Soul Thing e Book - Sauls Version

8/8/2019 Soul Thing e Book - Sauls Version

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The $ole Soul Thing That Matters in Business

I dedicate this book to my family, Annie, Mark, Anthony, Courtney

and Georgia, and to those who have been friends, coaches and

mentors on my journey.


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Alan Patching

Published by Revray Pty Ltd

Warana Avenue

Bribie Island 407

Queensland

Australia

All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be reproduced or transmit-

ted in any orm or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photo-

copying, recording or by any inormation retrieval system, without the prior

permission, in writing, o the author and the publisher

Copyright Alan Patching.

The author has asserted his moral rights.

ISBN

Cover design and book design by Saul Jarvie o Quo ConsultingMelbourne

Australia

www.quo.com.au

Printed by Watson Ferguson Company

Toohey Road

SalisburyBrisbane

Australia

www.wco.com.au


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Contents

Acknowledgements 4

Introduction 5

Background/Purpose o Book 6

Chapter One

Getting Things in perspective 11

Chapter Two The Concepts and Context of Spiritual Leadership 19

Chapter Three

The Basic Principle 31

Chapter Four

The Steps on the Journey to Highest Purpose 43

Chapter Five

Step 1 of the Journey -

Take Time to Consider and Understand 57

Chapter Six


Engage Support at Senior Leadership Level 62

Chapter Seven


Identifying/Establishing your Organisations Higher Purpose 72

Chapter Eight

Tips to Help You Break Through Organisational Cynicism 93

Chapter Nine

Step 4 - Spread the Word Seeking Alignment and Enrolment 123

Chapter Ten

Step 5 Run your organisation completely in accordance

with your established higher purpose 135

Chapter Eleven

Step 6 - Nurture and monitor progress, andStep 7 Celebrate success 170

Chapter Twelve

Conclusion 175


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Alan Patching

Acknowledgements

I extend my sincere thanks to Annie, my wie, or both her dedi-cation and hard work in preparing the manuscript or this work,

and or her invaluable and insightul comments and advice during

writing. I know o no one who lives more attuned to Soul Thing

principles.

Special thanks to Fr. Richard Rohr o the U.S.A. whose very

much on-purpose work has been instrumental in making it easy

or my sometimes overly analytical mind to better understand thespiritual journey and to accept that it is never easy. Thanks also to

Dr. Wayne Dyer o the USA whose many books have also been a

signicant guiding light in various aspects o my lie.

Finally, my thanks to my long time riend Dr. Denis Waitley o

the U.S.A., whose books and audio albums-and personal advice on

one or two occasions when we worked together-have inspired me

to chase my passion, and not my pensionto ollow my purposeor taking up space on this planet.

And nally an acknowledgement to all who might read this

book. In todays competitive business world, wherein more and

more is known about the importance to success o issues other than

prot, yet more and more attention appears to be given to prot to

the exclusion o all else, I acknowledge that this book might appear

somewhat conceptual or even an exercise in wishul thinking. It isconceptual in many ways, but in ways developed rom snippets o

experience which give me hope that what I write is possible on the

larger scale. I it gives rise to wishul thinking, then I might just

have achieved something worthwhile, or rom broad scale wish-

ul thinking can come broad scale hope or a better way o doing

things in our organisational lie, and hope can be the trigger o

realization o that which is hoped or.


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Introduction

Have you ever been absorbed in somethingperhaps even some-thing extremely importantand suddenly had the impulse that

something else even more important simply must be doneright

now? It never crossed your mind that anything could be more

important than what youre doing, and WHAM, out o the blue

something suddenly is; something that cannot be delayed, post-

poned, or delegated. You are inexplicably compelled to immedi-

ately turn your ull attention to this new endeavour. Its almost likeyou have no control over the compulsion and, even i you do, you

certainly have no desire to exercise it.

It happens in everyday mundane aspects o lie. Youre driving

o or an important meeting with no time to spare, yet something

out o let eld tells you youve orgotten something important.

You have no clue what it is but, thinking youre going mad at an

early age, you succumb to the urge and return home. Here yound youve let a door unlocked, the papers or your meeting are

on the kitchen bench (where a ew minutes earlier, youd ever so

careully rearranged your briecase) and your wallet is on the foor

adjacent to the door.

It happens in sport. A rugby winger just seems to get an urge to

trail behind his backline towards the opposite wing, and he has no

idea why. Ater all, i he did this throughout the game, hed eitherbe out o position when a great play opportunity developed, or

would be too exhausted to exploit opportunity when it presented

itsel. However, on this occasion, he ollows his instinct and soon

nds he is unmarked with the ball coming his way and a clear run

to the line.

This phenomenon also happens in amily and business lieIve

seen it and Im sure you have too.

This book is the product o one o those experiences.


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Alan Patching

Id been sitting in the oyer o the Gul Hotel in Bahrain, where I

was delivering a series o morning lectures and using the aternoon

to nish writing a book which looks at getting the right balance

between important issues as we ollow our journey through lie

and business. Id been having some diculty covering the gamut

o both personal and business lie in the one text without produc-

ing a door stop.

At around 0pm, the aha experience happened. I should write

two separate books, the business ocused book rst.

Here it is. I hope you enjoy it, while I get back to nishing the

work rom which the idea or this book germinated.

Background - Purpose o Book

Sadly, there are numerous people in our society who spend much

o their time working in jobs they simply do not like. These people

are oten motivated by the sole incentive o making sucientmoney in their jobs to be able to stop working in them as soon as

they possibly can. For a large number o these people, there is very

little i any meaning in what they do or a living beyond meeting

their basic living needs. Their jobs are or a $ole purpose, but they

have no Soul Purpose. Their jobs are nothing more than a means

to an understandable and necessary nancial end.

Corporations arent oten that much dierent. Manyromacross the range o small to large business, and rom publicly listed

to private organisationsseem to exist primarily, oten even exclu-

sively, or a single main purposeto maximise prot and share-

holder returns. For these corporations the bottom line is the $ole

thing that matters.

Relatively ew companies appear to ocus on identiying or

establishing real meaning, outside o prot and growth, in whatthey do. Few appear to demonstrate any evidence o having a

corporate soul.


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Right up ront I want to emphasise I am all or the traditional and

time honoured concept o making a reasonable prot rom air

business and personal dealings. Money, and particularly the cash

that remains to grow a business ater all expenses are covered, is a

legitimate and essential ocus or every person and business in our

society. As legendary American motivational speaker Zig Ziglar

says, be careul o people who tell you that money isnt important-

theyre likely to lie about other things as well!.

Yes, prot is important. It just isnt all there is. Many businesses

see prot as the sole thing that matters. In so doing they miss so

much opportunity to grow people as well as prots. And there-

in lies an interesting paradox, because when people are given an

opportunity to grow, they usually contribute more to the produc-

tivity and protability o the organisations or which they work.

The purpose o this book is to promote a change o approach,

or at the very least a change or broader distribution o empha-

sis, within the corporate world. I want to promote an adjustment

o ocus rom the almighty prot buck at the expense o virtu-ally everything else, to a ocus on a higher purpose o business

and its people than prot. Im convinced that this change o ocus

wont result in lowered prots but ironically, paradoxically and

almost certainly, in an increase in prots. Im also convinced that

the potential prot increase should not be the prime motivation

or ollowing the path I describe or reasons the should become

evident as you read on.I am not promoting discarding all your cash fow orecasting,

budget preparation and other managerial tools and techniques in

avour o some sot alternative where we all sit around the board-

room sharing love and aection and chanting ommmmmm

across an impressive musical range, while we wait or the clients

to walk into our businesses pushing their money in large wheel-

barrows. In act Im not about to suggest anything nave, and Imcertainly not about to suggest that you throw any business baby

out with the commercial bathwater.


