“Three Levels of Heroism”

by Cenen Herrera
Writing from Martinez, San Francisco Bay Area

First Level of Heroism: Embracing the Winning Habits - I use Stephen Covey’s 8 winning habits as my baseline reference point to describe what I consider as the first level of heroism: (i) Be Proactive; (ii) Know the End before you begin any project; (iii) Know your Priorities; (iv) Learn to always adopt a Win-Win Solution; (v) Understand Others Before You Understand Yourself; (vi) Learn to Achieve Synergy; (vii) Continuously Sharpen Your Saw i.e., adopt a continuous learning mode, and (viii) Find your voice and allow others to find theirs. Izaak Walton indicated that God has two dwelling places: (i) in Heaven and (ii) in the Heart of a meek and thankful server. My advice to the young: Learn by heart the winning habits of Stephen Covey. After learning such habits, be meek and thankful.

Second Level of Heroism: Mastering the Championship Anchor – To become a Champion is to consistently win in the trials of life. One must not be overwhelmed by a big win or by the inevitability of an impeding check mate, i.e., a losing situation. Life is not a one-time event, but a series of challenges. The championship anchor begins with a passion to inspire your sweet spot (please see John C. Maxwell’s book titled “Talent is Never Enough”). It then identifies one’s development drivers, which are your strengths and your commitment to a positive direction that will ultimately become your benefit engine, i.e., source of livelihood. Competitive professional skills are then transformed into development objects. Such transformation becomes the ultimate leadership skill, i.e., converting one’s highly successful benefit engine into a philanthropic leadership anchor. Philanthropic activity, after all, is the Champion’s favorite past time.

Third Level of Heroism: Demonstrating a Constituency-Focused Heroism – Striking a balance among risky variables in one’s service function is the biggest challenge in the third level of heroism. This means engaging mostly in competency enhancing activities without measuring the intensity of one’s sacrifices. The third level of heroism goes beyond the metrics of performance and focuses on the construct “constituency development” (please see my vision/mission statement) as the seamless transformation from a chaotic interregnum (please see the book titled “Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit From Passion & Purpose by Rajendra S. Sisodia, David B. Wolfe & Jagdish N. Sheth”) to a paradigmatic governance structure. Demonstrating a constituency-focused heroism involves a firm commitment to providing professional care, ethical protection, and development opportunities for those who have less in life.