Steven's Choice

by John Renesch

  Chapter Seven: THE CROSSROADS

  November 14, San Francisco, World Headquarters, Ventures International, 3:30 PM PST

  Steven closed the door to his office, indicating to Ruth he was not available. How funny, he thought. I don't want to be disturbed because I already am disturbed. He smiled at the irony of his thought, but he was still quite agitated about what had just transpired. He'd never before lost his temper at a staff meeting, and he sure had lost it a few minutes ago.

  He went to the refrigerator and surveyed his choices. He grabbed a beer. He popped the cap off the bottle, tossed it into the garbage, and sat down at the table. He was still steamed. He took a long, hard swallow from the bottle and allowed his emotions to run free. Okay, he thought, what are these feelings—right now?

  Steven recalled the events that led up to the upset in the staff meeting. The meeting had been called for several key members of the headquarters staff to debrief him on seven key projects he'd delegated at the last staff meeting.

  It was Jon Franklin, his young vice president of marketing, who'd really pissed him off. That ungrateful kid, he thought. After the opportunity I gave him, right out of graduate school. I brought him in here. Now, twelve years later he's a vice president for Ventures, nearly ten years younger than most and certainly fifteen or twenty years younger than the norm. For this punk to tell me…

  Then he realized his reaction was out of proportion to the incident. After all, it wasn't as if the kid had insulted him personally. He just didn't like what Steven was proposing.

  And as he reflected on it, Steven realized Jon represented all the resistance he was going to face if he was going to change the way Ventures operated. Most of the foot-dragging was less noticeable, but there was plenty of it. Everything he was learning about changing systems seemed to be in his face today, he thought.

  Suddenly he had enormous empathy for anyone below the position of CEO and chairman. If it's this hard for me to implement systemic change, he thought, how frustrating it must be for anyone junior to my level.

  Steven knew his staff could get behind the ideals and objectives of the proposed program intellectually. There was no doubt in his mind they all backed the general idea, and would absolutely agree that the values he stated were noble and desirable. But such a wall of resistance! Some called the ideas unrealistic. Some labeled the idea socialistic. Others thought of it as inappropriate, objectives like those he was proposing were not the jurisdiction of business. Yet, he thought, they would all like to see these values in place. Fear, then, was the primary basis for their reluctance. The objections and the rationale behind them were window-dressing to cover the fear, he concluded.

  He felt calmer. It was clear a different approach was required. That's a good topic to discuss with Mark, he thought. Then he had an idea that initially seemed totally off the wall. How about asking Catherine to join in? He had never ever done that before. Would she want to be involved? After all, her intuition was infallible, her understanding of people was superb, her desire to see transformation happen was unquenchable. So she didn't know much about the investment banking business, or any business, for that matter. She didn't need to. In fact, it could be better that she didn't know the business.

  November 14, Hillsborough, the George’s Home, 7:32 PM PST

  Steven was just coming out of the gymnasium shower next to the guest house when he heard Catherine pulling in. He'd been eager to talk, and Mark hadn't been reachable for the past hour. A strenuous workout seemed like a good way to kill the time and release much of the stress he had taken on since the staff meeting.

  What should I call it? he wondered—all this intense introspection? It was getting pretty far along, and he still didn't have a name for it. How about “crisis”? he wondered. No, too negative. Breakthrough? No. That suggested he was trying to get through something and had finally made it. The same with “quest.” No, these words were inadequate.

  Renaissance? he wondered. Too fancy for his tastes. “Awakening” was accurate, but he wondered if it conveyed the experience sufficiently. Rebirth? No, too “New Agey.”

  He finished drying himself. Catherine opened the exterior door. “Anybody home?” she called.

  “In here, honey,” he called back. “I'm clean, naked and eager to see you.”

  The sun was going down by the time they emerged from the gymnasium, both freshly showered, wearing matching robes. They walked slowly up the grassy incline to the main house, arms around each other like high school sweethearts.

  “You know, Steven, I just love the way you are opening up emotionally. There's so much more of you available these days,” Catherine said.

