For decades our CEO has expressed a list of guiding principles for our company that he refers to as the "Six P's." They are:
Though it requires some elaboration to explain how they are applied at our company,
they are pretty fundamental. It's easy to remember them once you hear
the speech, but I won't go into that right now. That's not the point of
this post.
What's new and interesting (and cool) is that
recently Tom talked about the "Seventh P" -- Prayer. In over twelve
years working with him, I've never heard Tom talk openly about this.
In
Tom's words, "No major decision is made at this company without
prayer." Like the other six P's, that's not exactly a revolutionary
concept. But the fact he said it to the whole office staff is
remarkable. Why the coming out? Why did he suddenly decide to add it to
the list publicly, assuming that it has been on the unspoken list for
some time?
Here's my theory (and it's just a theory at this
point)... Tom added it to the list because what was an assumed
principle to many in his generation -- a given -- is something that
needs to be taught to younger managers raised in post-modern America.
It's part of an untold legacy, one that now needs to be communicated
more overtly.
Faith is personal for everyone, but for many of
the people I've known in Tom's generation, my parents included, it is
intensely private as well. While they'll probably stop short of
outright evangelism, I think we're going to start learning more about
this part of the lives of many business leaders who are closing in on
retirement. If my theory is right and this develops into a trend, then
I welcome it.