Sour Grapes - PCL

The concept of true leadership, accomplishing innovation and improvement through relationships and motivation, seems to be declining, if not disappearing.  Industry and corporations appear to be returning to management centered, command and control supervisory systems.  This becomes a sort of "celebrity worship" environment, with the groupie employees following their "leader" to unlikely success and more likely eventual failure.  (Remember the book, "Flight of the Buffalo?")

All of the hours and dollars spent on attempting to teach managers and supervisors to have balance and principles practiced in their life and work, while valuing the contribution and ideas of others, have therefore been mostly wasted.  Upper management has once again returned to a mode of "when I want your opinion, I'll give it to you - so please wait patiently in your office until I call on you."

Principle-Centered Leadership (PCL) - life and work management practices based on Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - seems a distant, forgotten concept.  Dr. Covey's book is rendered to the back of the bookstore, probably identified as some sort of autobiographical, cult literature.  Stephen Covey died due to complications from a bicycle accident.  Blaine Lee, who assisted Stephen Covey with the development of the Covey Leadership Center, has also now passed.  The Covey Leadership Center, from which training was coordinated, was sold to Franklin, known primarily as a manufacturer of calendars and planners.  Franklin-Covey has since closed all but one of their stores, with the remaining location in Utah, probably mostly responsible for fulfilling web-based sales of their planners.  Training on the meaning and purpose behind use of the original Covey planner has been abandoned, leaving the focus on the tool, not the task.

The PCL process had great promise.  Some refused it.  Some couldn't understand it.  Many learned highly important lessons and found themselves healthier, happier, and actually more effective.  It's a shame that current and future generations won't have the opportunity to explore the potential value.  Perhaps a remnant of the potential still does remain in organizations like Chick-Fil-A, Primrose schools, and other principle-based organizations.  Hope so.