Know What You Believe In

When Chester Barnard wrote in his 1938 book The Functions of the Executive (Harvard University Press) that the first responsibility of the executive is to know what he (or she) believes in, he was talking about a career-spanning task. He meant that beliefs are acquired over time and through the concrete lessons and challenges of day-to-day routine rather than through untested abstract ideals. If this is so, then the learning process may be directly correlated to the time one actually practices management, and belief systems can probably not be taught in a formal setting, such as a classroom. It is experiences of real-life trauma and stress rather than academic exercises that most frequently bring to our attention important value-laden issues.

Can a belief system be developed by managers intentionally—that is, through learning directed toward individual growth? This is a provocative question. I do know that the best coaches I've ever had were helpful to me not because they had the best ideas or the most finely honed techniques but because they had an unwavering ethical commitment to my success. An effective coaching process is certainly an intentional belief system directed toward another person on his or her behalf, and belief in the person being coached is clearly a necessary ingredient to progress.

In Kitchen Table Wisdom (Riverhead Books, 1996), Naomi Remen wrote eloquently, much like Robert Coles, about the role of stories in moral development. However, her focus was more on the role of our individual belief systems, which influence how we see the world of external events, and she quoted the Talmudic teaching that “we do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.” Remen also talked about her evolution as a medical doctor and how the stories that people brought her became far more compelling than the facts of the disease in her efforts to understand the healing process.