  He knew she meant it as a compliment but he couldn’t help but wonder what had been missing all these years. She never told me she was missing anything. Why didn’t she complain? Then he caught himself…there he was again, trying to analyze everything again. Just accept the compliment, you jerk, he muttered to himself.

  Still walking as one, they entered the house through the patio sliding glass door into the kitchen. Catherine turned on the light switch and asked her husband if he'd like a snack with his cocktail.

  Still in their robes, they sipped from their chilled glasses, looking into each other's eyes like they were on their first date. Catherine was nestled under Steven's right shoulder, her legs curled up alongside her on the big couch in the den. Wearing the same white robes, the two of them appeared as one two-headed creature.

  After a long, loving gaze punctuated by another affectionate kiss, she whispered in his ear. “Now, was there something you wanted to talk about?”

  “I'd like your input on a problem I'm having getting the staff to buy into the values program I'm proposing,” he said.. “I want to ask for Mark's help too, but you have great intuition. I know this is unusual—asking you for business advice—but I'm hoping you'll have some wisdom, some light to shed on this.”

  “Steven, you know I'm pretty ignorant and uninterested in business. But I do know a lot about people and how they behave. So if the problem is about people and not business, I'm happy to offer whatever I can,” she said.

  He told her about the meeting and how certain members of the staff had been quite vocal in their objections to the ideas he'd proposed. He told her about his reaction to Jon, in particular, and his anger about all the resistance in general. He recapped the basic plan in greater detail than he'd ever shared with her before.

  Catherine knew something about what he was proposing for Ventures. She'd been aware of the general plan, the meetings he was having with various people whose opinions he valued, and the time he'd spent putting his proposal together for the staff. She also knew he planned to preview it with the headquarters staff, get their agreement, and start a concurrent campaign to enroll the rest of the employees in other offices, as well as going to the rest of the board members and the shareholders. It was an ambitious project, and she was a strong advocate for what he wanted to do.

  “So all the staff had received my draft proposal, along with the notice for the staff meeting,” he told her. “I asked them to review the draft and be prepared to discuss it at the meeting, stressing informed participation was essential—that I wanted everyone to be there and clear about what I wanted to do.”

  “And that was to enter into a values review program that would culminate in a new standard of business practices for the company?” asked Catherine.

  “Yes, provided we received approval of the board and the buy-in of the rest of the employees, or most of them. And, I'm pretty sure I can get that. But I wanted to start here, at our office.

  “When the meeting started, I started hearing speeches instead of questions. At the beginning, the first ones to speak were a bit timid, but there was a lot of agreement for what was being said, so they got more and more challenging. When Jon got up, he had already heard from many in the room who didn't like my idea. He could tell that those who hadn't spoken up by that time neverthele
ss agreed with most of what had been said. All you needed to do was watch heads nodding as others were speaking. By the time Jon got up it felt like a mob in there. So much disagreement with the idea had built up it seemed as if everyone in the room were adamantly rejecting my proposal outright. No questions, no inquiry of any kind—just outright 'no!' I left the meeting fuming mad.”

  “And just what did Jon say?” she asked.

  “Its as much when he said it as what he said. He waited until a number of people had spoken, each one becoming less timid than the previous. So he knew the direction things were going. Hell, I taught him how to do that years ago! I saw him nudge Michelle, prompting her to speak. So she made one of the most forceful statements against making any major changes in corporate culture right now. She also got more heads nodding…or more heads nodding more. Her main concern was how any major change in our culture at this time would seriously jeopardize profit-sharing for the more senior people, at least for a few years, and she was counting on her bonuses.

  “Anyway, Jon finally got up. I swear you could hear a pin drop. I was pretty stirred up by now. Pissed off, was what I was. I had expected that this kid I'd groomed since school was going to do a razzle-dazzle defense of my ideas and nip this resistance in the bud. As he began—and he started by sharing some of the early days when he began at our old company—he went into a short story about being there when Ventures acquired us. I could see many of the younger staff looking at him almost as a mentor, the old-timer—the young old-timer. Then he took off on this track about how changes in the core mission of the company would make it vulnerable, susceptible to takeover, erratic stock price oscillation, layoffs and bonus reductions. I couldn't believe I was hearing it.