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Alan Patching

But it does seem to me that somewhere between one extremethe

usual oneo a complete and exclusive ocus on prot maximi-

sation, and the otherthe nave oneo complete and exclusive

ocus on the sot aspects o business leadership, there is a third

way which arises rom the coincidence o these opposites. And it

seems to me this third way is available or exploitation (I like to

use hard business words occasionally to keep the extremely domi-

nant hemisphere driven olk interested) by both individuals and

corporations.

For individuals, I see the third way as a slight adaption o the

advice o my riend and colleague rom the USA, Dr Denis Waitley.

Denis advises us to chase our passion, and not our pension. What

a dierent scenario this is rom the working or pension with little

or no passion that is so common in todays workplace. For indi-

viduals, the third way might rst be to nd some spark o meaning

or purpose in what you do, regardless o how mundane that work

might be, and ocus on that meaning, draw energy and motivation

rom it, connect with ellow human beings and make some smalldierence in their lives through it, while keeping an alert eye on

the necessary pension until in a position to move closer towards

Denis ideal. Whatever happens, individuals grow when they move

rom the money but no purpose (and thereore no passion) end

o the continuum towards the passion (through purpose) rst,

and let the money ollow end.

By the way, spiritual leadership recognises the amazing oppor-tunity that is available to be exploited simply because so many indi-

viduals nd little meaning in their jobsbut more on that later.

The message or organisations is similar. Great opportunity

exists or corporate leaders to realise perormance increases beyond

their wildest imagination, and consequential prot increases. The

paradox is that to ocus exclusively on the traditional managerial

approaches to prot generation is not the only way, perhaps noteven the best way, to increase those prots. I reiterate, to move

to the opposite extreme, ignoring proper and proven business


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management principles, is precisely NOT what Im proposing. Im

proposing a third alternative.

For both individuals and corporations, this third way rst

involves identiying the main reasonthe higher purpose, i you

willor which the person or corporation exists. Ater that, its

about doing everything in their power to ensure absolutely every-

thing they do, and the way they do it, is aligned with that purpose

and leads towards its achievement.

Our society constantly teaches and reinorces the message that

money and possessions are the master keys o the doorway to

the reedom and happiness we seek in lie. Fortunately, there is a

growing awareness o the inherent lie. Im convinced that people

living in accordance with their lies purpose quickly experience a

sense o reedom and contentment that no amount o money (in

excess o that required to cover relatively basic needs) could ever

provide. Funny thing is, many o the ollowing purpose people I

know, while sometimes having ewer nancial resources than the

nancially ocused, also seem to have ewer nancial worries thanpeople caught on the treadmill o keeping up with the Joneses.

The trouble with trying to keep up with the Joneses a ew doors

up, is that they wont stand still or ustheyre too busy keeping up

with the Joneses in the next neighbourhood who, in turn, are too

busy keeping up with .. oh well, you get the picture.

Corporations ollowing a clearly dened higher purpose

demonstrate spiritual leadership. This is the type o leadershipwhich encourages their people to buy into or enrol in that higher

purpose, and which might involve them having to make some

hard decisions concerning people who cantand without estab-

lishing threat as a workplace motivator. Sackings will continue

until commitment improves denitely is not the catch cry o the

spiritual leader.

Higher purpose corporate leadershiptrue spiritual leader-ship-will neither partake in, nor tolerate, corporate politics, nor

multiple ill-considered o-purpose or non-dened projects, nor


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Alan Patching

resource wastage on unnecessary meetings and reports. This is

the leadership which embraces maximisation o prot, but only

within a ramework that respects and honours the environment,

community, and social structure, inter alia, in which it operates.

Corporations aligned with and driven by a clearly dened

higher purpose provide a working environment which attracts and

nurtures, and thereore retains, on-purpose people; passionate,

energetic people; people who perorm and produce more because

they have no interest in or time or non-sensical, o-purpose ego

building and personal posturing activities.

The logical result can only be less wastage o resources and

enhanced business prot. And isnt that what all corporations

legitimately recognise as one purpose o their existence in the rst

place?

Lets begin our journey towards higher prots rom higher

purpose, but without using the potential prot as our prime moti-

vation. Theres that paradox again!


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Chapter One

Getting things in perspective

Ill get right to the point. There are some very much misunderstood

and misapplied principles o modern business foating around the

corporate world today.

With the possible exception o corporate values no concept is

more misunderstood than corporate vision.A corporate vision is supposed to be a compelling inspiration

or every person working in an organisation; the indescribable

orce which compels us to motivate ourselves to strive beyond our

comort zone, convinced that in the quest or realising the stated

vision, we will not only contribute to company prots and surviv-

ability, but also will both benet at some personal level, and in

some way make the world a better place.

Actually, corporate vision in most cases is nothing more than

some ancy words created by senior management during yet

another junket to some trendy resort, and then printed in a place

o prominence in all company brochures and other marketing

material. There oten seems to be a logic that the business books

say we should have a vision, and our competitors quote a vision, so

wed better have one too behind many corporate vision identica-

tion exercises.

In other words, corporate vision is seldom the leadership tool

it is meant to be and ar more oten than not is little more than a

marketing concepti thats what an exercise in keeping up with

the corporate Joneses could ever be seen to be. As an inspirational

orce, most corporate visions have about the same value and power

as mashed potato.

Why so cynical? you might ask. Because experience tells

me Im right. Please dont read this as arrogance; I dont make

the statement with any sense o superiority, and I do stand to be


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Alan Patching

corrected by the presentation o acts and evidence which dier

rom mine.

For well over a decade Ive been presenting at corporate con-

erences all around the globe, attended by all levels o employees,

predominantly middle to senior managers, and asking a couple o

simple questions. The rst is does this organisation have a corpo-

rate vision? Ive seldom had a negative response to this question,

so I quickly move to the next. Can anyone in this room please

stand up and tell me what it is? I can easily count on my ngers

the number o people who have replied in the armative. I have

almost never had a single person accurately quote their organisa-

tions corporate vision. Not one single person in the several hun-

dred applications o the test to thousands o people rom hundreds

o organisations in over a dozen countries in over a decadeapart

rom pretty much all the olk Ive worked with at MTC Vodaone

in Kuwait. Their vision is simple x x . It reers to their being a

leading provider o mobile telephone services locallywithin three

years o setting the vision, regionallywithin a urther three years,and internationally within yet another three. It mightnt seem too

fash, but most o the people I met knew the vision and what it

meant, and could tell me exactly where MTC was in regard to its

achievement, which was right on target in the last three years o

the vision. The MTC people would be the rst to admit they dont

have all aspects o corporate lie perect (who does?) and their vi-

sion doesnt really grab me personallyapart rom one small actitseems to work or them, and thats impressive. But I digress.

My nal question is more to make my point than to elicit an

answer. I ask you, ladies and gentlemen. I you, the leaders o

this corporation, cannot quote to me your corporate vision, how

reasonable or realistic is it or you to expect your human capital to

be able to know that vision and be compelled and inspired by it to

increase their perormance in the market place?The response is always a period o refective silenceand it truly

can be deaening. Trying to dene a compelling corporate vision


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can be very dicult (i it is to be done correctly) and most o us

are so trapped in the system, and in our logical minds, to ever

hope to be successul in vision denition or derivation. We almost

invariably end up with some economic, or competitive target like

being the best in our eld, becoming the employee o choice in

our industry, achieving % net return on sales, or driving our

share price beyond the $0 mark while simultaneously increasing

dividend.

Want to know something? I take no issue with any o these as

corporate objectives, but as the big driver, the raison detre, the

sole thing that matters or your corporation? Come on, give me

a break. They just dont do it or me. They clearly dont do it or

most other people, either, judging by the responses I get in my pre-

sentations to those three simple questions.

