a publication of UNIVERSITY of the CUMBERLANDSSeptember 2011 • Volume 2 , Issue 3

Dr. Covey is a respected author, leadership authority, family expert, teacher, and organizational consultant. His books have sold over 20 million copies. Perhaps his best known book was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which has been referred to as the #1 most influential business book of the Twentieth Century.

A recipient of awards ranging from International Man of Peace to the National Fatherhood Award, Dr. Covey is con-tinuously engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and understand-ing through reading and through interaction with the diverse, inspirational people he encounters the world over.

The following is an adaptation from a speech presented at University of the Cumberlands on April 8, 2008 in the “Principle-Centered Leadership Series” sponsored by the Forcht Group of Kentucky Center for Excellence in Leadership.

Lighthouse Principles and Leadership

Stephen Covey

Dr. Covey began his address with an illustrative story embodying the thesis of his presentation. It was a dark and stormy night. Crewmember: “Captain, Captain, wake up.” Captain: “Well?”Crewmember: “Sorry to wake you, sir, but we have a serious problem.” Captain: “Well what is it?” Crewmember: “There’s a ship in our sea lane about twenty miles away, and they refuse to move.” Captain: “What do you mean they refuse to move? Just tell them to move.” Crewmember: “Sir, we have told them; they will not move.” Captain: “I’ll tell them.”The signal goes out: “Move starboard 20 degrees.”The signal returns: “Move starboard yourself 20 degrees.”Captain: “I can’t believe this. Well, I mean I’m a captain. Let them know who I am. I’m important.”Signal goes out: “This is Captain Horatio Hornblower XXVI, commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once.”Signal returns: “This is Seaman Carl Jones II, commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once.”Captain: “What arrogance? I mean, what presumption? Here is a seaman commanding me, a captain.

We could just blow them right out of the water. We could just let them know who we are.Signal: “This is the Mighty Missouri, flag ship of the 7th fleet.” The signal returns: “This is the lighthouse.”

That’s a true story. It’s found in the Naval Proceedings Magazine, where a lighthouse was literally interpreted as a ship.

I like that story because it teaches that there are lighthouse principles which cannot be violated with impunity. For instance, if I were to step off this stage up here I would be governed by gravity, a natural law. I may want to do it to impress people. That may be my value.

Values drive behavior. Principles drive the consequences of behavior. I may want to impress you in a particular way or sell something to you. But, if I don’t talk straight and don’t tell you the truth, and you know that, the natural consequence is you will not trust me.

Trust is the product of trustworthiness. So I have to live with the lighthouse principles. We don’t break them. We only break ourselves against them. Here’s how I came to realize how universal and also how timeless they are.

Our organization is in over 132 countries. We have international conferences from time to time, where people share the value statements of their clients. All value statements are the same. People may use different words because they come from different cultures or nationalities, but they are all basically the same.

Value statements originate in four parts of our being: our body, so that the idea of fairness or equity or justice is involved; our heart, which has to do with how people treat each other, with kindness and respect, and love; our mind, so they focus on the idea of constantly learning, growing, developing and utilizing our talents; our spirit, which has to do with our desire to serve, to contribute, and connect to the infinite. God is the source of all these principles. I find that I can teach these principles everywhere.

To live a life of integrity means your life is integrated around principles. Integrity, or principle-centered living, is, in turn, derived from other principles. Humility is the mother, I suggest, of all principles. Humility says you are not the source, you recognize God as the source. This avoids the egoistic attitude of life.

The opposite of humility is arrogance. Nothing derails people’s careers or their organizations more than arrogance.

The father, I suggest, is courage—the courage even to swim upstream, if necessary, when it is very tough and you’re tempted to violate a principle. The opposite of courage, to live true, is cowardice.

Integrity is the child. That means your life is integrated around principles. The grandchildren are wisdom and the abundance mentality. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior said, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Most people grow up with a comparison-based identity. When man found the mirror, he began to lose his soul. He became more concerned with his image than with his self.

As people go through life, they are surrounded by social mirrors that constantly compare them to others—academically, athletically, and economically. They begin to build their security on the comparisons, robbing themselves of their true identity.

Most people think identity theft means that someone has taken your wallet, and they now have access to your cards and so forth. But true identity theft comes from being immersed in comparison systems, where people gradually, little by little, lose a sense of their true nature.

Our true divine heritage is that we have a common father in Heaven. How great Thou art! And we have a model and a mentor in the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Again how great Thou art!

When people move slowly away from this source, little by little something happens to them. They begin to define themselves based on being compared to others. They might even say to someone, “I’m happy for your success,” but inwardly they’re eating their hearts out. This is

“Every morning my faith is restored when I see the clean cut, mannerly, hard working,

mountain students walk with purpose, with head held high, body erect and with

pleasant smiles on their faces.” President Jim Taylor

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what happens to many people, in fact, as I believe, to most people. They become comparison based.