  “I'd decided before the meeting to let everyone have their say and only answer questions. Since all the commentary was statement rather than inquiry, I said nothing until the very end. When I finally did say something I was so surprised—no, shocked is the word— I wasn't particularly articulate. I was so angry, so goddamn angry,” he said.

  “Were you hurt?” asked Catherine.

  Steven looked up and their eyes met. She could see tears welling up in his eyes.

  “Yeah,” he said in a whole different tone. “Yes, I was hurt. After all, I did—”

  “Don't go there, Steven,” she said. “Don't get righteous, dear. Just allow yourself to feel the hurt. You know how to do that, right?”

  “Yes. But old habits are hard to break. I guess there is some ego satisfaction in making him wrong, bad, and ungrateful. Plus if I get really righteous I don't need to feel the pain,” Steven said.

  “I felt betrayed by him, I guess,” he added. “Especially when I'd fully expected his support.” He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe and looked somewhat sheepishly at Catherine.

  “Are you embarrassed by tearing up over this, sweetheart?” she asked, dabbing some tears from his checks with her sleeve.

  “A little bit, I guess. I'm still pretty new at this feeling stuff, you know,” he said.

  They sat for a few moments, sipping from their drinks. He finished his martini, set the glass on the table, and looked down at his wife.

  “Well my dear, any ideas? What do you see, huh?”

  “For one thing, you need to process the anger toward Jon,” she said. “There's some major sore spots around him, and I don't get what they are right now. Maybe you've had more of a co-dependent relationship with him than you realized. Maybe your generosity and tutorship over the years has been part manipulation, and you thought you were owed something.

  “Then there's the issue of what you are calling 'buying in,' and what that looks like from the staff's viewpoint. You're used to getting your own way at the office, honey. After all, you were the one who started the business, and you own a considerable amount of its stock. You're the chief executive and have called the shots for almost your entire life. The term 'buy in' implies a certain verticalness in its implementation—like 'I need to get someone else to agree with me that this is a good idea.' Isn't that the essence of what it means?” she asked him.

  He nodded. “It's close enough for…”

  “For government work,” she said with a grin, having heard the old pun for many years. “Another piece comes to mind…they may think you've gone off the deep end somehow. You may have lost their respect on some level, or they've realized you may have feet of clay. The staff may think of you much more suspiciously than they used to, when you were the omnipotent leader who was always right, the rock on whom they relied for their careers. Steven, you have been a big part of their lives! “

  Steven was stunned by what Catherine had said as well as her ability to go right to the heart of a difficult business situation. He'd never seen the last thing Catherine had mentioned. And he'd thought 'buy in' meant enlisting partnership. He saw the superficiality of it for the first time.

  “I'm a bit overwhelmed by how much you just delivered, my dear. I mean, I feel like I've just been hit between the eyes with a whole bunch of insight and wisdom. Let me sit with all that for a bit. Wow!” he said.

  “Sounds good,” said Catherine. “This might be time for me to serve up the dinner Martha made for us. There's a risk of it getting too dried out in the oven if we don't eat soon.”

  November 16, Napa Valley, St. Helena, George's “The Cabernet House,” 6:12 AM

  Steven poured another cup of decaf. Catherine would be coming up later today, but he wanted some quiet time to think, to ponder, to pray for clarity about his next steps.

  He walked over to the breakfast table… his eyes caught the email he'd received from Mark the prior evening. He'd printed it out so he could read it without having to turn on his laptop again. When he first saw it onscreen last evening, he'd chuckled, then winced with a pain of recognizing Ventures in the story.

  Mark introduced it simply: “Saw this in a book by a futurist and wanted to share it with you. Best wishes, Mark.” What followed was a story—”The Story of the Five Apes.”