Most corporate visions are a consequence o the over-riding

prot and shareholder returns (primary) thinking o business

leaders. They are thereore essentially economic in nature, and in

motivational psychology speak, economic motivators are extrin-sic. An extrinsic motivator will never be as powerul as one which

is intrinsic or the simple reason that motivation is an internal

orce which compels human behaviour.

Theres no doubt about it, most corporate vision suers rom

severe myopia.

Moving beyond corporate vision

So whats the answer? How can we get our people delivering beyond

our wildest expectationsmaybe even theirsand actually enjoying

the experience? The glib response would be get them rst to enjoy

what they do, and the delivery will eventually ollow! However,

that response lacks the depth that this book seeks to open up or

its readers. I think the answer lies in a change o perspective. A

movement away rom where we are going to whats going to get

us thereor anywhere. A movement away rom mind-numbing


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Alan Patching

debate over such pedestrian things as the dierence between vision

and mission (answerwho cares!) and a ocus inward to the most

important question any individual person can ever ask, and there-

ore, organisations being nothing more than collections o people,

the most important question any organisation can ask. That ques-

tion can be asked in several waysWhy do I exist? What am I here

or? What is my lie all about? In other words, what is the purpose

o my lie? Now that question might raise urther questions. In

seeking answers, its likely you will raise more responses than you

might expectto lead a good lie, to be a good son/daughter, to

contribute to society etc. etc.. All are valid responses. But lets be

honest, they are as obvious and predictable as they are relevant

and valid. They dont dene the big answer, the answer which will

dier rom person to person, the answer we usually nd ar more

dicult to identiy, and which many o us take more than hal our

lives to nd. They are, or many o us, (not all, mind you) reasons

or our existence, but not the main reasonthe Higher Purpose o

our existence.About a decade ago I presented to a group o South Australian

business people at an annual black tie event. It was attended by

what would be termed the cream o the business world, and one

o Australias leading business journalists shared the speaking pro-

gram with me. During question time ater both our presentations,

a gentleman asked in what ways we saw the organisations o the

uture diering rom those o the present day. I got the nod to re-spond rst, which gave me little time to ponder the question, and

so my answer was largely intuitive. I stated that I would need to

think about technical matters like structures, technology, methods

o service delivery and the like, but that beyond these and even

more important than them, I was certain o one thing. The corpo-

rations o the uture would need to share with Government the re-

sponsibility or social and community issuesto share their wealthwith those less ortunate, and in doing so create meaning or their

employees, or eventually suer higher taxes to nance the govern-


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ment eort which would clearly be required to address emerging

social problems. The snickers rom some in the audience were

audible throughout that room. My eelings moved rom humil-

ity to stupidity (a refection I admit, o a denite lack o maturity

on my part) when my co-presenter shot my comment down in

fames. Business always was and always will be he said, about its

shareholders. Its prime responsibility is to endeavour to maximise

return to those shareholders using whatever legal and legitimate

means at its disposal. Enthusiastic applause. No right o redress.

Good thing actually, I would have been lost or words. I knew that

rom his perspective, rom the perspective o the business culture

o the day, and certainly rom the perspective o the majority o

the audience, he was right, I was simply one o those sot headed

do-gooders with a dream that had no place in business.

And what relevance does this story have to the point o this

chapter? Everything, actually. Less than a decade ater that eve-

ning in Adelaide, the concept o Corporate Social Responsibility is

a big agenda item or many businesses. While I eel somewhat vin-dicated, I cant help wonder i some organizations into what has

become known as CSR are missing the point o it all. I cant help

but wonder i Corporate Social Responsibility is really just a new

string to the modern marketing bow, where the ocus is not on the

society being helped so much as on the benets that the corpora-

tion might gain rom the helping. I guess i you are a member o

the society in need, you dont much care i the beneactor is a riendindeed, motivated by empathy with your plight rather than an eye

or the benet that can be gained by helping you in that plight.

And or that reason alone, I dont want to give any sense that I am

knocking Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. They are

denitely a move away rom denitive sole thing business think-

ing and a small step or two towards Soul thing mentality.

I think the key to corporate perormance today is identica-tion o the Higher Purpose or the business. I Id said that during

my presentations a decade ago, people would quite possibly have


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Alan Patching

wanted to know where they could get some o what I must surely

have been smoking. But how things have changed over the last

0- years! I rmly believe there is a growing consciousness in

society; a consciousness which is moving some societal ocus away

rom the almighty I and toward the common good; a conscious-

ness which might be described as somewhat quantum or cosmic,

i you like, and which recognises that we are all responsible or a

patch o tur (and all lie within it) which extends ar beyond the

boundaries dened on our plot title or lease documents; a con-

sciousness which extends to, and embraces, the entire planet. Im

not sure this consciousness is yet making really major inroads to

all areas o the corporate world. However, I cannot see how the

corporate world can ignore this expanding consciousness, particu-

larly when it stands to benet so much rom it. Clearly, areas o

the corporate world are commencing to become involved with it.

How much o that involvement is based on deep understanding

o anything but economic aspects o the groundswell is another

question, the answer to which still remains to be seen.I you havent yet experienced this consciousness in your world,

dont take my word or its existence. Hop on the net or take a

quick visit to your local bookstore. Ten years ago, the sel help

shel would have been well stocked with texts on how to get rich

quick and retire early. Theres still no shortage o these titles, but

there is a prominent presence o titles within one other category in

particularspirituality. It makes sense really, because at a secularlevel, at least, the terms consciousness and spirituality are virtu-

ally synonymous.

A key product o this developing consciousness has been a

growing searching among people or a sense o purpose in their

lives. They want to know there is purpose and meaning in what

they do and that what they do is in line with their Higher Purpose.

They are leaving big corporate in droves as they seek to live onpurpose. Sea change in some areas o Australiaand Im sure in

many other countries, is not only a modern termits ast becom-


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7


ing a modern industry.

The on purpose or meaning phenomenon is not restricted to

those within or emerging rom the mandatory mid-lie crisis. Sev-

eral research works have identied the establishment o meaning

in their work as the actor most likely to signicantly reduce the

tendency among todays youth to so regularly move rom job to

job, with the huge corporate training costs etc. that can entail.

Let there be no doubt, the developing consciousness which

is leading so many people to seek to live a lie in line with their

Higher Purposein alignment with the very reason they existalso

exists within our corporations (it mustthats where most people

spend much o their waking hours).

For those corporations with sucient insight to see and accept

this reality, great opportunity awaits. Those which lack this insight

will have little choice but to undertake the journey I am about to

describe in response to a mix o external competitive pressure rom

those who saw the light and proceeded to reap the benets, and

internal demand rom an increasingly disgruntled human capitalbase.

The corporate higher purpose journey

And what is this journey I speak o? Simple! Unless you can be

pretty sure your people, or a large majority o them, can quote your

vision word or word, not because they learnt it parrot ashion,

but because they heard it, they learned it, they enrolled in it and

they believe in it without doubt, then immediately drop the idea

o trying to drive your business rom the outside with a vision o

what it can be and what it might do in uture. Then immediately

replace that idea with a search to identiy the purposethe highest

purpose or which your corporation exists, then do nothing that

doesnt take you step by (perhaps altering) step towards achieving

that purpose.

