The strength of our relationships depends on the congruence between what we say that we believe and then how we act day-by-day. Trust, loyalty, and affection are strongest when the gap between espoused and lived values is minimal. Our values are more real when we make the choices that support those principles

Larry Ackerman leads the The Identity Circle, research, education and consulting company that helps individuals and organizations by clarifying their uniqueness and the potential it holds, and helping them put that potential to work in ways that dramatically enhance their performance, impact and reputations. Here is Larry Ackerman's keynote presentation to AARP, Washington DC June, 2006.

All organizations have access to more or less the same resources. They draw from the same pool of people in their markets or geographic areas. And they can all learn about the latest tools and techniques. Yet not all organizations perform equally. There is a huge gap between high- and low-performing organizations. What accounts for this huge gap is leadership. Leaders develop and bring out the best in people. This dramatically expands the performance capacity of an organization. With a strong leadership foundation, management systems and processes, as well as technology and technical expertise, expand to their full potential.

If you are not relentlessly developing leadership talent from within, then, by implication, you are content to be sub-optimized. There is no way around it. If your people aren't stepping into leadership roles as circumstances dictate, if they aren't continuously improving as leaders, and if they aren't routinely making others better, then the organization is settling for "good enough" as opposed to "impressively better." Which outcome are you shooting for

I've seen more than a few examples of companies -- both the small, fast-growing entrepreneurial tech companies and the more mature, well-known 'brand name' technology companies -- that haven't yet matured enough to truly value the wisdom in their midst, or their deficit of it.

Now that corporations are closer to being people (at least in the eyes of our legal system) perhaps they will develop a conscience. This is where real leadership is called for - what I call "conscious leadership." This requires a strong sense of fair play, despite the pressures and ideologs backlash. This takes courage - spiritual courage - that takes stands for what's right and fair and sustainable.

To create or sustain a healthy, adaptive organization a leader must be respected; be seen as authentic, reliable, and trustworthy. While the following list isn’t meant to be exhaustive, an authentic leader must engage in several activities if he or she is to be believed and followed.

It would be easy if we could all become leaders by following a simple set of steps. But the journey of personal growth means finding our own way. There are, however, critical areas of personal development based on timeless principles. The distance we need to grow along each leadership dimension will differ for each of us, but defining and continually growing along each of these paths is the way of the leader.

In my last book - Getting to the Better Future - I quote global thinker and philanthropist Lynne Twist on the subject of taking a stand. She says, "Taking a stand is a way of living and being that draws on a place within yourself that is at the very heart of who you are. When you take a stand, you find your place in the universe, and you have the capacity to move the world." Twist also talks about living "the committed life" and lives her own life from that place of commitment. She has definitely taken a stand with her life, inspiring anyone who is fortunate enough to know her.

With streams and rivers drying up because of over-usage, Rob Harmon has implemented an ingenious market mechanism to bring back the water. Farmers and beer companies find their fates intertwined in the intriguing century-old tale of Prickly Pear Creek.

Most forward thinkers agree that if humanity is to evolve to a higher road of functionality we must learn to do it together, in collaboration. This requires us to transcend these differences and prejudices in order to embrace them - and it needn’t be out of idealism or noble intent.

All of us have opportunities where we can leverage our impact by taking the special areas of talent and experience we have and giving them away to people who need them. As you go through your day today, follow the example of a very special colonel who redefines and expands the definition of service to his country.

Last summer I learned of a book coauthored by a new acquaintance – Raj Sisodia. The book - Firms of Endearment (2007) - included a quote by Ryuzaburo Kaku, a Japanese visionary businessman I met in 1991 when he was at the helm of Canon, Inc. Kaku was a pioneer in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, and one of the very few CSR advocates who were in high level management positions in large publicly held corporations.

The ability to impact and influence others is a key competency frequently identified in top performers. While we assume salespeople are good at impacting and influencing, the ability to impact and influence others is often the number one competency in helping, service, managerial and leadership roles. Learning to increase your ability to impact and influence others can make a big difference to your career success.

Imagine a crusty group of seasoned professionals standing, applauding and cheering a 28 year-old leader who has turned a same-old-same-old product into something fresh and exciting! This does NOT happen - particularly when the professionals are members of the Israel Philharmonic. But under the baton of young Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, orchestra members did just that.

While it may not be practical to poll the “group conscience” or subject ourselves to the possibility of anarchy with no leaders whatsoever, we are creative enough to come up with a new way of thinking and start seeing leadership as the responsibility of us all, not just selected rulers. This is a new way to look at leadership and the wisdom that flows from it.

Halla Tomasdottir managed to take her company Audur Capital through the eye of the financial storm in Iceland by applying 5 traditionally "feminine" values to financial services. At TEDWomen, she talks about these values and the importance of balance.

According to noted futurist Bob Johansen, who specializes in ten-year forecasts, the world is becoming more and more VUCA - his acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. In his book Leaders Make the Future, Johansen makes the case that leaders need to learn how to effectively deal with these characteristics which will continue to grow in amplitude. If he’s correct, a great many people will get very uncomfortable. People who seek simplicity, certainty, calm and clear definitions and boundaries – which almost everyone wants some time - will be very disappointed. They may be tempted to deny or resist in some way as a matter of coping. Rather than resist this unfolding reality, or deny it, why not learn to work with these qualities and make the best of it?