  Put five apes in a room. Hang a banana from the ceiling and place a ladder

  underneath the banana. The banana is only reachable by climbing the

  ladder.

  Have it set up, so anytime an ape starts to climb the ladder, the whole

  room is sprayed with ice-cold water. In a short time, all the apes will

  learn not to climb the ladder.

  Now…take one ape out and replace him with another one (ape number six). Then disable the sprayer. The new ape will start to climb the ladder and will

  be attacked unmercifully by the other four apes. He will have no idea why he

  was attacked. Replace another of the original apes with a new one and the

  same thing will happen, with ape number six doing the most hitting.

  Continue this pattern until all the original apes have been replaced. Now

  all the apes will stay off the ladder, attacking any ape that attempts

  to climb it, with absolutely no idea why they are doing it.

  This is how company policy and culture are formed.

  Somehow, the story hit harder this morning than it had last evening. Steven felt a knot in his lower abdomen—a mix of embarrassment, self-blame, hurt, and anger.

  The culture that had been allowed to develop within Ventures was so much more powerful than he could ever have imagined. And he was part of its origin. He was the person who had more to do with its character—its DNA—than any other. Yet knowing this alone was in itself insufficient. Frankenstein must have felt like this when his creature went out of control, Steven thought.

  As he allowed the despair to seep in, and he fully owned what he had dedicated his life to thus far, Steven found himself wondering who was really in control of the world. Who was in charge, anyway? If corporations were in ultimate control, as many said, then who was controlling them? He knew from personal experience that board members didn’t feel as if they were in control—not really! And management ans
wered to directors, so they weren’t in charge. What about shareholders? Weren’t they supposed to be the primary beneficiaries, and thus ultimately in control? Not if you asked investors. They would tell you they didn't feel any power.

  So who is at the top of this system that seems so out of control? he wondered.

  Like a lightning bolt from the heavens, Steven realized it. Speculators and gamblers had become the modern-day tyrants of the world. Through their betting on stock options, futures, and other short-term hedges, they were responsible for more mass, more energy affecting the values and priorities of the marketplace. As multinational corporations were the locomotive pulling the train of society, and the economic system was the fuel for the locomotive, the engineers running the train were day traders and other financial speculators whose primary purpose was short-term profit. And, the shorter the term the better. Everyone else in the chain worked to satisfy these people’s goals without being aware of it. Stock value at any one moment on the major exchanges reigned supreme, and this was the commodity the speculators dominated.

  With a heaviness that felt like an anvil on his chest, Steven sunk further into the chair. My God, he thought, and I have been one of the leading proponents of this! I have traded and manipulated and speculated and made a few hundred people very rich. I have gotten very rich making our rich customers even richer.

  I am one of those tyrants! If he had been standing he may have collapsed at this insight. My God, I’m one of the villains in this scenario….oh my God.

  An even deeper realization sunk in. He could now see he had created a system called Ventures International in which thousands of speculators from all over the world could play their money games. He'd built a casino where the modern-day tyrants could hang out and manipulate the rest of the world, which danced to their music and ran around as servants to these new aristocrats—these tyrants of the new economy. Not only was he one of the tyrants, he had created a field of play for other tyrants.

  “My God,” he said out loud, followed by another “my God,” and another and another. “My God,” he muttered again, sitting in the den with a blank stare and very heavy heart.

  Hours later, Catherine pulled into the driveway.

  “How's the introspection going, sweetheart?” she asked him without any sarcasm as she entered the house. “Any light bulbs gone off yet?”

  “Something has most certainly happened, my dear—and just this morning! But it seemed more like TNT than a light bulb,” he answered, still in a state of dumbfoundedness. Catherine immediately stopped emptying the grocery bags and came to him. She put her arms around him and looked him squarely in the eyes. “Boy, it must have been a doozy,” she said softly. “Whatever it was, it got my guy pretty good. You still look dazed, my sweet, like you saw a ghost!”

  Steven sat on one of the counter stools and told Catherine about his early morning realizations while she put away the groceries. When she finished, she walked over to him, kissed his cheek, took his arm and marshaled him into the living room, where they sat side by side.

