OneTRUTH Leadership Explanation and Methods
The Case for TRUTH:
TRUTH is being attacked as never before, and it will only get worse as we go through the presidential election and resulting transition, no matter who is elected. A recent Pew Research Center study found that many Americans believe there is a crisis in facts and TRUTH, with half of U.S. adults saying made-up news and information is a very big problem. About two-thirds say it causes a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current issues and events. Fully 85% of adults say this is at least a moderately big problem, including 42% saying it is a very big problem.
By contrast, most adults (69%) say it is not hard to determine the truth when talking with people they know, while just three-in-ten (30%) struggle with truth when talking with these individuals. This is the foundation for my work through Penn Price Management Group, and what is behind my continuing search for TRUTHS in the world today. I write about it in my LinkedIn newsletter, The TRUTH Digest.
We live in times where a lie is halfway around the world before the TRUTH gets out of bed. Everyone has an opinion to share, a position they believe is correct, or thoughts on what matter is at hand. Politics are particularly rich with positions on issues or policy that are usually distorted and often offer alternative “facts” and targeted disinformation. It is difficult to find TRUTH among so many opposing viewpoints.
Blaise Pascal presented an important perspective on TRUTH when he said, “truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” And Mahatma Gandhi offered, “Devotion to Truth is the sole justification for our existence.”
People want to know the TRUTH; it is in their very make-up and nature. We are driven by a desire for TRUTH. Our quality of life has driven this as we seek new and better ways of doing things. No one wants to be wrong in anything.
Everything we rely on, every bit of information, all scientific principles, our ability to make correct decisions, and our belief in God all depend upon TRUTH. The search for TRUTH can lead to significant improvements in our lives by enabling informed decisions, fostering innovation, and creating a more just society. TRUTH is foundational.
How do you know that what you are being told is true? You don’t. Almost nothing you know or believe about the world is based on your own experience. Almost everything you know or believe about the world you know on trust. But how do you know what you can trust?
OneTRUTH Vision Position:
In any situation, for any decision to be made, and in every circumstance, there is only one TRUTH. It is either true or it is not. This is my OneTRUTH Leadership vision – Discovering TRUTH – Improving Lives! Although a bold statement to base my work on, we do not exist as a society without TRUTH; the pursuit of truth is indeed a fundamental aspect of human society and its progress. It’s a bold and necessary quest that underpins our scientific endeavors, our legal systems, and our daily decision-making. Can we change the current trends and move to a society based on TRUTH?...I think so!
Intent:
OneTRUTH Leadership is designed to equip leaders with the information and tools to discern TRUTH for themselves, and to use this TRUTH to make better decisions. It will also help to determine future trends and directions based upon a better understanding of the TRUTH, and what is really happening in the world today.
Approaches:
OneTRUTH Leadership takes a transformational leadership approach to explore all the possibilities of an organization and of leadership; to help these leaders see things others do not see, feel things others do not feel, and believe things others do not believe possible. To persevere when others want to quit and give up.
Transformational leaders...are those who stimulate and inspire followers to both achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity. Transformational leaders help followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers' needs, by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group, with the larger organization.
Methods:
OneTRUTH Leadership utilizes various methods to discern TRUTH with a primary focus is on asking questions, the right questions that lead to TRUTH, and expose lies. Our role is to help you think, speak, and act in ways that make the greatest difference in your organization, your field, and the world. We want to help you to look beyond asking WHY to ask the more difficult and fundamental question of WHY NOT?
Following is a brief review of the methods used:
5 WHYS Method:
It is a structured tool used to identify the root cause of a problem or opportunity through a series of five sequential "why" questions. The 5 Whys method was developed and fine-tuned within the Toyota Motor Corporation as a critical component of its problem-solving training. Taiichi Ohno, the architect of the Toyota Production System in the 1950s, describes the method as “the basis of Toyota’s scientific approach . . . by repeating why five times, the nature of the problem as well as its solution becomes clear.”
Thought Leadership:
This method incorporates five key traits of leadership and other approaches look at the past as a way of predicting the future. The key to this is the recognition of Defining Moments in our lives and organizations. They occur when you or your organization are impacted in ways that change you, strengthen you, or help you to accomplish more. They challenge your beliefs, force you to ask why, and to think differently.