Observe, if you would, a compass. I don’t have the foggiest notion, by the way, which way north is. But notice that compass. Now notice the dark line there. Those are like principles. They stand for natural laws, or principles that are foundational, like lighthouses. You cannot violate them with impunity.

They govern. Like the Ten Commandments, they represent principles. The tenth, thou shalt not covet, is often the avenue through which the other principles are violated, simply because of a comparison-based identity and the tendency to compare, to covet. It leads to the violation of other principles. Ultimately, we pay a terrible price, like the opening illustration with the ship.

Many lives have no moral center. They’re not based on principles. They’re just based on short term expediency and what gets what I want now. And you gradually lose all sense of principles. In navigational language, it’s called vertigo. You have no sense of where the land is; the dials aren’t working.

Many times, in organizations, there are structured systems not based on principles. They are misaligned. They often talk cooperation, but they reward internal competition.

I think we need new compasses. If you’re only off one degree and try to circumnavigate the world, you’ll end up five hundred miles away from where you started. That’s why you have to be exact and have total integrity.

Today, we’re living in an entirely new age. This is the “knowledge worker age.” Do you believe that this age will out produce fifty times the industrial age, the previous stage of economic development? I do. We’re just barely beginning to see it.

You see, the primary drivers of economic prosperity in the industrial age were machines and capital—in other words, things. People were necessary but replaceable. The problem is even though we are living in the knowledge worker age, so many of our modern management practices come from the industrial age.

Think about the impact of that psychology on almost everything. With the industrial-age approach, people are managed to

a job description. They’re fit into a slot. In the knowledge worker age, people are led toward their greatest unique contribution.

The industrial age manager sees people as employees or subordinates. Motivation is external, “carroting” and “sticking.” If you produce, you get the carrot. If you don’t, you get the stick—the great theory of human motivation.

In the knowledge worker age, people are treated as volunteers, associates, and partners. The industrial age mindset is one of control, controlling people. The knowledge worker mindset is one of release, a form of directed autonomy. Bottom line: we manage things, but things don’t have the power to choose. We lead people who do have the power to choose.

Speaking of our day, the late, brilliant management thinker, Peter Drucker [1909-2005], wrote prophetically, “When the history of our time is written, the most important event those historians will remember is not technology, not the internet, not e-commerce, but the unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time, substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, people have to manage themselves, and we are totally unprepared for it.”

We’re unprepared because unleashing the potential of this age will require a fundamental break from the control paradigm. It will require leaders to embrace what I call the whole person paradigm.

Human beings are four dimensional: our body, our mind, our heart, and our spirit. These four dimensions also represent the four basic needs and motivations of all people. For the body, to live, survival. For the heart, to love and build strong relationships. For the mind, to learn, grow, and develop. And, for the spirit, to leave a legacy—the need for meaning, for contribution and for integrity.

In the final analysis, leadership is not about control. It’s about unleashing the whole person toward compelling, inspiring, and worthwhile goals. As a leader, you have a choice; you can choose to perpetuate the practices of the industrial age or to adopt the mindset, skill set, and tool set required to lead successfully in the knowledge worker age.

Once you have something invulnerable at your core, because it’s based upon principles,

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you can afford the risk of being open and vulnerable. As a result, you can love other people unconditionally and serve even those who reject you. Because, ultimately, service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living upon this earth. It is the ultimate source of true joy and happiness—not of pleasure, but of lasting joy and happiness.

Pray for those who despitefully speak about you and use you. Like our Savior taught, you’re turning the other cheek. You’re not a

product of people and the social mirror; you’re a product of the divine mirror, a deep inward sense of your true identity as a child of God. And then your potential, capacities, and abilities are unleashed when you get a clearer focused purpose. You live by principles, so that you can afford the risk of being open and vulnerable.

[Mohandas] Gandhi [1869-1948], the father of India, never held a position. True leadership is moral authority—meaning living by principles to garner the respect and esteem of others. Management is formal authority. Many who are managers and lack moral authority will build a broken culture. But, if you live by principles and develop moral authority, even though you have no formal position or authority at all, you can influence your culture, your organization, and your family. You can stop bad things from going from generation to generation. Gandhi had the vision of an independent country. His people identified with him.

I had a personal visit just a short while ago with South Africa’s Nelson Mandela [1918-], who got his moral authority in prison, over a twenty-seven-year period at Robben Island. I asked him how long it took to get rid of the bitterness over the way he had been treated. If you read his autobiography, The Long Road to Freedom, you’ll know the torturous experiences that he had. He said it took about four years. I said “What happened?” He said “I began to see how they talked to and treated each other. I realized they, too, were victims of this apartheid system.”

Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said one of the most exciting and thrilling inspirational experiences of his whole life was to go to Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as the first president of the new South Africa. Mandela came down the center aisle. There, on the front row on his left side, were his loved ones. On the front row on the right side were his former jailers. He bows to them, “Good morning gentlemen.” Then he brings the ANC [African National Congress] Choir to sing the Afrikaner anthem and the Afrikaner Choir to sing the ANC anthem. Then he appoints Bishop Tutu as the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bring together the victims and the victimizers to process their experiences and

People I Met at University of the Cumberlands

At Homecoming 2009, Dr. Robert Michael Duncan (History and Political Science alumnus, 1971) gave a speech entitled “Five People I Met at Cumberland College.” Duncan, a former chairman of the Repub-lican National Committee, a recent Chairman, and currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, spoke of several lasting friendships he made at Cumberland. This is the final part of this series to appear in Morning in America.

One individual who made a tremendous impres-sion on Duncan was a freshly minted Ph.D. from Ohio State University, Jerry Davis. He was a young man who came to Cumberland to teach in the Bi-ology Department. In the first semester, students flocked to his classes. But, by the second semester, Dr. Davis was recruiting students for his classes. His classes were “so difficult.” Duncan believed that Dr. J.M. Boswell, former President of Cumberland, must have counseled with Davis about tolerance and patience with his students. Duncan asserted that “I avoided his classes but embraced his passion for excellence.” Davis would hold many positions at Cumberland including that of Vice President. And, when the position of President came open at Alice Lloyd College, a small school in eastern Kentucky, Dr. Boswell recommended him for the position. Davis became President in 1977 and Duncan joined the Board of Alice Lloyd in 1978. Duncan asserted that “Jerry’s passion for Appalachian students and excellence in education started a wonderful jour-ney for me that included chairing Morehead State University’s Board [Morehead, Kentucky] and being acting President of Alice Lloyd College and serving as chairman of the Board for over twenty years.”

Jerry Davis left Alice Lloyd and is currently serving as President of the College of the Ozarks in Port Lookout, Missouri.

Two individuals that met on the campus of Cum-berland College have remained life-long friends. And both men have contributed greatly to society.

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learn to forgive. Learn to make reconciliation, or get

buried with what I call the six metastasizing cancers that result when we are mistreated by others or when we live according to a comparison-based agenda. The metastasizing cancers are: criticizing, complaining, comparing, competing, contending (which means an angry form of contention), and cynicism.

These cancers, which make us feel as if we are victims, can be replaced by the principles of forgiveness, gratitude, and abundance. The abundant mentality is happy for the successes of other people, but it comes from being deeply principle-centered. And God is the source of those principles, so it makes us God-centered, then we have security from within. We’re not a function of other people.

I was so intrigued with Muhammad Yunus [1940-] of Bangladesh, whose work embodies these same principles. He’s the father of microcredit. He received the Nobel Peace Prize last November. Through his leadership with the microcredit movement, 500 million people have escaped poverty. As soon as a woman receives credit (money) to establish some business or trade—and 95% are women— they become members of the loan committee to evaluate the next applicant. So the moral of the story is, if you receive money, you pay it back.

And the payback rate totally shocks bankers: 98.9%. These loan recipients are the poorest of the poor. I’m speaking soon at a big conference where all of these Mohammad Yunus people are joining together to see if we can also eliminate 500 million more people from poverty, not by a handout, but by a hand up.

I’m also working on a project to build on the West Coast a Statue of Responsibility, one of the same scope and size as the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast. It was a vision of Victor Frankl [1905-1997], who was imprisoned in the death camps of Nazi Germany, and who learned to change his question from “Why should I have to suffer so?” to “What is life asking of me?” He became the father of logotherapy and had this vision that liberty had to be combined with responsibility so, when people use their freedom and liberty responsibly, they see great things happen.

The Statue of Responsibility project will

include an international walkway and a museum so all other nations who want to contribute can do so. It will be on its own island, kind of like Ellis Island, and about the same longitude and latitude of the Statue of Liberty.

Whatever you do, remember the principle: always seek first to understand before seeking to be understood. Restate to the satisfaction of others their points, their concerns. The key to having any job you want is to have your homework done so you can describe their problems and show how your experience or skill set may be helpful in dealing with their problems.

So learn that principle. Learn the principle of integrity, of service, of leadership. The definition of leadership is affirming people. It’s communicating their worth and their potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves. These are vital lighthouse principles.

I thank God for the source of the principles. To Him, I give all credit and honor and glory. I love Him with all my heart, and He inspires me to love His other children. I close in the language of the great French philosopher Teilhard de Chardin [1881-1955], who wrote “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Gary Lee Price, sculptor, and Daniel Bolz, President and CEO of the Statue of Responsibility Foundation.

www.sorfoundation.org; Photo by Kenneth Linge

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EditorEric L. Wake, Ph.D.