  And as Steven gazed out the window, she gazed upon his glowing face and felt another presence in the room—the presence of God, a Divine presence whose energy surrounded the two of them.

 

  December 13: Hawaii, the “Big Island,” Mana Lani Resort, 11:55 AM HST

  He hung up the phone. He was tired and needed to stretch. He got up from his chair, opened the glass door to the balcony, and stepped outside, inhaling the humid Pacific air.

  In the past three weeks Steven had interviewed seventeen consulting firms—probably forty people in all—as potential vendors for this ambitious undertaking. From his vantage point, they were all very interested in landing the contract to work with Ventures. After all, it represented many millions in revenue to them and would be a significant trophy account for any firm who got the engagement. But he needed to feel sure the firm he selected would be the best candidate. After all, they'd be doing some major surgery on his baby.

  He had one more company to interview, and their people were due this afternoon. He was hoping they'd be able to offer him something he hadn't found so far. He had his favorites among those he'd interviewed, but he would rather be more excited about the team he picked than he was at this moment.

  The people coming this afternoon were relatively new to this particular practice, calling it “organizational transformation.” Steven had certainly heard this term before. It was hardly new. However, most usages of the term were cosmetic—the word “transformation” had become trivialized by overuse. It had become synonymous with mere change, thanks to all the authors, consultants, and practitioners who tended to misuse the term. It had been cheapened through the years, Steven thought.

  True transformation, it seemed to him, meant more than mere changing of the content of something. It meant a change in the very essence, nature, or context of something or someone.

  There was something he couldn't quite put his finger on about this particular group, who called themselves the Choicepoint Consulting Group. Perhaps it was his fascination with the term, which he fondly used to describe his own process.

  Steven had not used consultants very much. Usually, they were hired to do technical tasks at Ventures, but rarely were they retained to monkey with the organization. That had always been Steven's private domain—although it was not explicit in the company culture. In fact, Steven hadn't even realized it was implicitly his territory until after that evening talk with Catherine. Only then was he able to see how sacred this territory was for him—at least the “old him.”

  In the days that followed that eventful evening, the two of them had talked a lot. She had downloaded an article on “conscious organizations” from the Internet and suggested he add it to his reading stack. Steven was familiar with a “learning organization”—a model for continued openness to learning and innovation rather than the stodgier know-it-all model that had nearly killed so many companies in the 1980s. Having become popular in the early 1990s, learning organizations had become the new buzzword for most companies even if it was more talk than walk. But the term “conscious organization” intrigued him.

  The author was proposing the conscious organization was a natural evolution from the learning organization. While the latter was based on continuous learning and openness to new ideas, the former was based upon continued expansion of people's consciousness. This also meant creating a culture that turned lights on whenever any darkness was discovered, so that shadowy behaviors—unconsciousness of any sort—would be eagerly engaged, exposed and corrected.

  The idea of an organization committed to its own consciousness excited Steven. If his work could be as exciting as his personal life had become as a result of his transformation, how exciting it would be to work in an environment that was constantly looking for ways to grow. Of course, this would require thinking about growth in entirely different terms from the traditional mindset. But traditional growth in business could not be sustained indefinitely. Like all physical realities, there were limits to possible growth in revenues, expansion, and other measurable aspects. But consciousness! Steven could not imagine any limits to growth from a consciousness perspective.

  For him to gain this integration he was seeking, the company he was leading needed to operate differently, very differently. He could no longer pretend he didn’t know about certain things, like the impact business had on the quality of alllife on the planet, or how destructive the existing economic systems were for humankind. Steven could see how he'd wanted to avoid knowing many things because they'd seemed like threats to the lifestyle he'd built for himself and his family, or threats to the company he had spent so much time building, or threats to values and beliefs he couldn’t bear to reassess.

  Now he could see that all these threats only seemed like they would destroy him, or his family, or his company. In his new consciousness, he could see they were only a real threat to his image, or his ego.