Earlier in this chapter I described most corporate visions as eco-


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Alan Patching

nomics ocused and, thereore, as not-so-powerul extrinsic mo-

tivators. As leaders, we are looking or more powerul intrinsic

motivators o ourselves and our people. Motivators that not only

get people going, but also incite passion and excitement. Such

motivators, i embraced in corporate vision would always align

with the intrinsic drivers o individualsthe things about which

ordinary human beings care most. Common sense, and a basic

understanding o human behaviour, not to mention the global re-

sponse to nine-eleven in 00 and the more recent Tsunami trag-

edy, tell us that the things ordinary human beings care about at

the deepest level arent actually things-and they most certainly do

include other human beingsas individuals, as societies, and as na-

tions. Surely then, it makes sense or any organisation to establish

visions which embrace a higher corporate purpose than the solely

economic, that recognise and seek to align with the clearly under-

stood and demonstrated higher purpose motivations o ordinary

people. Surely it makes sense or any organisation to establish a

higher purpose ocused on caring or the environment, the com-munity and the society in which it operateson making the world

a better placeas much as on making money or the sake o making

money. Surely it makes sense to establish a powerul and intrinsi-

cally motivating ecological purpose or vision-one which can em-

brace prot as an objective o organisational operations, but not

as the only objective.

This book discusses how you might go about that task.

It will be very dicult indeed to achieve a lot along the path o

purpose driven passion in the organisational context without spir-

itual leadership.

So lets briefy examine the characteristics o spiritual leaders.


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Chapter Two

The Concepts and Context oSpiritual Leadership

The concept o spiritual leadership is poised to become as widely

understood, accepted and applied in the successul organisation

o the uture as Six Sigma Quality, 0 degree eedback, Balanced

Scorecard and Enterprise Project Management. In this chapter,

well examine the reasons or this. These reasons have their rootsin both organisational and personal arenas.

In the business world, the last couple o decades have produced

massive change, much o it borne o rapid technological enhance-

ment. With the same rate that the place o technology in business

became absolutely secure, the job security o individuals disap-

peared as a characteristic o the work environment.

Increasingly vigorous demands or higher and higher levels oprot by growing numbers o investors with increased knowledge

o the investment environment led to corporate downsizing at

every opportunity becoming commonplace. However, with the

disappearance o job security came the disappearance o job loy-

alty. Gone with the virtual guarantee o a lietime or any long term

job, is any semblance o lietime or long term job loyalty. Most o

my colleagues rom college days have worked in only one or twojobs during the 0 years since we earned our ormal qualications.

Most o my sons colleagues had worked in 4- jobs beore their

st birthday and can be expected to treble that number beore

they double that age. That represents a huge training cost or or-

ganisations, not to mention a nightmarish number o managerial

problems, particularly in any hal decent economic conditions.

It only takes these job hoppers a couple o job hops to gain thecondence to keep moving on whenever they eel the need. And

it doesnt take much to constitute a need. These people are chil-

dren o the era o the eight second news grab and the one sec-


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Alan Patching

ond music video scene. Boredom comes easy to them, and they

dont respond well to any hint o aggression in authority gures.

However, many o these people do have a well developed sense o

responsibility in areas such as environment and air play. Their

tribal youth culture gives them a great sense o connectedness

among themselves. Sure, theyre as attracted as the next person to

the dollar, but given a choice, they will always choose to earn that

dollar in a work environment wherein they nd some meaning in

what they do and many are unlikely to push or a dollar (beyond

the level required to live) at the expense o other values.

The spiritual leader understands this, and will always seek to

provide that sense o meaning they seek.

Few organisations comprise only younger people. When we

look at people in their 40s and upward, we nd a generally com-

mon (and growing) characteristictime poverty.

Work pressure, increased commuting time, and increased am-

ily commitments arising in part rom the need to keep children

occupied in a range o pursuits to decrease their exposure to thetyranny o drugs, are key actors contributing to time poverty.

Time poverty brings with it a decreased energy and opportu-

nity or social and community connection outside o amily and so

people now tend to appreciate a sense o community in their work-

place. The spiritual leader comprehends this and seeks to provide

that sense o connection and community. In our book The

Futureproo Corporation, Dr Denis Waitley o the U.S.A. and Idescribed certain characteristics o leadership or innovation in

organisations. Today we need to extend those characteristics by

one item. There is no question that in todays organisations, the

trust based sense o community ostered by spiritual leaders is vital

to the optimum release o innovation.

In increasingly secular western societies, there is an increasingly

vigorous competition or power and control in many organisa-tions, ostering unprecedented levels o silo mentality and corpo-

rate politics, the costs o which, i saved, could put a substantial


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dent in world poverty. Indeed, a Harvard Business Review article

in late 00 reported 4% o some 00 senior managers admitted

to being personally involved in corporate politics.

Only a level o spiritual leadership can eectively deal with these

issues which we will address in detail later in this book.

Our prot conscious corporate environment might speak o

human capital. However, when economic cycles take their down-

ward swing, its not uncommon to see large numbers o rank and

le people made redundant beore high level management salaries

are reduced (and i those salaries were justied by perceived ability

to produce more prot, isnt it perectly reasonable that the anti-

thetic logic should also apply?) and corporate expense accounts

cancelled. The spiritual leader realises that people really are an

asset, and even when the economic environment deteriorates so

ar that human assets do inevitably become intolerable expenses,

the spiritual leader never loses sight o the act they are still people,

and so treats them with airness, dignity and respect.

Customers/clients and workers alike have seen enough o or-ganisational values statements which oten are little more than

public relations exercises aimed at showing how the particular

organisation is keeping up with those corporate Joneses. Spiri-

tual leaders understand that, regardless o the words in the values

statement, the people who make up the organisation, or the most

part, have spiritual, amily and sel-related values, generally in that

descending order o priority, above any value or money (and cer-tainly above the level o money required or basic human existence

in the particular society in which they exist). This being the case,

any corporate values that do not rate people higher than custom-

ers, or at least as high as them, simply are not in alignment with

the values o the people who deliver the corporate values, and are

thereore a sham. The organisations customers/clients know this

is true. Its people know this is true. And spiritual leaders knowthis is true and try to do something about it.


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23/177


something (ear) but rather towards a compelling objective.

That objective is transormation into the True Sel, the Divine

(or universe connection) within. The amous Swiss Psychia-

trist Carl Gustav Jung might call it the path o Individuation

and Transcendenceo moving away rom the demands o our

western (in particular) cultural pattern o establishing onesel

as an important, better-than-the-rest ego (alse sel) driven

individual and becoming what the person is on earth to be-True

Sel, a separate individual but with a sense o psychic wholeness

and integration, through the collective unconscious, with the

Universe and everything in it.

In the corporate context, one might agree that a clear and compel-

ling corporate vision can provide the inspiration or people to

strive in unity and with enthusiasm towards achieving that vision.

Indeed, in The Futureproo Corporation Dr. Denis Waitley and I

were strong advocates o that approach. We stand by the power o

a properly established and promoted vision. However, I am nowconvinced there is a better approacha preerred path. And that is

the higher purpose, more-than-economics path described in this

book. Having said that, I think using vision and purpose together

correctly would be the ideal orm o utureproo leadership.

The personal spiritual journey inevitably involves a transorma-

tion rom a sel centred, ego based lie ocused on status, image,power and control, material and wealth acquisition to one in

which the person is ocused on realising the higher purpose

or his or her very existence, on becoming one with the Divine

within-the Universe within i you preer, on becoming his or her

True Sel. This change o ocus necessitates a certain humility,

a letting go o the need or power and control, and a realisation

that the best things in lie are not things.

In the corporate context, the higher purpose journey does not lose


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4

Alan Patching

ocus on economic matters (anymore than an individual can lose

complete ocus on the economics necessary or a reasonable lie-

style, and assisting others in his or her amily and community) but

places equal ocus on other issues which are described in detail in

later chapters. For now we shall reer to these issues as ecological

rather than economic in nature.

The individual spiritual journey inevitably involves integrat-

ing what Jung termed The Shadow into ones personality. The

Shadow can be loosely dened as those aspects o a persons lie

characterised by inerior or animal qualities which the persons

ego wants to keep hidden rom others. An expression oten

used to describe this process is making riends with, accepting

and orgiving the shadow. A person simply cannot experience

an integrated psyche without making riends with his or her

shadow.

