Thursday, February 18, 2010

Our New Cathedral

The book Be The Hero by Noah Blumenthal has been a big part of my life the last ten months or so. On January 30, 2010, about 80 lucky people in Las Vegas got to hear Noah present his thinking which is incorporated in the book. As you would expect, we spoke about his presentation and what follows is the blog he posted about that conversation. For those who enjoy his thinking you can follow Noah on his blog.

Our New Cathedral
February 1, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Where do we learn our values? Who teaches us what is important in life?

Some of these lessons come from our parents and our upbringing, but they continue to be shaped throughout our lives.

My friend Andrea Goeglein made an interesting observation. We were talking after a speech I had given to the Stillpoint Center for Spiritual Development in Las Vegas. She said that whereas people used to regularly attend weekly religious services and draw moral guidance from that experience, attendance in such services is dwindling. Instead people are spending more and more time at work, and we as a society are drawing more and more of our values from the company we keep.

This notion will undoubtedly scare some who see corporate America as evil. However, there is good and bad in every system. Some organizations bring out the absolute best values in their employees, their communities, their customers. I’m not talking about the official corporate values on the plaque in the lobby (e.g., teamwork, honesty, integrity). I wrote recently about why those values fail to stick.

I’m talking about the unstated values. What is important to your organization? Materialism? Relationships? Personal fulfillment? Winning at all costs? Shareholders over employees? Customers above all else?

If you don’t pay attention, your organization’s values will become your own without you even noticing. So sit up straight. Listen carefully. Services are in session

With appreciation to Noah for this contribution to a lifetime conversation, Andrea
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
866 975 3777
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com

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