Most of the U.S. airline industry is under assault from skyrocketing fuel prices and a sluggish economy, but the message that Southwest Airlines president Colleen Barrett brought to a Wharton Leadership Conference was about the importance of treating employees and customers well.

Recently I came across the writing of a very successful Japanese entrepreneur, Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Kyocera Corporation and creator of the Kyoto Prize. In his book A Compass to Fulfillment, he writes, “The elevation of the soul is the purpose, the meaning of our lives. Life is nothing other than the process of refining our true nature as human beings.” Well this got my attention big time! A very successful businessman stating this for the public record! I wanted more, and read on. Later in the book, he writes about selfless service and offered a different perspective on the foundations of capitalism which I found both refreshing and uplifting.

As I watched my hometown team win its first-ever World Series it struck me how all the players credited their "will to win" and that very little was said about actual skill. Team members lined up to talk about "heart" and "perseverance." One ebullient player said about the other (losing) team: "They played a great series, we just wanted it more."

Really? REALLY?

As any farmer knows, the growth of a crop only happens when the right ingredients are present. To harvest plentiful fields, the farmer has to begin by planting the right seed in rich topsoil where sunlight and water can help the seed to sprout, mature, and bear fruit. If any of the ingredients (seeds, topsoil, sunlight, or water) are missing, the crop won't grow. Growing as a leader also requires the proper ingredients. Unless the right attitudes and actions are cultivated an aspiring leader will sputter and fail rather than growing in influence.

The power of our thinking – the beliefs we cherish and the assumptions we hold as foundations for our beliefs – is what makes changes in consciousness so powerful. Physical reality flows from our imagination, our ideas about how things could be. We human beings have been blessed with the ability to change the way we think. Thus we can change the world and choose to evolve consciously, on purpose.

The email below was sent by Dr. John Armstrong, a London-based engineer, in response to my July 2010 editorial, “The New Human: Stepping Into the Next Evolution of Our Species” which was adapted from my forthcoming book. Below John’s email is my response. - JR

Complacency and micromanagement seem to be two diametrically opposed ideas. Yet complacency leads to micromanagement. And micromanagement causes team complacency. They feed off of one another and yet they are mortal enemies.

If organizations were mindful — referring to the simple act of noticing new things — leadership would be quite a different matter. They would not only be mindful themselves; their most important responsibility would be to enable their followers to be mindful as well. One might argue that in an increasingly complex world — where work cuts across all types of institutional boundaries — the leader’s only task may be to promote and harness “distributed” mindfulness.

By systems dysfunction I mean when systems created by humans fail to function as intended, often showing signs of aberrant behavior. Examples within a social systems context might include fewer people dying when doctors go on vacation, legal systems that aren’t always just, educational systems that fail to educate, and so forth. Smaller scale examples might include the addiction recovery center where staff members demonstrate addictive behavior about their work, the spiritual community that resorts to arms and violence, the hospital system where more people catch infections that anywhere else. You get the idea.

“People don’t like change.” I probably hear this statement at least once a week. Unfortunately, it perpetuates the thinking that change is a foreign, stressful experience that people will try to avoid. The reality is quite the opposite. Change is an essential part of our living experience. We change to live. But we don’t live to be changed. When you understand this difference, stress becomes a potential energy source for enabling change.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke used a phrase I love when it comes to changing our thinking about how things have to be. In a 2004 interview in Leaders magazine the experienced diplomat was asked about people in the world he most admired. He replied, "The greatest person I ever met, bar none, is Nelson Mandela, and I have gotten to know him very well. No man is perfect, not even Mandela, but he took history by the throat, seized it, and changed its course through a combination of moral authority, vision, strategic sense, practical genius, and a remarkable capacity for forgiveness toward the thugs who ran South Africa under Apartheid."

There are easy targets and then there are easy targets. I almost hesitate to write about Carl-Henric Svanberg, Tony Hayward and the bunch, because the entire media world has already aimed, fired and riddled the bulleseye with bullets. What else can be said about this hapless gang? On the other hand, since my thing is communication and leadership, I do want to comment because there are lessons here. Aside from how stupid can you be.

This past weekend, I was out of town to give a speech. Just as they were preparing to introduce me to the audience, someone let me know that there had just been a news bulletin that Coach John Wooden had passed away. I was immediately struck by a flood of emotions. I was sad for the loss of my friend but grateful that he had lived 99 productive years. I was emotional about the loss of a great leader and mentor but thankful that the lessons he had taught me and so many others around the world would endure.

Bigot: strong word you say? Indeed it is and it may be time to call it what it is and stop this incessant sanctimonious crossfire that dominates our airwaves and, for some, our conversations. As background, I have been troubled and quite vocal in my newsletter and blog editorials about the growing ideological divide in the U.S. and the negative impact it is having on my country, seemingly precluding any respectful and civil discourse between opposing views in Washington, our media, or even in living rooms around the country. I see this as a major crisis and perhaps the biggest threat to our future as a nation.