Similarly, the higher purpose journey or any organisation mustinclude dealing with shadow actors which the organisation would

preer to keep hidden rom the world at large and especially rom

its customers/clients. Things like rampant corporate politics, silo

mentality and other such issues which inevitably have an impact

on costs, and thereore on the prices customers/clients must pay

or the organisations product and/or services.

The personal spiritual journey involves, inter alia, a certain

degree o discipline, courage, compassion, tolerance and trust.

There is no question these same qualities are a requirement o

any corporate higher purpose initiative.

The personal spiritual journey is not about religion, although

one could say that the prime purpose o religion is to show usthe way o the spiritual journey. It is very much a personal and

experiential thing and denitely not an adherence to any reli-


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gious dogma. In its loosest denition, it is about becoming the

very best we are capable o being, and experiencing a sense o

harmony with the universe at large in so doing. The same can

be said about the organisational higher purpose journey.

This listing o points doesnt pretend to represent an extensive

assessment o the personal or corporate spiritual journey. In act it

doesnt come close. However, its sucient or my current purpose

o indicating the parallels between a personal spiritual journey

and the higher purpose ocused corporate initiative. In so doing I

believe it provides context or the term spiritual leadership.

Characteristics o spiritual leaders

Earlier in this chapter, I presented some examples which demon-

strated some dierences between spiritual leaders and leaders in

the usually understood organisational use o the term. To close

this chapter, Ill schedule some other characteristics o spiritual

leaders:

They realise their primary role is to help make and manage

connections among the people with whom they work at all levels

o an organisation, and begin the process by making newcomers

eel wanted, cared or and respected.

They exempliy the change they know must occur in the organi-

sation.

They are aware o the shortcomings in their people and manage

these eectively. However they ocus on peoples positive points

and promote pride and personal growth through requent

acknowledgement o those positives.

They are grounded real people: There is no single description


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Alan Patching

o all aspects o spiritual leaders. Spiritual leaders take orm

in all human shapes, and sizes, and they are characterised by

certain qualities (including but not necessarily limited to the

ones in this list) which compel their behaviour, regardless o

their personality type.

They always embrace diversity.

They are committed to the principle that it is dicult tending

impossible to expect a level o transormation in their people

which exceeds the level o transormation they themselves have

experienced.

They are not at all into blame and justication behaviour, or

in creating or playing the victim. They ask what have I done to

contribute to a particular situation? rather than look or some-

one to blame. They openly admit to mistakes rather than try to

justiy their actions when things go wrong. They dont blameothers or the way they eel or act but rather question what trait

within themselves is causing them to react to other people the

way they do.

They see purpose in what they do, and it shows.

They realise that people are motivated by moving towardsachievement o their personal purpose and potential (as per

Maslows Hierarchy o Needs and Jungs theories as well as the

teaching o several spiritual traditions). They realise that people

enjoy collaboration with work colleagues o similar values within

an organisation that embraces and respects those values. They

realise that people do value their society and other societies that

share the planet with them and appreciate the opportunity toexpress those values through a ocus on community, environ-

ment, social justice, and service. In short, they do not see money


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7


as the sole basis or meaning in their lives, and they understand

that many people they work with would, given the opportunity,

proess and respond to similar values.

They appreciate positive competition and understand the

importance o promotion within an organisation, but they strive

to have their people understand the importance o enjoying

what they do now, and the distractive (and potentially destruc-

tive) power o maintaining ocus out there on a destination

promotion at the expense o the joy and enjoyment o the jour-

ney right here, right now. As or themselves, they remain aware

that theres no point arduously ascending the ladder, as Richard

Rohr says, only to nd it wasnt leaning against the correct wall.

Consequently, they question what they think promotion and

power and greater wealth might give them, and then return to

the understanding that while these things might give them addi-

tional liestyle options, they already possess within themselves

much o what they might seek in pursuing these options.

They understand that corporate values are what an organisation

demonstrates by their actions and not what they display in writ-

ing in their reception areas (unless the action and the words are

congruent).

They are emotionally intelligent-aware o their own eelings andreactions (and the impact o these on others) and sensitive and

perceptive to the eelings o their people.

They understand that confict can be productive and remain

aware o and sensitive to the point at which it becomes personal

or positional rather than principled, (and thereore useless to

pursue or allow to be pursued).

They understand that, just as dierent people have dierent


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Alan Patching

levels o experience, qualications and intellectual develop-

ment, they also have dierent levels o spiritual understanding

and development, and thereore expect dierent responses rom

dierent people to spiritual leadership.

In the personal context their leadership style is one o point-

ing people to the path (oten by asking the questions that help

people nd the path or themselves in the same way as do several

spiritual traditions) rather than precisely dene the path or

them.

They might be rm, but they are always air, reasonable and

compassionate and never remain attached to an opinion to the

exclusion o others ideas, regardless o rom where these ideas

might come.

They demonstrate indierence both to matters which have no

consequence in relation to corporate higher purpose or organi-sational values, and so remain impervious to corporate politics

and silo mentality etc.

They understand that there are no degrees o honesty and integ-

rity. A person either is honest or is not; they either have integrity

or they do not.

They understand the dierence between extroverted and intro-verted people (in the Jungian contexts o drawing energy rom

either the outer world or inner world respectively) and adopt

dialogue circle techniques which ensure equal opportunity or

input rom both more reserved and more outspoken people to

ensure all their people eel ree and comortable in contributing

to organisational eort.

They understand group dynamics and seek to ensure the opin-

ion o the majority o a group doesnt unreasonably suppress


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the valued opinion o a single member or minority o the group.

That is not to say they compromise in decisions. Rather they

collaborate and never leave people eeling their opinion was not

valued and respected in the decision making process.

With that overview o the characteristics o the spiritual leader,

lets now look at the approach with which such a leader might get

the very best rom his or her people.


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0

Alan Patching

Chapter Three

The Basic Principle

During the past decade I have observed a tangible growth in human

consciousness at the level o the individual. In that same period

Ive noticed a denite trend even urther away rom any quan-

tum, relational or cosmic/connected consciousness at the corpo-

rate level, and I say this despite the obvious increase in CorporateSocial Responsibility ocus in many organisations.

Theres no denying an increase in public minded activity by the

corporate world generally. However, it seems that by and large this

activity, while undoubtedly ecological in nature, is driven as much

by economics as any corporate behaviour has ever been. It seems

old habits really do die hard. These economic drivers usually in-

clude a need to keep up with the corporate competition, includingin their ecological endeavours. And those usually include exploita-

tion o the public relations value o ecological activity.

Allow me to say there is nothing wrong with these reasons or

social contribution, and certainly the recipients o the benets o

any corporate ecological eorts are hardly going to complain. I

simply believe ecological eort can be the right thing or the wrong

reasonsperhaps not the best reasons would be a better expres-sion o my thoughts. I your human capital believes ecological e-

ort to be primarily economics driven, they might react with cyni-

cism and rejection rather than alignment and engagement. The

end result might well be paradoxicalin blatantly seeking prot

through an ecological aade, an organisation just might nd its

peoples perormance reducing. Cynicism might just drive prots

down a little.This lip service approach to ecological ocus also appears to

extend to other areas o business. Lets examine a ew o these.

Ater years (and volumes) o ocus on customer service, the sur-


31/177


veys Ive been involved with still point to customer service being

a oreign concept not ar below the surace o many organisations.

Sure, theres a broad appreciation o the value o the customer and

theres the manual which denes how to deal with a number o

customer interace situations. However, present any situation not

specically covered by the corporate hand book and all bets are o.

The admirable breadth o the customer service philosophy imme-

diately collapses in a heap due to lack o depth. Customer service

is faunted by the business as i it were the sole thing that matters,

but it isnt close to being part o the soul o many a business.

