by Kent Noble, Executive Director, Center of Cowboy
Ethics and Leadership
If a close friend
were to ask you, “What do you stand for?” would you reply without
hesitation? Or would you respond with the old “deer in the headlights”
look?
Prior to my
involvement with the Standing Tall program, I’m
not sure I could have articulated my views in a meaningful way. In fact,
my response might have unfolded something like this:
Questioner: So, Kent, tell me
what it is you stand for?
Kent: I’m sorry—I’m not
sure I know what you mean.
Questioner: I’m just
curious. Have you ever thought about what it is you stand for—you know,
what are your core values—your strongest and most important beliefs?
Kent: Well, of course I
have—hasn’t everyone? I believe—I believe—it’s important for me to be the
best father and husband I can possibly be—yes, that is definitely what I
believe, and it is absolutely very important to me.
Questioner: Great—that makes
perfect sense. What else?
Kent: What else?
Uhhh—well—ummm—I believe you should work hard and be honest—yes, you should
definitely be honest—and you should also try to be a good person—yes, you
really must treat others well—ummm—did I already mention working hard?
(Meanwhile, I would be thinking, “man, please don’t ask me ‘what else?’
again.”)
The point I’m
trying to make is that before the Standing Tall program was developed, I only
had a foggy notion of what it is I stand for. Sure, it was all somewhere
inside. But I really hadn’t brought my deepest beliefs and values to
the conscious level where I could easily convey them, let alone build my life
around them.
Over the last 18
months, I’ve noticed my situation isn’t all that uncommon. In fact, now
that we’re conducting Standing Tall sessions for a variety of business and
community leaders, I would say very few people have spent time clearly defining
exactly what it is they stand for. If you find that hard to believe, try
asking someone the question yourself. You’ll
probably find the hypothetical conversation I’ve outlined above is pretty
typical.
Could this be why
we’re consistently bombarded with scandalous headlines from the worlds of
business, sports, politics, etc.? And what about the people in our
lives? Don’t we all know good people who have uncharacteristically
become involved in bad situations? If we were simply more in touch
with our most important values, would things be different? If we
identified exactly what it is we stand for, and then built those
beliefs into our daily lives, might we become stronger, more confident,
and more principled versions of ourselves?
Obviously, we all
have values. But we don’t always connect with them in a profound
way. We sometimes keep our principles tucked away as opposed to fully
integrating them into our lives. I think that's precisely why the Standing Tall program has taken root across the country.
People realize that they’ve never really taken the time to stop and think
deeply about their core beliefs. Our workshops guide busy professionals
through the process of defining their values and putting them into
action. And, based on the testimonials we’re receiving, developing your
personal code is a real “game changer,” especially if you keep it in the
forefront of your mind.
So, if you
haven’t brought your strongest and most important beliefs to the conscious
level, think about the difference it could make in your life if you
did. Then, should anyone ever ask you what you stand for, you’ll be
able to respond, “I’m glad you asked. Pull up a chair.”
