applies to humanity and the animal kingdom is the strong rule the weak. Sounds harsh, but it's a simple fact. This principle is true in business, and true in our personal lives. In order for a ruling party, person or entity to rule fairly, equitably and judiciously integrity must be deeply rooted. Integrity is bred from knowledge, experience, and reasoning.

A person of integrity requires physical and emotional strength to remain steadfast in times of doubt or turmoil. A person of integrity will possess clarity of thought and respect for his role and the role of others in our interdependent society but not be a slave to those roles. Successful leaders will maintain a deep reservoir of integrity. Their capacity for thought and reasoning is fully synchronized with their core beliefs. Integrity is a decision.

Integrity does not result from external conditions, social or political. Those things are environmental concerns. Societal or political behaviors may or may not be in tandem with the natural laws of furthering the good. The person with a strong moral foundation possesses the capacity to break social or political ranks when necessary--the crowd is not always headed in the right direction. We live in a hierarchical world that continually generates myriad of challenges and decision matrices for everyone--life's organizational chart. Consequently, integrity for one person or group may not be in accord with another depending on roles and circumstances.

Integrity is truth and truth is often elusive. Uncovering truth is a work in process for the unpretentious. Truth can be uncovered or discovered by acknowledging our self-imposed limitations on how we think or view our surroundings--perceptiveness. My truth may not be your truth. But if our goal is justice and preservation of what is right, our personal integrity and the degree to which it is whole will lead us to the best available conclusion. Integrity is not a zero-sum game, but life can certainly present situations where not everyone wins. Win or lose may not necessarily be a failure of integrity, but rather the natural outcome of our ordered reality.

The individual who sacrifices integrity initiates a cycle of self-delusion that, without intervention, eventually collapses the moral foundation. The world is rife with stories of serious lapses in personal and professional integrity at every level of society. Why is this? I can surmise some of the reasons, but I know of two that are prevalent, greed and ignorance.

Greed breeds greed because once in that cycle, enough never is. For example, the more successful a person becomes the more money they spend. This behavior inevitably results in a lifestyle that requires a certain level of income. Individuals on this path may or may not have a need to protect what they feel they've earned and will attempt to accumulate increased wealth or recognition as buffers. Or the accumulation of wealth by any means quenches what turns out to be an insatiable thirst for material items that gets more expensive with each passing check. Greed causes fear and paranoia. Greed can easily lead to imprisonment and the destruction of a society, institution and family.

Ignorance alone does not necessarily create a lapse in integrity unless the situation calls for a decision that is in some way beyond the reasoning capacity of an individual. However, the natural propensity of a good person to be good becomes an instinctive moral compass. But when conditions are created where ignorance meets opportunity for someone prone to lapses in judgment, the results are predictably distressing and heartbreaking.

Despite the pervasive and coexistence of greed and ignorance through-out life's organization chart, I can categorize greed as a primary exempt employee trait with secondary ignorance. At the non-exempt level, ignorance is the primary trait with secondary greed. One should know better, the other lacks understanding as a result of living in only the moment and lack of knowledge. Both exempt and non-exempt traits apply to business and private lives--life's org chart.

We exist in a fragile web of ecological dependence superimposed on a maze of choices, decisions and outcomes. Think about it. An ecosystem is a combination of living organisms and the environment the living organisms depend on operating in cycles.

Take a step back and mentally picture our world. We are, in effect, a microcosm of the universe, of nature. The sun, the moon and the air give life to our world--day, night, oxygen. They represent celestial and omnipresent processes--processes that somehow began, and could some day end. Processes we could not live without.

The earth also maintains processes--seasons, plant and animal regeneration, a beginning and an end to all things that occur in natural cycles. These are processes that humans could not live without.

Humans are processes in and of themselves. Before the Spiritual Factory there is the Human Factory. Humans are a process. The miracle of life is a process. The human body is a factory constantly in flux. There is a beginning and an end, and in between a constant level of regenerative activity that keeps us human…alive. We have a beginning and an end just like our celestial presence and just like our earthly environment--a natural place and order.

There are natural boundaries to all things and nature ensures all things maintain their balance. But humans challenge natural laws and test the boundaries of our human ecosystem. Our ability to think and reason has become a liability because of greed, ignorance, and disrespect. Humans are probably the only species with the capacity to render themselves extinct.

There is a price to pay when the natural collective of a system is compromised. Integrity is the binding that can keep our human ecosystem intact and thriving.

The leader or employee who lacks integrity is a failure and, without a correction, will damage the human ecosystem he inhabits, sometimes irreversibly.