The five traits of leadership were defined by Dr. David Rock, coiner of the term “ NeuroLeadership”. They are:
1. It must be adaptive – steering people through unknown and changing times,
2. It must have an emphasis on Emotional Intelligence (EI) – understanding and negotiating complex interpersonal relationships,
3. It must be more Purpose Driven – aligning organizational goals with a broader sense of purpose and social impact,
4. It must have the ability to be Remotely Manage – fostering individual and teamwork across diverse locations, and
5. Leaders must have technical and data literacy skills – making informed decisions within a faster paced and more informed world.
It has been suggested that today’s leaders do not yet have nearly 50% of the skills and abilities that they need. The other 50% are skills they may have now (or have always needed), but they are now required at much higher levels of application. We need new approaches and ideas now and moving into the future. Thought Leadership is all about creating value, building knowledge, and taking a stand.
Attuned to Dr. Rock's traits, Defining Moments relate to:
1. Being resilient – “if you don’t define a defining moment, it will define you,”
2. Acknowledging fear – “What we fear the most is usually what we need to do most,”
3. Quickly recalculating and calibrating – “take an honest assessment of the facts and evidence and move forward,” and
4. Creating a solution-based Action Plan!
Examples of Defining Moments:
Throughout history we can point to several Defining Moments that have shown both tremendous leadership and the sad failures of leaders to lead. The failure of leaders have had severe consequences and produced great adversity in their wake. One clear example is the global pandemic that killed millions and disrupted lives and livelihoods around the world. Others include human forces linked with powerful hurricanes or raging wildfires. War and global conflicts, genocide, the torture and killing of innocent people are also on the list.
How about the lack of TRUTH and the outright lies being told by both the media and politicians, and countless individuals coping with other struggles big and small, personal, and societal. I believe, and it is difficult to doubt, that evil exists in the world and is behind many defining moments we are experiencing. These examples show that evil is real and, in the world, and that it is a major factor in determining any future.
In every case they were the result of inhibiting TRUTH, of denying what they actually knew to be true, and of following their own desires.
You may not believe in evil, but you do understand adversity and the other factors I mention and understand that it is how we react to both the joys and adversity of life that makes all the difference, and that identify them as defining moments.
But we can also point to many positive actions such as Martin Luther King’s speech, Kennedy’s proclamation about going to the moon, and the way our nation united after 911. The advances in science brought about by Marie Curie, in computing including AI, advances in medicine, architecture, and engineering. Mahatma Gandhi’s movement against British rule, advocating for nonviolent resistance, and the many advances in business and technology brought forward my people like Elon Musk, Thomaas Edison, Bell and others. In almost every case these actions were produced as a result of searching for TRUTH.
The Leadership’s Role:
It is an attempt to better understand the relationship between TRUTH and Leadership. Let’s “drill down” a little on the concept and the strategy of leadership. There are a considerable number of specific definitions for leadership, but I have no intention of touching on all of them at this point. The TRUTH is where leadership has been, and where it is going is vastly different. It is evolving quickly with change and new approaches to managing people and organizations. We must come to the new realization that companies and organizations fail, individuals don’t! Leadership is involved in alignment within companies and organizations but must today be more focused on people.
Regardless of size or industry, organizations are often seen as complex machines with multiple moving parts. While processes, systems, and strategies are undoubtedly crucial, the people within an organization ultimately drive their success. The best organizations are effective at translating their business strategy into a compelling people strategy.
This method identifies some fourteen different characteristics in five broad dimensions that lead to sustained performance.
A Strong Strategy as an Act of Leadership:
This method requires several unique talents and abilities to conduct successfully but is worth the effort. First, is a listening ability you need to understand what is most important to someone and how it drives their work. Next is the ability to determine an appropriate course of action and to communicate what you want them to do, providing them with instructions they can follow and make it actionable. Third, is the ability to lay out the compelling need to take this action, why it is a good idea, and the consequences if they do not act. Fourth, and perhaps the most difficult, is inspiring and motivating people with emotion. Love and fear are the two most powerful (some may say only) emotions. You must determine how you employ these emotions to get them to act. And finally, you must repeat the main messages over, and over, and over; few stick the first time.