Weve all experienced speaking with the technology generated

voice o the company which really values our customers and weve

all waited or ages to get to a human voice in a call centre. -0

minutes is not an extraordinarily long waiting time when calling

airlines and some I.T. service related organisations. It seems di-

cult to believe that corporate leadership could be so ar out o

touch with human needs; yet their persistence is paying o be-

cause customers expectations have been so reduced through longexposure to this lack o service that we are becoming accepting o

the long delays and the poor excuses or them.

From conducting project management and leadership courses

in several countries, Ive observed a tendency on behal o some

senior management to be prepared to spend substantial sums on

training their people to change the way they approach their work

and their projects, but these same senior managers are reticent toembrace any concept that might demand transormation o their

own attitude and thinking on various issues. As an example, while

the corporate world at large has been quick to embrace the proj-

ect management approach to delivering corporate strategy proven

so eective in the construction, engineering and oil and gas in-

dustries in particular, many corporate managers cannot embrace

the important attitude o construction company leaders. That at-titude involves management in construction companies handing

over complete control o even the most expensive projects to care-


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Alan Patching

ully selected and well trained project teams and then taking a role

o supporting the teams eorts, despite the act that most team

members might sit well below those same corporate managers in

the overall organisational hierarchy. Such a concept is completely

oreign in many a corporate situation.

Issues or organisations

Despite the huge exposure o most o todays corporations to any

number o leadership and modern management philosophies,

there are numerous situations where the tension between manage-

ment and staeven in very successul organisationsis palpable.

Few corporate employees, regardless o hierarchical position,

would deny the continuing, i not growing incidence o:

Extensive change, oten apparently or little more reason than

the sake o change itsel.

An increasing number o projects, generally requiring

commencement without proper planning, many being canned

well prior to completion, and most o which take longer than

scheduled and cost well in excess o budget. Projects in the I.T.

sector in particular are notorious or budget blow outs and late

completions.

A seemingly incessant chain o corporate enhancement activi-

ties, re-branding, re-engineering, restructuring and re-merg-

ing, oten accompanied by downsizing, right sizing and various

other euphanisms or people losing their jobs.

More and more work to be done by ewer and ewer people, with

an always increasing amount o this work entailing at least some

level o seemingly senseless paperwork and constant reporting


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which no one is sure ever really gets read. (The main reason or

much reporting in some projects environments seems to be little

more than weve always had this level o reporting).

Burgeoning corporate politics, the level o which is surpassed

only by the level o denial o its very existence.

Ever increasing communication o meaningless detail despite

near eradication o worthwhile, open, honest and transparent

keep us in the picture communication.

Increasing perceptions among management that sta simply

cannot understand why management has to do what manage-

ment does.

Increasing perceptions among sta that management simply

does not accept that sta problems are real and pressing corpo-

rate problems.

Have you ever stopped to ask three very salient questions:

. Does this stu happen in my organisation?

. Why?

. How much is it costing us?

I suspect many would agree with answers along the lines:

. Statistically speakingprobably

. Because your organisation lacks purpose, and

. Most probably, an obscenely ridiculous amount.

Its not dicult to see why so many o the organisations in whichwe work waste so much time, money and energy on o-purpose

activities like those mentioned above. Ater all, isnt it a act that so


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4

Alan Patching

many o us who make up these corporations do very similar things

in our private lives. Isnt it a act that, as individuals, we:

Take on too much without thinking things through and prioritis-

ing.

Spend too much time watching too much nonsense television at

times when important tasks remain undone.

Work ar too long hours and then eel guilty as we attend the

kids sports or culture events more to keep up appearances than

because we really want to be there. (Ater all, that overdue weekly

report still isnt nished).

Plan amily lie on an ad hoc basis with too little communication

among all amily members prior to commitments being made.

Many will get the picture. The question is, are we honestly awareo the extent to which we are part o the picture?

Being on purpose

The situation at both personal and business levels is nothing short

o crazy. By the way, Im not writing purely rom the perspec-

tive o an objective observer. I have been very much part o this

personal and business craziness. From time to time at some level

I still am. Awareness doesnt equate to immunityits just a step in

the right direction. Do you know at the completion o the Sydney

Olympics, prior to my leaving my position (which was involved in

development o the main stadium) I reviewed the project les and

specically the reports and letters Id personally written. There

were literally thousands o them. The crazy reality is, I dont believe

the project outcome would have been one iota dierent had I not

written % o those documents. I shudder when I think o the


35/177


personal energy I expended on so many negative issues, and the

time that I wasted that could have better been dedicated to higher

value amily or personal issues. Oh, how dierently Id do things

i I did another Olympic Stadium Project.

But then, I never would. To do so would not be to act in accor-

dance with my lies purpose at this time, and acting on purpose is

the point o this book.

I am convinced the career aspect o my lies purpose is to draw

upon my past business, leadership and project experience in writ-

ings, presentations, and consultancy that will assist others have

more productive and more meaningul business and personal lives

or the eventual greater benet o society at large.

Now you can regard that as grandiose B.S. or a beautiul and

commendable lies journey. Thats your choice, and what you

choose to think about my lies purpose is none o my business.

What is my business (because its my driving purpose) is to en-

courage you to seek the highest purpose o your own lie, and the

highest purpose o your business. For this book, henceorth, Illrestrict my comments to business purpose. Running your business

on purpose is not as easy as it might sound, but nowhere near as

dicult as you might think. It will take a lot o eort, particularly

in the early stages, but the eort should not be particularly com-

plex, and it will be rewarding.

Theres something about people who are living their lives in

alignment with what they perceive to be the highest purpose ortheir existence. They have a passion, an energy level, and an en-

thusiasm about the way they go about their lives which can drive

you nuts i youre not experiencing similar passion rom purpose

in your own lie. Once these people set their minds on something

they dont let anyone or anything get in the way o their achiev-

ing it. They dont waste their energies on corporate politics. They

remain positive and optimistic when others are so ocused on thehole they cant even see theres a doughnut around it. They seem to

have boundless energy or everything they do, and its inectious.


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Alan Patching

A case in point is Vlada, who attended a recent workshop I acili-

tated in Dubai at the Festivale (events management) conerence

run by my client IIR Middle East. Vlada took notes at a rate which

would have given me writers cramp. She sought opinions rom

other delegates (and me) during breaks. She oozed passion or

her events management career. Perhaps her enthusiasm becomes

more understandable when you come to realise Vlada worked

with the USSR Government when it was going broke. Going to

work or months on end with no pay cheque in sight gave her a

clear understanding o helplessness. But she didnt let it get to her.

Rather she channeled that understanding into a passion or help-

ing people who eel helpless (to some degree) to plan and run the

business events they need to stage. Muna was another delegate at

the same workshop. She lives in Beirut and shows similarly clear

passion as Vlada. Her love o Lebanon comes through in the pride

with which she speaks o her homeland, and the passion with

which she goes about telling as many people as possible just what

a wonderul place it is. I could share hundreds o stories such asthese. Stories o passion about people who didnt always have what

they have now, who have a humble sense o sel-responsibility and

who appreciate the opportunity they have to be purposeul. The

people behind these stories are my main reason or doing much o

my work in the Middle East. Working with people like Vlada and

Muna gives me a sense o meaning and being on purpose with my

own lie.But what about people who like the concept o this book but

are not at a senior level o their organisation and eel they are not

in a position to make a dierence? The story o Pat Pearce, who

recently retired rom British Airways ater many years in various

cabin crew roles on dierent types o aircrat, is an inspiring ex-

ample o just what can be achieved by ordinary people on purpose.

Pat and her partner at the time noticed the reactions on the aceso 00 young children who attended a Disney World Road Show

in Birmingham, England. Over a ew drinks with riends ater the


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7


event, someone asked what she would be doing the ollowing year,

and she simply responded, taking a group o kids to Disney World

itsel . That was the commencement o Dreamfight, Pats charity

which has now been operating or 0 years.

