Leading From Above The Line can be defined as the continuous striving to live one's life above the moral line. It is a philosophy that recognises that it takes great effort and energy to live above the moral line because, as humans, we have a powerful negative polarity within ourselves that is rooted in our primal desires of survival and reproduction. This negative polarity gives rise to our wanton expression of selfishness, arrogance, greed, aggression, lust, anger and hate-all of which help to keep us below the moral line. Our greatest personal development challenge is to master the control of ourselves so that we do what we truly desire, which is to live above the moral line. We all want to be good, but more often than not we claim that "we have no choice" but to have to live below the moral line as we compromise our morality in the interest of our day-to-day "survival." In saying that "we have no choice," we are admitting that we lack the inner strength to do what we really want to do. Leading From Above The Line seeks to give us this strength-moral courage-to make the right choices so that we not only live but lead from above the moral line.
Leading From Above The Line is delivered through seven groundings. I will now outline the key elements of these seven groundings and how they help to strengthen our inner selves so that we develop the moral courage to better become the human beings that we would really like to be. In the first grounding participants are introduced to the fundamentals of the programme. This grounding first seeks to establish the thinking of participants with regards to their own personal development and their concept of leadership. It establishes that leadership development is all about self-development and examines the leadership characteristics of admired leaders. Participants are then introduced to the concepts of above and below the line and to the five sources of our inner power. The fundamental principles are explored and the first of the five sources of our inner power, principle consciousness, presented.
The second grounding, understanding universal humanity, explores the concepts of human commonality, human diversity, human goodness, human dignity and human interconnectedness in relation to the fundamental principles. It further examines the fundamental principles relative to the moral and civil instruments of our democratic societies. The human potential and the second of the five sources of our inner power, purpose, are examined.
The third grounding, emotional mastery, commences with an exploration of the concepts of human happiness and choice. It introduces participants to the power of the emotions and to the need for mastery as a necessary prerequisite for personal development. Among the emotions considered are: anger, greed, arrogance, lust, fear, anxiety, love, forgiveness, humility, confidence, generosity, hope and contentment. Emotional mastery is the third of the five sources of our inner power. In the fourth grounding, change, traditions and modernisation, participants are introduced to the inevitability of change and to ways of anticipating and handling change in their private lives, in their organisations and in the wider society. This grounding challenges participants to develop greater awareness of their creative potential, and explores the relationship between humans and technology. Also, participants are shown how to become more positive change agents. Understanding change is the fourth of the five sources of our inner power. In the fifth grounding, knowledge empowerment, the interrelationships of knowledge, competence and leadership are explored. Knowledge, the fifth of the five sources of our inner power, is discussed as a prerequisite for personal advancement. Various techniques of knowledge acquisition are detailed as part of a programme of life-long learning and development for a rapidly changing modern world.
The focus in the sixth grounding, practices for Leading From Above The Line, is on presenting the six essential practices that will help build and strengthen the five sources of our inner power for Leading From Above The Line. The six essential practices are: stocktaking, stopping, grounding, visioning, planning and actioning. The final and seventh grounding, achieving and sustaining success, looks at what it takes to achieve success in public and private life. Here participants are introduced to the importance of celebrating success and how to do so in order to ensure continued success through the involvement of others. Participants are also introduced to the dangers of success including abuse of power, arrogance, greed, corruption, criticism and adversity. Strategies for continuous personal renewal are explored. Threading through all seven groundings of the programme is an in-depth examination of the five sources of our inner power, all targeted to growing our moral courage such that we display greater control over our lives. With greater self-control we are better placed to let go of our unwanted conditioning, which serves as barriers and filters to our ability to see, understand and live the truth of our humanity.
The message of Leading From Above The Line takes us back to what is basic to our humanity. It introduces us to the beauty within-our human goodness. It helps us to become more conscious of our intuitive understanding of right and wrong. It awakens us to our spirituality and our innate desire to be good-to be above the line. It reminds us of our tremendous individual and collective potential-a potential that we can feel and sense but have difficulty expressing. It reminds us that, as humans, we are here primarily to serve others. It forces us to ask the question: "How can I best serve humanity?" It helps us to discover and energise the pursuit of our divine purpose. The message reminds us that we can think independently and that we can trust ourselves. It awakens us to our capacity to master our emotions. It awakens us to the destructive power of our negative emotions and our capacity to grow our positives. The message tells us that we have the capacity to override the challenges, temptations and distractions of our environment and to be the human being that we have the potential to be. The message helps us to cultivate a more positive state of mind-a state of mind that we express as self-confidence, self-control, self-discipline, purposeful living, creativity and a more optimistic approach to living.