Semper Fi

I am continuously amazed at how there are two sides to every story; every issue. This duality points to the diversity of thought among the populace. It is why politicians can't agree on anything.

Differences of opinion can lead to the resolution of complex issues if biases are removed from the analysis of issues and the resulting debates--a very difficult thing to do.

On the question of ethics versus profits, I don't expect to see anything on the profit side. How naïve. I suspect that individuals with movable ethical boundaries would be highly successful executives--short term and without any real loyal following. I've known individuals that compromised ethics in order to achieve profits or objectives, and my associations with them were short lived. I severed relationships not because I was morally offended, but because I saw how their personalities changed and how they treated anyone perceived to be in their way. Sometimes, I did not recognize these moral dilettantes.

Let's make one thing clear; business exists to make money. There is no other reason. However, the business or executive that does not profit ethically will eventually pay a price. We've seen it over and over again over the last few years. From what I understand, even the current sub-prime mortgage debacle that has caused so much financial ruin can be attributed to questionable business practices and a lack of ethics.

What am I missing?

Ethics does not have to revolve around religion, human rights or animal rights. The ethical person does not require a label to guide her behavior. Business ethics is simply doing the right thing within a particular business context. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes one person to take a moral position for questionable business practices to receive attention and for positive change to be initiated.

We are not all Boy Scouts all the time. There is no question our moral foundation can be rocked, but it doesn't have to break. I've often acted ethically from an innate grounding. I have also acted ethically from a desire to avoid unwanted repercussions for me or my colleagues. I look out for my comrades even though they don't always look out for themselves.

Business and ethics are not discordant. Most of us adhere to personal rules that govern our social and business behavior. But, I have one rule that is cast in stone and has never nor will it ever be broken: no success will be achieved at the expense of another.

Business can be a brutal competitive force leaving many casualties behind on the road to success. However, we must always respect and appreciate the difference between the by-product of capitalism and the victims of greed and indifference.

Beware of those who practice situational ethics; at some point, it will be practiced on you.

Learning is life-long and wisdom is the reasoned application of that learning.

The Greek Philosopher Socrates stated that all knowledge is remembering. Knowledge is passed on, rediscovered, or found, but always present. This explanation of knowledge results from the belief that our souls never really die; like energy never dies. Energy is always present and we are, in a way, energy. My temples throb when I dwell on these concepts.

In the context of our Spiritual Factory knowledge is knowing, understanding, and not knowing. Not knowing? What the heck is he talking about? …Think of "not knowing" more like a journey not an acquisition. True knowledge can lead to wisdom. I elevate the word wisdom above knowledge as the union of mind, body and soul, in our pursuit of justice--right versus wrong, good versus bad. True knowledge starts with an understanding of our individual level of emotional intelligence, without which wisdom remains elusive--self-knowledge. Knowledge understands that perception is not reality and reality is based on perception and only a learned human with an open mind can properly filter what the senses process--and never perfectly. To simply think is not necessarily to know.

I was introduced to emotional intelligence or self-knowledge during management training years ago. Emotional intelligence is our ability to manage ourselves and our interaction with others consistently rationally and harmoniously. Three key components of emotional intelligence: conscientiousness, emotional stability and receptiveness to change and experiences. Without emotional intelligence, knowledge is void of deep understanding.

Simply knowing is not understanding. Understanding is a deeper level of intelligence than knowing. But recognizing lack of knowledge and a desire to acquire it and understand knowledge is a leap forward in self-recognition. Acknowledging our intellectual and emotional limitations (not knowing) opens the door to wisdom (knowing). Let me provide some management examples.

A manager was so consumed with financial objectives and personal rewards that he sacrificed relationships and integrity. He was prone to making corporate level decisions with emphasis on short-term results. His lack of complete knowledge about what he didn't know or cared to know affected subordinates and the future of his department. The results were ruinous.

A leader walked the corporation's hallways with nary a nod or acknowledgement of employees. He made decisions in a vacuum and quickly lost the respect of many employees. He spent lavishly while employees were laid off and hours cut. This person's tenure was short.

A manager enjoyed the corporate fast track. His ascendancy through the ranks was a result of "the right place at the right time" and his dictatorial management techniques. This man reached his objectives, but always at someone's expense. Redemption was sweet for those left in his wake.

Emotional intelligence in all cases, if ever present, succumbed to the allure of power and greed. These individuals exhibited knowledge, but did not desire understanding of the known (environment) or unknown (contextual impact). They acted superficially just under varying conditions, but they were not just. They were manipulative and treated subordinates with little or no consideration. These leader's narrow knowledge and lack of understanding resulted in an overconfidence that eventually brought them down--a naturally occurring correction that is a function of time and events.

