We don't need more cow bell, we need more character.

There is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. The world as you experience it is there in front of you, behind you, to the left or right of you, on YOUR device and on YOUR monitor. Other people’s thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you, but your own thoughts and feelings are immediate, urgent, and real. This very real human self-centeredness can lead us down some very problematic paths. It can lead to selfishness; the practice of using others as a means to obtain advantages for yourself. It can lead to excessive pride; the need to see yourself as superior to others. It can lead to self-deception, ignoring and rationalizing your imperfections while simultaneously inflating your virtues.

As we go through life, most of us are constantly judging ourselves to be better than other people - more virtuous, more intelligent, better informed. We’re constantly seeking recognition and can be over-sensitive to any snub or insult to the status we believe we have earned.?These are the automatic and very necessary functions of the ego, our innate need for significance. But if we consistently answer only to our egos, to our need for significance, we tend to overestimate our abilities and minimize our weaknesses.

Because of the somewhat narrow focus our egos demand, we are generally not capable of seeing and understanding the complex web of causes that drive most events. Our egos assign meanings and values according to our needs and our concerns. Rarely will the ego frame things in terms of others or in terms of the greater good. Therefore, in order to widen our vision and open the aperture of understanding, we must develop an ability to monitor our egos, and, quite often, put them in check. But putting our egos in check is easier said than done. It often causes an inner conflict or confrontation between what we need to feel significant, and what is best for the situation at hand.

Character can be measured by the amount of success we’ve had in managing inner conflicts and the demands of the ego. Character can be defined as a set of intentions, actions, and habits that not only result in what’s best for us, but also what’s best for others, and what best serves the greater good. Developing character means becoming more disciplined, considerate, and loving through a thousand small acts of self-management, service, generosity, and shared growth. Individuals of character make disciplined, caring choices and decisions that focus on the needs of everyone impacted by those choices and decisions.

The things that lead us astray are often ego-driven and short term: vanity, greed, lust, gluttony, etc. The things we associate with character endure over the long term: courage, honesty, integrity, humility. People of character are generally capable of long commitments, of staying attached to people and causes consistently through thick and thin. They are anchored by unbreakable attachments to important ideas, and they are driven by the need to see others succeed. In the realm of the intellect, they have a set of permanent convictions about fundamental truths. In the realm of emotion, they are strengthened by their unconditional love for others. In the realm of action, they have an iron-clad commitment to tasks that create value for both internal and external customers. In the realm of leadership, they are a source of inspiration to everyone who enters and dwells in their field of human energy.

When Leadership Masters defined the five immutable rules of status, our intention was to help high-achievers better manage their egos and therefore create wider pathways for inspiring, life-changing leadership. The rules of status are as follows:

1)???Whenever you lower the status of anyone or anything, you lower your own status in the eyes of others.

2)???Whenever you raise the status of anyone or anything, you raise your own status in the eyes of others.

3)???Whenever you raise the status of a colleague or a customer, you not only raise your own status, you raise the status of the entire organization.

4)???Rapid growth can only occur when all parties involved in any human transaction are operating on an equal, high-status basis.

5)???Whenever you raise the status of any member of another generation, older or younger, you not only raise your own status, you raise the status of both the future and the legacy of the entire organization.

Much of the “noise” and negative energy we see in today’s world is generated by low-status practitioners who believe the quickest way to raise their personal status is by lowering the status of others. They are enslaved and imprisoned by their egos, unable to perceive the human damage they leave in their wakes or the destructive energy they inspire in others.

Most of the negative energy surrounding global social media sites and politics is created by judgement, criticism, and blame – all low-status practices. Low-status reactions to low-status practices tend to be defensiveness, retaliation, and revenge This is the negative feedback loop that drives much of the destructive behavior we see in the world today. Its power is such that it can dominate entire countries and can destroy communities and families. Low-status operators with political or military power are often the most destructive human beings on the planet.

Whenever uncertainty is dominant in any environment, the resultant fear often inspires low-status behaviors. When prices go up or wars are started or infectious diseases appear or even if we have a fender-bender, we almost immediately look for someone to blame. Whenever fear is the dominant emotion, the ego kicks in and promptly demands a scapegoat, someone whose status “deserves” to be lowered because somehow he or she has lowered ours. Fear is gasoline for the significance fire that is the ego. Fear paves the way for authoritarians and dictators, who promise to restore “certainty” during periods of uncertainty and chaos. One authoritarian in history famously achieved his low-status, deadly, destructive power purely by promising to make the trains run on time.

Although it is counter-intuitive to the workings of the ego, the only solution to dangerous uncertainty and low-status, destructive energy is high-status behaviors. When uncertainty dominates the environment, it becomes the responsibility of leadership to strengthen the connections between individuals and work groups and help individuals and work groups feel valued. Helping individuals and groups feel connected and valued will increase their sense of certainty, and when they feel certain, significant, and connected, they can then deal with uncertainty in POSITIVE ways. This is what we at Leadership Masters call “The Status Solution”.

But faith without works is dead, which is why all of us at Leadership Masters have created tools, strategies, and behavior models to support the leaders we serve and the organizations we partner with. From our five-element communication model to our progress code, influence index and environment-builder, Leadership Masters has a complete toolbox of solutions for the uncertain and often destructive energies that currently dominate the external environment. Also, every one of our award-winning leadership theater presentations, seminars and workshops offer specific leadership tools and skill sets to help leaders see around the corner and anticipate challenges.

In our opinion, low-status, negative, divisive energy is the most destructive force currently facing humankind. Ego-driven authoritarians and dictators create global fear and chaos in order to push their low-status narrative of “making the trains run on time”. The fear they create inspires judgement, criticism, blame, resentment, retaliation, and revenge – the deadly feedback loop of destructive, low-status operators. Such energies and such operators can choke the positive energy from our communities and work groups just as they do in governments and nations. Our answer must be to manage our own egos and create as much positive, cohesive, forward energy as possible. That’s our mission at Leadership Masters: To change energies, change lives, change cultures, change governments, change the world. We hope you’ll join us.