Each year, Dreamfight takes a group o a couple o hundred

gravely ill and disabled children between the ages o and 4 to

Disney World in Florida USA. Each year 00 volunteers rom both

sides o the Atlantic are involved. The children are ormed into

groups o and each group has volunteer helpers, including a

doctor, three nurses, and a physiotherapist. The group leaves rom

a separate hangar and arrives away rom the main terminal. Each

year the Orlando police department provides some 40 motor cy-

clists who circle the Boeing 747 on arrival with sirens wailing and

lights fashing. These police then provide an escort down the I4

highway, which is closed to all but the bus loads o people rom

Dreamfight. The only other occasion when this road is closed is

or visits by the President o the USA.

Those children enjoy ten days in the theme parks o Orlan-do. They go home as dierent people, and they appreciate all at

Dreamfight or that experience. When one o the children turned

he decided to get christened and asked the rst ocer rom his

Dreamfight experience to be his Godather.

Pat Pearce was awarded the MBE by the Queen or her services

to Dreamfight but, while she is proud o her award, she told me

the real rewards come rom seeing what a dierence the trip makesto the children, and realising she has created something that makes

a dierence and which will survive her. She knows it will survive

her because it worked very well without her one year when she

was stricken with cancer hersel. Not that a little thing like cancer

could ever deter a woman on purpose like Pat. She told me I am

sure the cancer was sent to me so I can relate to the children better.

When they talk about losing their hair through chemo, I can sharemy no hair stories with them, and they love it. Pats only regret is

that these days children take the trip each year, and she travels


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Alan Patching

as trip director. The other leaders work with kids and really get

to know them, but with to work with, it is dicult or me to

have that close experience.

And the Dreamfight experience Pat will never orget? She vis-

ited Number 0 Downing Street, the home o the British Prime

Minister with 0 o the children one year. On the way she had

mentioned to a couple o the kids that when she was young, oten

she had bread and tomato sauce or lunch due to amily econom-

ics, but that she still occasionally had them because she quite liked

them. During the aternoon tea, the waiter delivered a plate o to-

mato sauce sandwiches to her ater the children had a word in his

ear on her behal, and the ketchup had been sourced (pardon the

pun) rom Prime Minister John Majors kitchen.

Dreamfight has taken a lot o eort driven by the passion o a

person on purpose. Costing some 0,000 British pounds annu-

ally, it is a huge operation and is now supported by the und raising

eorts o many, especially British Airways sta. Volunteers like

Annie and Alan Green and Ngairey Palin and hundreds like them.Despite the hard work, Pat and her associates are o one mind in

saying they always get ar more out o it than they ever put in.

There is no doubt that individuals really can make a much big-

ger dierence than we might imagine. Imagine i leaders could

harness this sort o passion rom purpose within the corporate

world. I think they can. I they want that passion all they need to

do is to nd their higher purpose, and hire people who align withand enroll in that purpose. Its as simpleand as complex-as that.

Its simple because o the obvious act that corporations are

only collections o people and at the deepest leveldare I say it,

at the level o soulpeople have common interests and purpose

or at least aspects o purpose. We are all interested, deep within

our souls, at the level o our True Selves, in the common good,

in looking ater the world we live in and in striving to make it abetter place or ourselves, our amilies and the generations to ol-

low. We are all moved by the tragedy o loss o a loved one in our


39/177


amilies and empathise with ease when our close riends suer loss

in theirs. We are all moved by the beauty o a spring sunrise over

the ocean, or a stirring piece o music well perormed, the silence

o the desert in the early morning and the rhythmic breaking o

ocean waves in the early evening. At the level o soul, we are one.

Its complex because just about everything to which we are

exposed in society, including in many cases our corporate envi-

ronments, does little i anything, to reinorce this sense o human

connectedness. Quite the contrary, in act. Virtually everything

in western culture in particular emphasises the survival o the t-

test, the glorication o the top, the allure o power, the attraction

o materialistic acquisition, the requirement to be ashionable and

pretty, to drive the trendiest car, to live in the classiest neighbour-

hoods, to wear our wealth like a certicate o lie achievement, and

to regard anyone who has no (less?) wealth as an unortunate or

an unmotivated loser (even i sometimes at the subconscious lev-

el). I never cease to be amazed at how peoples attitude to another

perhaps not so trendily presented person at a social gathering canchange instantly when they hear o the $00 million company that

person recently sold, or the best selling book she has written, or the

Olympic Gold Medals he has won or the trophy like partner that

ashion challenged individual has acquired. It happens virtually

subconsciously with little apparent awareness o the behaviour by

those exhibiting the behaviour. Amazing!

Folks, this all too common behaviour in our society is what themonk, Thomas Merton, developing somewhat on the work o psy-

chologist Carl Jung, reerred to as alse sel behaviour. It is ar

and remote rom the behaviour o the True Sel, the soul sel, i

you like. It is the characteristics o the Tue Sel that leaders must

tap into to harvest peoples energy and passion, and yes, the prot

these are capable o producing. But prot should be the conse-

quence in this exercise, not the primary objectivebut more on thiscontroversial point later herein.

Make no mistake about it, the type o leadership required to


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40

Alan Patching

tap those oten dormant resources is a long way removed rom the

(necessary) leadership and management indicated and endorsed by

let brain ocused seminars, books and university courses. In act,

people too weighed down by the mantle o this type o educational

exposure will have, in all likelihood, given up on this book ages ago.

Setting a purpose or an organisationa higher purposehopeully

its highest purpose, one in which its people can see alignment with

at least elements o their own lies purposetakes a special type o

leadership. It takes spiritual leadership. Leadership that can search

deep down within the very soul o the organisation (and nding a

soul might in itsel be a massive challenge in many corporations),

identiy the highest purpose deep within that soul, and then use

that purpose to raise the consciousness, the spirit, and the passion

o the organisation to heights never imagined possible.

And Im convinced beyond doubt that the passion o people

acting on purpose must result in increased perormance, produc-

tivity and prot.

That just sounds like eervescent roth with no managementor scientic basis, the cynics might well be saying. And I hasten to

oer absolutely no managerial or scientic deence o that allega-

tion. In act, I take it as high compliment. My strongly non-domi-

nant hemisphere infuenced interpretation o eervescent roth is

words written about, and with passion, enthusiasm and purpose,

and thereore incomprehendable to the seriously dominant hemi-

sphere infuenced/aficted.When I write and speak about this subject, I do so with pas-

sion and enthusiasm because I know I am living and working in

alignment with a signicant element o the higher purpose o my

own lie. I am my own evidence to mysel that this purpose stu

really works. I am also an endorsement to mysel that all the study,

learning, reading and applying o the management, project man-

agement and related principles and experience o well over twothirds o my career, revealed to me nothing o the true power o

purpose. That only became apparent to me when I took stock o


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a strange situation. As I built impressive results or my clients I

sensed I was destroying mysel at the coreI was being very suc-

cessul in soul-destroying work. More accurately, and to remove

any suggestion o ault lying anywhere other than with mysel, I

should say I was achieving great success using a behaviour style

which elt appropriate to the business circumstances, but was soul-

destroying (to mysel).

Its amazing what insights one has, and with what great clarity,

when the veil is lited. Its amazing how this seems to happen not

when we are right on top, but ironically, when we are near rock

bottom (even i others see us still to be on top by virtue o the re-

sults we are producing with the auto pilot in ull control).

In the next chapter I will use analysis o one such experience as

a basis or deriving a series o stepping stones to assist you get your

businessand perhaps your lie/career back on-purpose, and to

enjoy the protability that I am convinced will fow rom the pas-

sion that being on-purpose will produce in the people that make

up your organisation.I invite you to join me on this journey into spiritual leader-

shipand why not bring your organisation along or the wild and

wonderul experience?

