Principles for Leadership
 Leader- One who has the greatest positive impact,
over the longest period, on the people for whom
they have stewardship or responsibility.
 Pillar principles are fundamental values that are
requisite for effective leadership and successful
long term impact on others. Many may operate
short term without these but positive impact over
the long haul, even passed on to generations will
not occur without these principles being in place.

Pillar One
Ethic
 Ethic - A set of moral values and principles based
on constant and consistent standards that does not
change with time, popular opinion, or adversity.
The value set is derived and defined from a source
beyond the transient opinions of contemporary
wisdom and even beyond any historical base. The
source of the values boil down to one of two
origins: rational thought as described by a higher
level of order of nature, or revelation as described
by God who embodies all good and endeavors to
assist all mankind to reach the same level.

Pillar Two
Integrity
 Integrity - Complete adherence to the ethics defined
and a code of moral values. The value set is useless
if not strictly adhered to. Adherence requires
discipline, moderation, temperance, and restraint,
especially with respect to proper and appropriate
use of passions, appetites, and urges of the physical
and temporal world. Integrity also requires courage
which is mental or moral strength to venture,
persevere and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

Pillar Three
Faith
 Faith - Firm belief in something for which there is
no scientific or physical proof. Some things cannot
be proven with the feeble, short-sighted methods
and understanding of scientific theory or secular
ideology. The greatest victories are driven by a
deep, internal, conviction often only truly valid to
the one feeling it. The greatest proof of truths
comes not from the external evidences as
illustrated by experiment, equation, or peer
confirmation, but from internal conviction and
witness. The external is helpful, the internal is
necessary. We all operate by faith.

Pillar Four
Discovery
 Discovery - To obtain insight or knowledge for the
first time. Constant growth requires us to seek and
receive continually and effectual insights and
knowledge. It renews the soul, rejuvenates the
heart and invigorates the mind. It humbles the
individual, which in turn opens new areas of
inquiry, growth and learning, which in turn fosters
more discovery. This leads to competence and
expertise in areas you choose to study. An
additional by-product is excellence or the quality of
pursuing perfection, which through the process of
discovery, one begins to see as achievable.

Pillar Five
Charity
 Charity – Benevolence and goodwill toward, and
love of others. A desire for the good of others is
requisite for openness of mind. Such an attitude
requires the individual recognize the intrinsic divine
value of self as well as others. A greater level of
self-esteem and self-interest is reached when one
truly desires, and works toward the achievement of
growth for others than focusing on ones own
accomplishments. This level of understanding is
founded on a conviction that the origin of the
individual is rooted in a divine nature.

Pillar Six
Commitment
 Commitment - Characterized by steady, earnest and
energetic application and effort. All things learned,
either by study or by faith, must be mastered in the
crucible of consistent, daily application. The theory
must be tested, the value must be lived the insight
must be shared and the knowledge must be
applied. And all will be applicable in any aspect of
ones life if the value, insight, theory, or knowledge
is valid.

Pillar Seven
Agency
 Agency - Capacity, condition or state of acting or
exerting power. The ability to act for oneself,
agency entails choice, responsibility,
accountability. Correct use of all of these is
critical. It is a real and active power increased or
lessened by the way it is exercised. Used correctly
and appropriately it increases our freedom, wisdom,
and understanding. Improperly used it results in a
bondage worse than prison because it places one
not in a physical, but an emotional and spiritual
prison from which it is more difficult to escape.

A last comment – Learn by
Observation, Inspiration, Study
 “If you learn about these things that are not
written down, the unwritten order of things,
you will be better qualified to be a leader --
and you are going to be a leader. The most
important positions of leadership are in the
home.”
• (President Boyd K. Packer, The Unwritten Order of Things, BYU Devotional, 15 October 1996)

The Sound of the Forest
Back in the third century A.D., the King Ts’ao sent his son, Prince T’ai, to the temple to
study under the great master Pan Ku. Because Prince T’ai was to succeed his father as king, Pan
Ku was to teach the boy the basics of being a good ruler. When the prince arrived at the temple,
the master sent him alone to the Ming-Li Forest. After one year, the prince was to return to the
temple to describe the sound of the forest.
When Prince T’ai returned, Pan Ku asked the boy to describe all that he could hear.
“Master,” replied the prince, “I could hear the cuckoos sing, the leaves rustle , the hummingbirds
hum, the crickets chirp, the grass blow, the bees buzz, and the wind whisper and holler.” When
the prince had finished, the master told him to go back to the forest to listen to what more he
could hear. The prince was puzzled by the master’s request. Had he not discerned every sound
already?
For days and nights on end, the young prince sat alone in the forest listening. But he
heard no sounds other than those he had already heard. Then one morning, as the prince sat
silently beneath the trees, he started to discern faint sounds unlike those he had ever heard before.
The more acutely he listened, the clearer the sounds became. The feeling of enlightenment
enveloped the boy. “These must be the sounds the master wished me to discern,” he reflected.
When Prince T’ai returned to the temple, the master asked him what more he had heard.
“Master,” responded the prince reverently, “when I listened most closely, I could hear the
unheard-the sound of flowers opening, the sound of the sun warming the earth, and the sound of
the grass drinking the morning dew.” The master nodded approvingly. “To hear the unheard,”
remarked Pan Ku, “is a necessary discipline to be a good ruler. For only when a ruler has learned
to listen closely to the people’s hearts, hearing their feelings uncommunicated, pains
unexpressed, and complaints not spoken of, can he hope to inspire confidence in his people,
understand when something is wrong, and meet the true needs of his citizens. The demise of
states comes when leaders listen only to superficial words and do not penetrate deeply into the
souls of the people to hear their true opinions, feelings, and desires.”