If you want a company to grow, you must collectively figure out the best goals and actions for the organization to execute tomorrow, the next day, the next month, and the following year.
One of the challenges is that there are so many different types of strategy. The list is long, and companies typically create these strategies in isolation or in the wrong sequence. Inevitably, the strategies are not coordinated and aligned, creating complexity and inefficiency.
Look below at the myriads of strategies across a business model. The critical questions in A Strong Strategy are: How does your company develop all of them and are they coordinated and aligned?
The Elements of TRUTH:
This is a specific method of asking questions to help determine what you can trust as you seek TRUTH. It is not a method of discerning TRUTH, in itself. Several key questions need to be asked, they include:
- What is the quality of the information channel? Information you trust should come from sources you trust. There is so much false news today that this might be difficult. You must gauge the quality of the information according to the quality of the information channel.
- Who is the primary source of information? Is the author of the information competent? What are their credentials? What is their record? How credible are they?
- Is the primary source of the information independent? Who is paying the bills? This will determine if there is a bias or reason for slanting the information in a particular direction.
- What is the intent of the information? What is the purpose for what is being communicated and who benefits from it?
- How was the knowledge obtained? Was it well researched and documented? What were the original sources of information and methods used to gather it?
- Does the information appear to be complete? Is it current and consistent throughout? Are there any inconsistencies contained within it, especially with other sources?
- Can the information be independently validated? Is there enough detail or information that the information can be independently verified and replicated, at least in principle?
- . Does the information appear to be unbiased? Is the information logically presented and any conclusions valid?
These questions may be difficult for us to ask and get valuable answers, but they are provided as a framework to develop the trust necessary to determine TRUTH.
The Triangle of TRUTH:
Another important method is based on the work of Lisa Earle Mcleod in her book entitled The Triangle of TRUTH. Lisa is a speaker, consultant, and expert in conflict resolution. She draws a distinction between either/or thinking and “and” thinking in approaching conflicts, problems, or differences of opinion. She suggests a mentally grounded in two basic thoughts:
- I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to see the other side of people.
- I don’t know the end of the story, but I’m willing to face the facts because I have faith that everything will eventually be OK.
The TRUTH Triangle takes the position that we can find a solution between two opposing viewpoints by recognizing that there is your reality, and their reality, and the TRUTH is somewhere in between and can be reached by reducing the apparent conflict or “duality” of the situation by changing either/or thinking to “and” thinking.
She has concluded that in every conflict there are really three sides to it (like a triangle) – my truth, your truth, and then the higher-level solution. It’s not about “compromise” or “right vs. wrong” in most cases – it’s about being willing to engage in conflict in such a way that we allow something bigger, better, and more inclusive to emerge. I believe that there is only OneTRUTH but that there is “something bigger “at stake that can emerge through her approach.
The One Thing:
This is, perhaps, the method I start with the most. It starts with a simple question… “If you could change one thing about your business or your life, what would it be?” It is fascinating how much you can discover through this simple question.
Silence after the question, when asked in person, adds to the response in almost every instance.
How do you choose just one in a complex world that functions through many layers of organizations? It is like the old fable…How do you eat and elephant…one bite at a time. One simple change, if it is the correct change, can make a tremendous difference.
What is the “one thing” you want to change? It might be poverty, education, energy conservation, or space travel. It could be very elaborate and complex or simple and straight forward. Kennedy found this simplicity when he challenged us to send men to the moon. He did not get bogged down with how or if it was even possible. What do you want to change? Here is a simple four step process associated with this method:
1. Identify the issue: What is the problem that needs changing? Understanding this will give you directions in solving your problem or addressing an issue. It needs to be described as specifically as possible! There also must be some form of a driving force behind every change. It would not need to “change” if there was not.
Analyzing these drivers helps us understand how we’ve arrived at our current state and provides insight into future transformations. I have taken on the task, for example, to define how I feel about 50 pivotal things in the world that have been identified as demanding a shift in thinking. They are helping me to define the issues in my life in which I must seek TRUTH.