I've often said that an education does not automatically endow someone with the necessary traits to be a leader, although it is a solid beginning. In many cases, education will get you to a position of leadership, but without complete and evolving knowledge and an understanding of the known and unknown, a correction will eventually take place.

**

Survival begins with knowledge acquired instinctively or through training; the tangible. We must learn our jobs and duties. Knowledge, if we allow it, evolves as we grow professionally and personally. True knowledge or wisdom is the eventual blending of our intellectual training with our emotional capacity for understanding and reasoning; the intangible. The leader who understands that physical rewards, however great and comforting, possess permanent earthly boundaries will balance her need for gratification with the needs of everyone within her circle of influence--a rare occurrence in today's business battle zones and need for immediacy.

Semper Fi

Never sacrifice dignity out of fear or intimidation. We must be true to ourselves; otherwise, sincerity becomes expedient. Courage is not easy, but if courage is a core value, it comes naturally.

Courage is doing the right thing.
Courage is being different when different is right.
Courage is staring the grip of fear and uncertainty down.
Courage is applying the natural law of perpetuating the good.
Courage is intellectual supremacy over emotional weakness and desires.

Courage is an enabler that entails elements of risk depending on context, e.g., physical, emotional or intellectual courage. Absent risk, the word courage would be of no consequence--probably not existing in the first place.

Courage is not easily defined with words because it is a personal habit. It is an inborn sense of self and surroundings and an understanding that adversity is the root of inner strength when balanced with reason and justice. Courage, as a virtue, does not stand alone because unlike animals the human animal has the capacity of thought and choice.

Courage is also a cultural phenomenon. Take, for example, the dangerous state of affairs in our modern world because of terrorism. The individuals who commit acts of terrorism are heralded as heroes and soldiers of God within their particular cultural group. The countries and people on the receiving end of terrorism view terrorists as cowards and murderers.

Reading Men's Health magazine the other day, I came across a quote by Mike Pressler--the coach of the Duke University lacrosse team accused of raping a woman. "Adversity does not build character, it reveals it." I was moved by his insightful statement and the story behind it.

I also read about American Dr. Adam Richards. Dr. Richards spends time in the country and jungles of Burma training and counseling medics tending to displaced refugees that are often tortured, killed, maimed, or raped.

Two timely examples of courage in the face of adversity; one by choice, the other by fate and both seeking justice.

Are you accountable? Do you tell the truth? Do you stand up when everyone else lays down? Do you cheat to the detriment of others? Do you help or take advantage of the weak? Do you persevere?

One of my favorite business books, if not my favorite, is "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. In it, he introduces us to the Stockdale Paradox. Admiral Jim Stockdale was a prisoner of war for eight years during the Vietnam War. Tortured over twenty times during his imprisonment, Stockdale lived out the Vietnam War with the constant threat of death, torture and no possible release. He became the archetype of courage, perseverance and fortitude for all other prisoners. During his interview with Jim Collins, Admiral Stockdale told him how the optimists of the prison were the ones who ultimately died of a broken heart because their expectations were never realized. Admiral Stockdale told Jim, "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end--which you can never afford to lose--with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

That lesson stayed with Jim Collins and it has stayed with me.

Leadership requires courage because leaders are constantly faced with tough decisions. Some decisions, simply put, take a pair. The leader who has conditioned his Spiritual Factory will be in a position to justly serve her followers and protect corporate interest in a balanced and judicious way.

One of the more recent and forgetful lessons in courage that come to mind happened a few years ago. Toward the very end of our employment, a colleague and I visited a facility to conduct one final training session for those replacing us. Up to that point, I considered the manager of the facility a good friend. However, our visit turned out to be a stinging reminder of how an individual without strong courageous convictions can reveal their true personalities in times of slight stress.

The man was obviously not pleased he was taking over a very successful department and that we were there to perform training. I theorize his feeling were territorially motivated, "We can do a better job and do not require assistance from the soon to be unemployed." Plus, I know his department had been under pressure and under staffed.

I was surprised and saddened by the treatment we received (while his employees were very attentive), but I reminded my colleague and myself that the ordeal would soon be over. It was a sad turn of events and when we left the facility, we never looked back.

Loyalty requires courage and, like leadership, functions reciprocally.

Hubris can present itself disguised as courage--it is anything but. However, there is no disguising courage even though courage can present itself in many forms.

Courage must be a core value for all strong leaders. In fact, leader or not, courage will be the trait that defines us throughout life's many challenges.

We may not always strike, but we can certainly swing.

Semper Fi