Beyond Leadership: Balancing Economics, Ethics and Ecology, Revised Edition

A Synthesis of Western Science and Eastern Wisdom

Managing congruence: values and “isms”

The essence of doing business in the new paradigm (or in the emerging view of the business world) is functioning from a level of consciousness or awareness which intrinsically implies the integration of the basic values implicit in the pursuit of economic objectives, ethical behaviour, and ecological sustainability. Doing business in the new paradigm starts with managing your self. A conceptual overview as a summary of the major elements of managing your self is provided in figure 19.1. At the top, you can see the world systems or “isms” within which you create and manage your life. Several such societal “isms” or ideologies have been advocated and practised in different parts of the world during this century, with varying degrees of success or failure. In fact, they represent different combinations of two basic parameters, values and ideologies, as shown in figure 19.2.

The vertical “value-laden” axis covers the whole spectrum of values, ranging from the spiritual (emphasized in eastern cultures), to the materialistic (dominant in western thinking), from a self-denying to a self-centered approach. The horizontal “ideological” axis covers a different range of ideological stances. These extend from freedom of the individual on the one hand, to integration with society on the other, ranging from competition to collectivism, or from capitalism to communism. In fact, none of the value sets or “isms” ...