Contributing EditorOline Carmical, Jr., Ph.D.

Advisory CommittEEBruce Hicks, Ph.D.

Al Pilant, Ph.D.

grAphiCs EditorMeghann Holmes

produCtion mAnAgErJennifer Wake-Floyd

stAff AssistAntFay Partin

Copyright ©2011UNIVERSITY of the CUMBERLANDS

The opinions expressed in UC Morning in America are not necessarily the views of

UNIVERSITY of the CUMBERLANDS

Permission to reprint in whole orin part is hereby granted, provided

the following credit line is used:“Reprinted by permission from

UC Morning in America, a publicationof UNIVERSITY of the CUMBERLANDS.”

University of the Cumberlands has been in existence since 1888, providing an educational ex-perience for the Appalachia area and beyond.

While largely a liberal arts school, we provide over forty majors and minors for our undergraduates. We also include many advanced Education de-grees and certification programs such as the MAT. In 2008, the University launched the Ed.D pro-gram. We also offer an MBA degree and a Physi-cian Assistant Studies program. Recently we have started an MA in Christian Studies and an MA in Professional Counseling. Most of our graduate courses are taught on-line.

Do you know someone who might be inter-ested in our program? If so, please contact our di-rector of Admissions, Erica Harris at 606.539.4241 or email her at erica.harris@ucumberlands.edu. She will be happy to provide you with information and an admissions application. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you.

Choose Cumberlands

Mountain Outreach, a student led volunteer construction ministry, has built over 100 houses for the less fortunate in the area where University of the Cumberlands is located. During the

summer 2011 they have built three more homes. As Dr. Covey asserted, “service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living upon this earth.”

Construction Underway

Roofing a House

House Nearing Completion

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You can remember Cumberlands in your will or trust, or you might want to create a charitable gift annuity to provide you with a lifetime income as you assist deserving students.

With charitable gift annuities:• The rates are significantly greater than bond rates and certificates of deposits.• Annuity payments are fixed and based on the age(s) of the annuitant(s).• Annuity payments are extremely favorably taxed.• The donor is entitled to an income tax charitable contribution deduction.• Appreciated securities given to Cumberlands for a charitable gift annuity are valued on the

date of the gift; capital gains taxes are not immediately due as they are when securities are sold by the donor.

• A gift annuity is the simplest of all split-interest planned gifts.

A Charitable Gift Annuity will not only provide you a fixed income, guaranteed for life, but also will create a significant legacy here at University of the Cumberlands.

University of the Cumberlands offers numerous planned giving vehicles guaranteeing income for the remainder of life.  Some have established trusts and deferred gift annuities naming a loved one as the income beneficiary.  With the low payout rates currently on certificates of deposit (CDs) and the volatility of the stock market, deferred gift annuities are becoming extremely popular for young adults who will not be retiring any time soon but want to plan and secure a steady, fixed income that will begin when they retire.  For instance, a 45-year-old can defer a gift annuity for 15 years and receive income at a rate of 10 percent for life.  The charitable gift tax deduction would be immediate (during working years when your tax bracket is higher) and the income would not begin until you are 60.  As with regular gift annuities, the entire amount of the annuity would be backed by all of the University’s assets.

If you are considering the establishment of a Charitable Gift Annuity to provide life-long income for yourself and vital support for University of the Cumberlands, please contact Jim Taylor at presoff@ucumberlands.edu.

Remember, as a financial supporter of Cumberlands, you are encouraging today’s students as you also demonstrate your continuing commitment to the University’s mission to educate individuals for lives of responsible service and leadership.

AgeYearlyRate

Annuity Payment

CharitableDeduction

65 5.5% $ 530.00 $3,063.20

70 5.8% 650.00 3,605.40

75 6.5% 650.00 4,162.30

80 7.5% 750.00 4,685.10

85 8.4% 840.00 5,446.80

*based on minimum age of 65; a gift annuity of $10,000; figures for annual payment & IRS discount rate of 3% as of May, 2011.

Remember Cumberlands

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Consider your IRA? Would you like a very tax-wise way to support University of the Cumberlands and at the same time avoid paying income taxes on 100% of those donated funds up to $100,000?

If you are 70 ½ or will be prior to December 31, 2012, a part of the new tax law of 2010 includes good news for you concerning charitable gifts made from your IRA. A special provision of the law allows those 70 ½ and older to direct gifts from traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs to University of the Cumberlands or any other designated charity through the end of 2011. Such gifts fulfill some or all of the minimum required distribution required at age 70 ½ without increasing your taxable income.

For more information, contact me at 606-539-4201 or at presoff@ucumberlands.edu.

President, University of the Cumberlands6191 College Station DriveWilliamsburg, KY 40769

Good Tax-Wise NeWs ReGaRdiNG YouR iRa