2. Define the desired outcome: What is the goal of this change? In a perfect world, what would change look like?
A desired outcome starts with the issue identified. Identifying the issue outlines what you do not want the change to look like. The desired outcome will be your vision. Dream big, but dream realistically, for no small dreams stir the imagination. The solution must, of course, be considerably better than the original situation. It also must be recognized and communicated as a positive change.
3. Map out steps: How can we get from here to there? Developing logical progression ensures feasibility. Strategies must identify everything that is included in the change.
You must have a plan. Do your homework. Ask questions. Define everything you can that will be part of the change. Most of all, be committed to success, have confidence in your actions. Believe that your change will make a significant difference.
4. Anticipate challenges: Where might resistance or obstacles arise? There will be difficulties every time you try to change anything.
Implementing change successfully isn’t just about introducing new systems or processes; it’s also about managing people’s reactions and ensuring they’re on board with the changes. You’ll encounter two main hurdles: change resistance and change acceptance.
There is little need, if you do this right, for committees, taskforces, Directors, and Boards.
Identify your one thing and take a bite of the elephant. Get people aligned behind the identified issue or problem and, before long, you will see that you made a difference, you helped to change the world.
Socratic Method:
One last method I will touch on was developed by the Greek philosopher, Socrates. It focuses on asking probing questions to get at TRUTH. One part of the method is to utilize three specific filters based upon what is being considered. If the information didn’t pass the test, it wasn’t worth being heard.
The first simply seeks to know if the information being considered is the TRUTH. Socrates asked, “Are you absolutely sure that what you’re going to tell me is true?”. It is often a matter of perspective, of understanding why something was said or presented.
The second filter is about goodness, is it good for everyone. Socrates asked, “Is what you’re going to tell me good or not?” Would what is to be shared going to cause discomfort and distress?
The third filter relates to necessity. Socrates asked the third and final question: “Is what you have to say about my friend going to help me?” Is the information useful or not?
These three points are intended for teaching but have a much greater implication when it encourages participants to ask and answer questions to stimulate critical thinking and illuminate ideas. Socrates thought that a person must ask themselves the following questions before they say anything: “Am I sure that what I am going to say is true?”, “Is what I’m going to say a good thing?”, and “Do I really need to say it and is it useful?”
This triple filter test is an excellent guide, both for what we’re going to say and for what we’re going to listen to. It’s a set of parameters that represent healthy and constructive communication. In everyday life, it’s not easy to define the TRUTH, the good, and the necessary. These may be abstract concepts to many that are sometimes difficult to apply. That’s why there are also some additional questions that can help you when it comes to using the triple filter test:
- Regarding the TRUTH: Do I know for a fact that this information is true? Can I bet on it? Will I be able to prove it to anyone? Am I willing to compromise my reputation over this?
- Regarding the good: Does it benefit me or the other person? Will it make them or me a better person and evoke positive emotions? Will the situation of those involved improve?
- Regarding the necessary or useful: By knowing this message, will that person’s life or my life improve? Can that person take any practical action regarding this information or message? In what way does not knowing this information hurt or affect the other person?
Conclusion:
OneTRUTH Leadership is a strategy or approach for getting people where they want to go, for agreement and the alignment of people. Or as Stephen Covey put it, “Leadership is communicating to another their worth and potential so clearly, they are inspired to see it themself.”
But it also deals with evil in the world and how evil impacts TRUTH. TRUTH is the enemy of evil. Evil hates TRUTH and will do everything possible to defeat it. I choose to think about good things, to take a positive approach, and move beyond the things in this world that hold us back and try to define who we are.” Yes, I get frustrated and upset with my lack of patience, with the attitude of others and myself, and the acceptance of evil without any efforts to overcome it, but there are just so many good and positive things, true blessings and TRUTHS I can count upon that I can overcome evil with love.
OneTRUTH Leadership is intended to help individuals and organizations seek or discern TRUTH, understand its implications, and apply them to help improve individual lives and businesses. OneTRUTH Leadership gives you TRUTH!
Leadership Group
