The Parable of the Sadhu

Buzz McCoy is known for writing The Parable of the Sadhu, an anecdote about his life.  Buzz and a group were climbing in the Himalayas and were confronted with an ethical dilemma.  Near the end of their excursion their group was presented with a hypothermic, half naked sadhu.  Buzz's group clothed him and then passed him on to some Japanese hikers behind them.  Although he was awake when they left him, they'll never know if he survived.  Buzz's friend, Stephen, was frustrated with the group's lack of concern for the sadhu.

Although there are many things to be taken from The Parable of the Sadhu, what stood out most to me was Stephen's dilemma.  Stephen wanted to help the sadhu but couldn't garner support from the rest of the group.  He was suffering from altitude sickness and was not in a condition that would allow him to carry the sadhu by himself.  Stephen was a quaker and felt he should have helped the sadhu, but Buzz points out that Stephen was unable to do it alone, he needed the support of the group.  He was the only one willing to step up and lead the group in a definitive plan of action but there was no set decision making process in place.

Buzz says that when reading this story young people tend to see it in black and white.  I don't pretend to understand how hard of a decision that must have been.  Sacrificing the rest of the trip for this sick sadhu, potentially putting yourself in danger to help a stranger.  If I were forced to make a decision as to what I would have done, I quite honestly hope that I would have stood by Stephen.  The second thing that I hope is that my leadership skills would have been enough to convince the others to help me.

This shows how important shared values are amongst a group.  Buzz points out that the most successful companies are those whose leaders and employees share a core set of values and a set sense of direction for their company.  I think the same can be applied to any group leadership situation.  Without a consensus of shared values and goals, it is easy to blow off a leader who is trying to stand for what they believe in.  This parable has really shown me the absolute necessity of establishing clearly defined values and goals for the group.  Something as simple as honesty, that most would assume is implied, should be laid out and explained the importance of.  If everyone is not on the same page, how easy it would be to have one or two lies bring down the morale and cohesion of the group.  

What are ethics?

So for the month of February I've been reading the book Living Into Leadership - A Journey in Ethics by Bowen H. "Buzz" McCoy.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership or ethics.  The book has a reader friendly tone and is filled with interesting anecdotes.

Buzz begins the book by defining ethics.  He says that ethics are contextual and derived from the faith and value system of a particular culture.  He also makes the assertion that one's ethics are affected by life.  They are normative, meaning they change over time as people's attitudes change.  Due to the normative characteristic of ethics, we need to establish our own personal ethic.

I really identified with Buzz's command to establish a personal ethic.  In my opinion, to be a leader you must be introspective.  You have to look inside yourself and connect with your own moral compass in order to determine when you will let things slide or when to take a stand.  A leader needs to be able to stand firm in their decisions with a strong sense of right behind their words and actions.

I feel this is both a strength and a fault of my own.  I have a decisive personality and I feel most of my decisions are guided by a sound moral compass of my own, but this can be tricky.  How often do I really reflect on what exactly makes up my personal ethic?  Is it my religion as a Christian? Is it the opinions of my parents or friends?  Is it created by what is socially acceptable, or the "norm"?

Reading this book has forced me to take a good hard look at what my personal ethic is and I think it is made up of a little of all of these components.  I realized that Buzz's statement that "life affects your values" is true.  Although I feel that my moral code is strongly grounded in my faith, many of my life experiences have either fortified or changed my ethical standpoint.  At the ripe old age of 22-years-old I expect that life will throw me a few more loops before I arrive at a concrete definition of what my personal ethic is, but I'd like to think that this independent study/class/blog has helped me on my journey to that point.      

First Post!

This is very exciting.  It is my first blog post to my first blog.  This blog is pulling double duty and also acting as a class for me.  I am doing an independent study course for the leadership studies department at USD and this is part of the course. In case you weren't tipped off by the title, I intend to write about heart, mind, and leadership.  I will be using three different texts: 


Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Cashman, Living Into Leadership by Buzz McCoy, and Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman


Essentially, I will be reading these books and reflecting on what I've learned from them, as well as applying what I've learned to my life and to any and all leadership scenarios that may arise.  At the end of the semester, right before I graduate (scary, sad), I will be taking all that I learn here and presenting to a group of leadership studies students at the Creative Collaborations workshop. 


What I would love from my readers (hopefully I will have some readers at some point) is for you all to be confident and fearless in your commenting.  Let me know if you agree with what I think or if you hate what I am saying.  Please feel free to add any and all wisdom regarding the heart, the mind, or leadership.