One of my leadership role models in the distance is Kazuo Inamori, founder and chairman emeritus of Kyocera Corporation in Japan. In one of his book, For People and For Profit: A Business Philosophy for the 21st Century, he wrote about what he called "elevating your mental dimension." His belief and example align with the Five Distinctive Qualities of Leadership I introduce in my book, Putting Our Differences to Work, especially those about people, personal responsibility, and striving to live by the value of mutualism. He wrote:
"When Kyocera was first started, we had neither money nor equipment. In the midst of this I determined to base my management of the company on the human spirit. The human spirit is changeable, but once bound by trust, there is no stronger bond in the world. By feeling mutual trust while working alongside our colleagues, we can overcome any difficulty.
I worked hard to be a leader my employees could depend on. In order that my employees and I could become trusted friends, at every opportunity I got I said I wanted them to lift up their hearts a little. In this way, the entire company staff, including myself, worked hard to elevate our mental dimension, and I believe that our complete involvement in our work brought about success of the Kyocera group."
In recent years, we have lost this kind of consciousness in many businesses and organizations. It will be essential for leaders of the future to incorporate the human dimension of leadership into their primary portfolio of leadership skills.
How do yours stack up?
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Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
author, Putting Our Differences to Work
new book!
Putting Our Differences to Work
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership and High Performance
by Debbe Kennedy ▪ Berrett-Koehler ▪ May 2008 – Hardcover
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Foreword by Joel A. Barker, futurist, filmmaker and author
Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future
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