The Crisis in America Today is Not Economic -- It is a Crisis of Virtues and Values

We must choose to prosper as a society, not just as individuals.

As unlikely as it sounds, the best way to get ahead is to figure out what you have to give to a world seemingly obsessed with only one question: "what do I get?"

In my new book, Love Leadership: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World I've identified the current environment as wracked by fear, and fear as "the ultimate prosperity killer." As an alternative, I share the lessons and practices of love-based leaders, including my own experiences, in Love Leadership: The New Way To Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass, Sept 2009).

Love Leadership recognizes that you want to do well in life, but it also suggests that the best way to do well and to achieve true wealth over the long term is to do good, and you'll never be wrong doing right. For example: Bill Gates is off to his second big idea, with his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Doing well by doing good.

But right now we look around and it is apparent that our great nation, and its leaders, have simply "lost our story line" and, about 20 years ago, started focusing on the me instead of the we. It isn't a matter of "love vs hate," that takes too much energy. It is a matter of indifference that we can correct. Take, for example, Steve Bartlett, CEO of FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE. Steve does not simply reject every piece of legislation and regulation that impacts banks. He actually reflects on whether it is good for America, consumers, and yes, his banks too, and tries to find the happy medium; the balanced response. He also makes sure the a big part of FSR's commitment is giving back and reinvesting in communities that his banks serve. It is simply smart business.

We've lost track of the vision that made America great in the 20th century, such as that of Henry Ford. Henry Ford innovated the automobile, he was not the inventor. Ford made cars, and then paid workers enough to purchase the cars they were making. Smart business. These days, it is too easy for people to wake up in the morning with the wrong question on their minds; saying, "I want to make more money" is the easy path to success -- or so we have been lead to believe.

And who can blame us? It is hard to keep from putting ourselves first, when it seems like that's what's all around us, versus the idea that made this nation great in the 20th century: "I have an idea, and it will advance society," and then individuals along with it. Warren Buffett cannot seem to give his billions away fast enough, and done without ruining his own kids by giving them too much of anything they have not earned with their own effort, and was never focused on making money for the purpose of making money in the first place. Or my friend Oprah, who started her Angel Network and foundation to give back to those making a difference with their live in helping others and to educate young girls in South Africa.

Love Leadership shares what I've learned about love-based leading into five fundamental laws:

1. Loss Creates Leaders. The storms of life offer an opportunity to respond in one of three ways to personal tragedy or failure: you can give up, you can try to cope using whatever dulls the pain, or you can grow and create something useful out of your experience or loss. The choice lies between legitimate suffering now and illegitimate suffering later. Only the last option allows you to harness fear and turn it into the strength to lead with love.

2. Fear Fails. We have all faced plenty of situations where it would be easier to allow a lack of self-awareness and high energy to bring down the people around us. But doing so is a reaction of fear: fear of oneself, fear of imperfection, fear of failing. Fear doesn't work. In the long term, letting fear motivate your actions - how you treat others, how you conduct business, how you live your life - leads to failure.

3. Love Makes Money. Over the long term, to succeed and to be happy simultaneously, you need to lead with love. If you lead with love for the long term, people will follow you forever, wherever - for their own good as well as yours - and you will be remembered as a person of greatness.

4. Vulnerability is Power. Admitting weakness and owning up to mistakes have counterintuitive benefits. When you are honest, people are more likely to forgive you for any weaknesses and mistakes. You are also able to make a stronger connection with others. Ultimately, this gives you an ability to persuade and influence people, which in turn strengthens your ability to lead.

5. Giving is Getting. Giving is a long-term commitment to others. When we start serving those who work in our organization and expanding out to serving partners, vendors, and customers it translates to success. No great business was ever built on giving the bare minimum. Doing good for others pays off.

The "thing" that is going to get us there, the thing that powers the American ideal according to my friend and Accenture CEO William Green, is our collective "special sauce." Sure, America is a country. But it is also an idea -- a powerful, emotional, and even inspirational, idea that attracts people with hope for more from all over the world.

