What is Philosophy?
Philosophy seems kind boring—at least that’s what many people think. The word comes from Ancient Greek. It consists of two elements:
sophos = love & philos = wisdom
Others also have some useful definitions. Some are complicated, abstract, and hard to understand.
Philosophy is the discipline concerned with the questions of how one should live (ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge (epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning (logic). Source: Wikipedia
Some are relatively simple.
The methodical and systematic exploration of what we know, how we know it, and why it is important that we know it. Source: http://www.jabcreations.com
Finally, some stress the practical nature of philosophy.
A rational, logical methodology or practice of approaching questions which lie outside the realm of hard science. For instance, what is the purpose of life? What is the nature of the soul? What is moral? These questions cannot be answered (at this time) by scientific experimentation. Source: http://www.jashan.net
So if someone calls you a philosopher, you shouldn't get mad because they are indirectly saying you are boring; but rather, think about the fact that you are a cut above the average business man or university professor.
What's An Example of a Modern Philosophy?
When a man is buying a basket of strawberries it can profit him to know that the bottom half of it is rotten. — Mark Twain, Source: wisdomquotes.com
If you put a number of beliefs, principles and rules together, you have a philosophy. Take the core business principle to, "maximize shareholder wealth." This principle of business is commonly taught in business schools across the world as the fundamental goal of the public corporation.
Around this core belief, hundreds of professors, lawyers, judges and legislators developed thousands of pages of legal and scholarly documents. A businessman accepts this rule blindly, but a philosopher of business would ask, "Is this rule wise?"
Why is a Leadership Philosophy Important?
The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because philosophy is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. — John Gardner, Source: wisdomquotes.com
Leaders have followers. It's important to provide them a set of beliefs that they can use to make decisions and guide actions. For example, if one includes the principle of "maximizing shareholder wealth," as part of your leadership philosophy, it determines how you and your followers treat customers, employees, suppliers, the local community and the environment.
For Further Reading See: The Importance of A Leadership Philosophy
Two Extreme Leadership Philosophies
These are extreme because they represent opposites, like hot-cold, dark-light and good-bad. One sees both, but to be honest, there are many more individuals who follow the voice of authority model.
The Voice of Authority Model
There is no statement so absurd that no philosopher will make it.—Cicero, Source: wisdomquotes.com
The voice of authority model assumes individuals simple act like a cog in the organizational machine known as the chain of command. Individuals act as a mouth piece for someone in authority, a shooter of commands, an executer of action without thought. Some might argue that this is not even a philosophy at all, since it does not require a love of wisdom.
Unfortunately, many with leadership responsibilities never develop a philosophy, and never really figure out what it really means to be a great transformatonal leader. Unfortunately, one sees this kind of degraded leadership "philosophy" even in powerful CEO's.
For further reading on "voice of authority" see Business Week: Perform or Perish
The Guide For Life Model
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. Lin Yutang, Source: wisdomquotes.com
The "Guide for Life" model is consistent with the philosophical definitions above. It assumes leaders have a higher responsibility to come up with a set of principles that they can live by and shares with followers. The key is live by, since a philosophy should serve as a guide to life and business. One sees this kind of leadership philosophy fully developed in the teachings and life example of great religious figures such as the Buddha or Jesus Christ.
Establishing Your Leadership Philosophy
Developing a philosophy takes time but it came be shortened. Learn how
The following are some guidelines for developing your own leadership philosophy.
Philosophical Guideline 1: A Good Philosophy Has A Number of Guiding Principles
If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. —Seneca, Source: Said What
Editors and authors like to put numbers on things. For example, there are seven habits, (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), oops, I mean eight. Or maybe there are twenty-one. (The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You).
These are worthwhile books, but it's important to realize there is no magic number since your situation and responsibilities are not the same as someone else. For example, a supervisor on an assembly line would likely have a different set than a Hollywood director.
Leadership Principle 2: A Faulty Philosophy Has Unintended Consequences
It’s sometimes easy to forget how easily untended consequences can occur. Take the following story as an example:
A businessman decided to to send his wife a quick e-mail when he was on a business trip. Unfortunately, he missed one letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife, whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the screen, let out a scream, and fell to the floor in a faint. Her family rushed into the room and saw on the screen:
Dearest Wife,
Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.
Your Loving Husband
PS. Sure is hot down here
Years ago there was a very beneficial philosophy of business known as Total Quality Management. Those businesses that acted on these ideas improved product and service quality gaining a competitive advantage by doing so.
One of the central principles underlying this philosophy was known as, "Continuous Process Improvement." There was nothing wrong with this leadership principle, but it was incomplete since it allowed businesses to perfect process, but not perfect people.
So you had a paradox of flawed (meaning unskilled people) trying to perform in a process requiring perfection. A better way to state this philosophical principle would have been, "Continuously improve people and processes."
Philosophical Principle 3: Your Philosophy Should Change and Evolve
Men like the opinions to which they have become accustomed from youth; this prevents them from finding the truth, for they cling to the opinions of habit.
Moses Maimonides, 1135-1204, Egyptian physician and philosopher, Guide for the Perplexed
A good philosophy is not cast in concrete—it can change. This is easy to say, but usually this does not happen. This reminds me of a story:
The university president sighed as he went over the proposed budget offered him by the head of the department of physics.
"Why is it," he said, mournfully, "that you physicists always require so much expensive equipment? Now the department of mathematics requires nothing of me but money for paper, pencils, and erasers."
He thought a while longer and added, "And the department of philosophy is better still. It doesn't even ask for erasers." Source: Asimov, The Humor Treasury.
Moral of the Story: Beliefs Once Formed Rarely Change
Leadership Principle 4: It's Not Real Until Written
My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition. —
Indira Gandhi
A wise business leader will take the time to write something down on paper. This simple act forces you to clarify your thinking and define what's important. To give you an example of how this works, you should look into the life example of author, publisher, entrepreneur, scientist, inventor, diplomat, statesman and leader known as Benjamin Franklin.
Learn to Put together Your Philosophy
Wrap-up:
Greet leaders need to have a philosophy—a set of theory— that guides their actions. It helps you know whether you are on the right road and if your actions are wise. To not do so means you are like a leaf blown on the wind with no branch to hang onto in the tree of life.
Copyright
@ 2008 by Murray Johannsen. All Rights Reserved |