Our secular society has largely not realised that the most pow-

erul source o sel value and esteem is our centre within and so

teaches us to seek ame and recognition in the external world. It

does not understand the concept o the power o humility andspiritualitythe power that comes rom who we are at the deep-

est level, and not rom our external titles or what we do, and so

teaches us to pursue dominative power. Such a society at times

produces situations wherein the ultimate expression o domina-

tive power and seeking ame (or notoriety in this instance) is to

take an automatic weapon and indiscriminately spray lethal bursts

around the local school, ast ood outlet or tourist attraction.Never has there been a greater need or spiritual leadership in

our world. Spiritual leadership in amilies, schools, universities,


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Alan Patching

churches and workplaces can go a long way towards helping peo-

ple understand and experience the true source o meaning and sel

esteem and what spiritual power is all about.

And now lets begin that organisational spiritual journey.


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Chapter Four

The Steps on the Journey to Highest Purpose

Some o the greatest lie lessons I have learned came rom my

experience with the Sydney Olympics. Like practically every-

one involved, I wore a number o hats, none o them any more

important in the big scheme o things than any other role taken

by any other person working on the project. My roleand severalother peoples rolesjust seemed bigger or more important than

they really were because o the media and other proling given

to the project or no other reason than it just happened to be the

Olympics. My main roles were as Chie Executive Ocer o the

Stadiums owning entity, as the owners project director, and as a

member o the Olympic Venues Co-ordination Committee. The

role o project director involved leadership and control o thedesign and construction process on behal o the owning entity

and its many thousand investors.

By any standard, the physical result produced by the stadium

team o project managers, consultants, contractors and opera-

tors was superlative. Indeed, International Olympic Committee

President (at the time) Juan Antonio Samaranch, described the

venue as the most antastic stadium I have seen in my lie. He laterdescribed the Sydney games as the best Olympics ever.

Now, beore you get to thinking Im on some huge ego trip here,

let me give you my version o the stadium experience. The physical

result o a successul venue completed on time and on budget was

satisying. Realistically, however, there was no one on that team

who would, or a single second, have expected the outcome to be

anything other than it was-no more than a proessional surgeonwould routinely begin a theatre procedure expecting anything

other than the most successul outcome possible, or a proessional

hotel sta member expect other than to give guests a great experi-


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Alan Patching

ence o staying at their hotel.

On balance, however, the Olympics experience was not one I would

consider repeatingnot or a split second. I personally ound the

experience to be physically exhausting, mentally draining and spir-

itually soul destroying. The corporate politics, aggressive verbal

interaction, back biting, character assassination and every other

negative aspect o corporate and project lie reached levels I had

never previously experienced. In some strange way they were the

negative equivalent o the more positive Olympian perormances

recorded when the venue was put to its proper use and purpose.

I had never previously experienced that level o the worst o the

negative aspects o corporate lie, havent since, and dont expect

to in the uture.

At a personal level, I was utterly exhausted by the experience.

Without the support o my Board at the working level and my

wie Annie on the home ront, I most certainly would have acted

on one o the several occasions I sat, ater hours, in the empty hal

nished stands questioning why the heck I hadnt resigned agesago. I had never thought like this on any previous project or in

any previous job. Why did I stay until completion? I think being

a baby boomer had a lot to do with it. Fellow baby boomers will

understand the attitude drilled into children o the ties and six-

tiesnever give up till a dead horse kicks you. I dont know how

many times Ive had that non-sensical instruction to proceed till

you drop, against all odds, burned into my psyche as a child andteenager-by parents, amily, teachers, sports coaches etc. I have no

idea where the expression came rom. I do know its application

was a cultural standard in post World War II Australia.

Five years ater completing that project, Ive had contact on

more than one occasion with a ew at most o those directly in-

volved, and have not spoken a single word with the great majority.

This is not because I have gone out o my way to avoid people.Theres been simply no compulsion to keep in contact. Hardly the

stu o strongly orged relationships, despite those relationships


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being on a daily basis over a our year period.

Yet despite a somewhat dicult project experience, it was a jour-

ney o great sel discovery and that, more than anything else, made

the investment o time and eort worthwhile. As I said at the

commencement o this chapter, I learned some great lessons or

lie rom my personal Olympics experience.

It really was contemplation on the lesson I am about to share

with you that gave rise to the idea to write this book.

A lie lesson rom the Sydney Olympicexperience

Despite the unusually high levels o adversarial transactions etc.

described earlier, there were three separate and distinct occasions

where the stadium experience, or those closely involved, aligned

with the image o the experience (unity, common purpose, daily

cooperation etc) which we ed to the press to maintain the appro-priate corporate and event images. On each o these occasions

everyone involved orgot the disputes, vested interests and person-

al attacks and cooperated in text book style to produce results

beyond even our own wildest expectations. It was nothing short

o amazing to be part o those too short-lived experiences.

Allow me to invite you into those experiences by giving you a

brie description o each o the occasions to which I reer.The rst was the positioning o the rst 00 metre plus long,

0 tonne plus, 4 metre high centre section o the giant arched

trusses which support the stadium roo. There were two o these,

and each had to be placed into a gap its own length plus a ew mil-

limetersnot much more than the width o a weldat each end.

Not everyone on the project was directly involved in that dicult

technical exercise. However each morning as the time approached

or the exercise, everyone on the project arrived at site early and

eagerly awaited the construction managers evaluation o prevail-

ing wind conditions and the state o engineering preparedness.


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Alan Patching

I will never orget the morning he made the go decision. Consul-

tants in suits stood uncharacteristically shoulder to shoulder with

construction workers, some o whom had tattoos in places where

I dont even have places, and to a person, wished that operation

success rom start to nish. No! Wished is too weak a wordwe

all willed it with every cell o our very being. The prevailing eel-

ing was one o unity and pride o involvement, and that pride was

palpable and as obvious as the giant structure it pervaded.

And successul it wasin act it was so successul it seemed

somewhat o an anti-climax, such was the eeling o anticipation

on site that morning, even among those only remotely involved.

The second occasion was immediately ater completion o con-

struction. The meeting to complete the legal ormalities to estab-

lish that the project had been delivered as contracted commenced

at noon. Ater an exhausting day or all involved, the Olympic

Coordination Authority representative handed me the Certicate

o Practical Completion at precisely thirty two minutes and twenty

seven seconds past eleven that night. I recall looking down at mywatch while both o us still gripped the document in the process

o giving and receiving, and that watch ace image will be etched in

my brain orever. I it hadnt been or the brilliant communication

skills o our chairman, Stephen Rix, and his calm assistance under

pressure dealing with lawyers representing several organisations

with diering vested interests, there was no way that certicate

would have been issued that evening. Stephen Rix was the deni-tive person-on-purpose that evening,.

The strange thing was, everyone packed up and went home im-

mediately ater completion o the ormalities. Chilled drinks re-

mained unopened, and instead o the expected sense o celebration

and euphoria, there was this inexplicable (at the time) eeling o

anti-climax. Ive since come to understand the mood that evening.

Many in that room had worked ridiculous hours or months priorto that evening. There had been little i any amily lie, or time or

sel, or ar too many people or ar too long. Lie and work had


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taken on the one meaningthe wrong meaning. For so many o us

work had or months been the sole ocus o our very being, and to

the virtual exclusion o other more important issues. The soul will

simply not allow us to experience true euphoria over achievement

at the level o one o lies values at the expense o neglect, even the

temporary neglect, o other higher order values.

This was a valuable and unorgettable lesson I learned, but it is

not the main point o this anecdote.

At the moment the construction o the

Soul Thing e Book - Sauls Version

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Transcript of Soul Thing e Book - Sauls Version