We are not in the midst of a recession. It is a global reset - and America will lead the world out of it, just like we led the world into it. And in doing so, we will refashion capitalism and free enterprise so that it actually serves, empowers, and informs people - not just the gilded elite - and it will add value too. I call that Good Capitalism.

Follow John Hope Bryant on Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnhopebryant

Comments

[hypnotoad72]

Except Reaganomics has dominated. Still does.

Even I, for all my boisterous idealistic pussyfooting, have no clue about any other form of system.

Therefore I must eventually have to conform, like everyone else.

Unless I'm missing something.­..?

[marinara]

How about this one:
Talk is cheap!

[hypnotoad72]

Ah, but some profit themselves most by talking. Nice job, if you can get it, but for $38 million, not many will get it.

One would think competition would lower salaries..­. and we all know the likes of Rush don't like competitio­n... Not for $38 million per year... just to talk.

[JackHall]

I told an associate that democracy is older than Islam. Democracy is older than Christianity by several centuries. Democracy isn't easy, but it promises to bring results that the people want and might have a good probability of achieving it. I think Christianity and Islam are more concerned with the afterlife and this may be beyond the influence of men.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

Even though I am atheist, I can never resist those calls for building the city on the hill. Which makes it easy for me to agree with almost everything you write.

But about Vulnerability being Power I feel like I need to specify a point of caution:

I am convinced that it is true, but it can live up to its purpose only if enough people understand it. And that's a tall order.

Since I have no particular hopes for specific beacons of hope, I will even dare to add a terribly Un-American slogan here; it's the best thing that any nation can aspire to.

So when all is said and done, you could count me among those who want that city on the hill to be everywhere. Hope you don't mind.

[dutchlady]

What a great read at the end of a week that made me wonder what has happened to America. I see so much greed, power-hungry politicians and 'what's in in for me' politics that I just have a difficult time being proud to be an American, let alone a person who thinks Americans are wonderful. I get asked as a volunteer all of the time "Why do you work for free?" as if it wrong to do so. When I took people without a home into my home for a short stay, my church friends questioned me. "She is strange" was a description of me to a single man who wanted to date me. Over the years, I keep plugging along, but the world I love just seems to get more into "everybody's doing it" mentality and there are so few to count who are like the Gates. Yes,they have more then the average person, but they earned it, and are using it to better the world for others. Again, thanks for making my day. Barbara in Bakersfield

[wass1984]

As early as the point in which you wrote what you titled your your new book, I found myself nodding vigorously and saying, "yes, yes, YES!!" You have hit on exactly what I have been talking about over and over again with my friends. We can't figure out why so many of our so-called "leaders" have failed to see what seems so obvious to us.

I actually signed up for an account just so I could comment here. I don't think I need to add anything to what you've said, just want to thank you for saying it so well. I do believe we are seeing the end of a fear and me-based society and moving towards a love and we-based society. However, such a radical paradigm shift will be difficult for many people, and we have some hard work ahead of us.

[elmerfude]

It constantly amazes me that our so called "Christian" nation with a church on every corner and 85 % professing to be Christian seems to be completely oblivious to the message of Jesus and instead worship money. I don't get it. There are of course a lot of people who act on their faith but their efforts seem completely swamped by greed, corporate power and political corruption. I think Harvey Cox is right when he said that the early church structure became envious of the power and efficiency of the Roman Empire and ended up modeling their own structure on it. Now we see almost every structure in our culture being based on the hierarchical power structure found in religion, government and industry.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

Since I have seen quite a lot of 'greed, corporate power and political corruption' and a fair amount of professions of faith, I hope to console you by telling that times are such that hierarchical power structures modeled after the roman empire may last longer than some people think, but not as long as the 'new romans' hope to.

To put it another way: it may be that historians are obsessed with power, but that doesn't mean that today's world is stupid enough to tolerate folks obsessed with power.