  T
he idea of integrating his work with his personal values—having his work life catch up with him—was so exciting, Steven couldn't sleep that night. After an hour of lying awake, he got up, went back downstairs and reread the article again and again. At about four AM, he realized he could make Ventures into a conscious organization. It really could be done!

  The despair he had been feeling earlier had been transmuted into enthusiasm for his vision once again, and he was going to be in a much better mindset to meet with this last group of people.

  He went upstairs and was able to go to sleep instantly.

  December 15: Red Bank, New Jersey, Red Restaurant, 8:22 PM EST

  The two couples had just finished dinner. Ty was pleased with how the evening was going. His health club buddy was thoroughly enjoying his date for the evening. Ty had hired Brawny and Colleen for the night….he knew they could fill the bill as out-of-town visitors. They were dressed perfectly for their roles as high-level executive assistants from Los Angeles.

  Joe Hughes had no idea that this was all a setup, and he didn’t need to be too charming to get laid tonight. It was a done deal—already paid for. A background check told Ty that Joe had become a widower less than a year before, making him just about prime for a sexual escapade. Brawny had her own car with her—which Ty had rented for the occasion—and Colleen would return to Manhattan with him.

  Ty felt no shame for this charade. It was all part of the deal-making as far as he was concerned. He’d make millions from his seemingly harmless conversations with this man, not a bad investment for a mere $5,000 for their dates tonight. Getting any advantage he could was what separated the winners from the losers, he rationalized. For Ty, manipulation was an art form, and he had become very good at it.

  March 22: Northern California, Sonoma County, Jack London Retreat Center, 2:34 PM PST

  Jean opened her eyes after the meditation. It took some time for her eyes to adjust after having them closed for nearly forty-five minutes. She was still new to meditation, but it provided her with such incredible serenity. Everyone if the room remained silent after the guided meditation had concluded. Some stood and stretched. Others lay down on the carpeted floor and relaxed. No one said anything, although smiles and comforting glances were exchanged among the fifty or so people in the room.

  She had come to this weekend retreat with her friend Mary Catherine, whom she'd met through the Course. She missed having Terry around, but she'd met several new friends through Timothy’s work and still stayed in contact with some of her Stanford buddies. Mary Catherine had taken the Course first; Jean took it a few weeks later. She found it enormously valuable and, since it was her first experience of deep engagement with her own psyche, she had recommended it to several friends from work as well as some former buds from school.

  She was discovering a world she'd never known before. Prior to completing her MBA, she'd had no idea there were so many people doing this kind of personal, introspective work. Not only was this new world a delightful discovery, but she was also learning about herself, and why she believed as she did and why she did things that she did. She was falling in love with herself.

  Honoring silence was still somewhat foreign to her, after years of being taught to have the correct answers and demonstrating what you knew to show how smart you were. She was now seeing that silence and listening for messages from outside of one’s consciousness were as important as thinking and talking. As another friend had said to her, “It is difficult to hear anything God might be saying to you, if you’re always thinking or jabbering away.”

  March 25: Hillsborough, the George’s home: 4:34 PM PST

  Steven stood and stretched. He suddenly realized how deathly still it was, not a sound to be heard in the house. He felt a bit light-headed when he stood, after sitting for hours without a break with his legs tucked underneath his chair sitting at the computer. Where had the time gone? What time was it anyway? He glanced at his watch and was surprised at the time. He sat down a bit after one o’clock and here it was more than three and a half hours later.

  The new plan was almost finished and he was starting to feel more confident….like they would be prepared for the first quarter board meeting coming up late next month. He had all his ducks lined up and thought they’d be well prepared as well as successful in gaining the Board’s acceptance.

  It had been a ton of work, though. He had focused on little else since he returned from Hawaii just before Christmas. He was barely around for much of the holidays, playing hooky at work, being only a ghostly presence at home. Thank God for Ruth and Catherine, he thought with gratitude. Without them pulling far more than their usual weight during those days he would never have been able to get the formal proposal to this stage.

  Steven had planned to take The Course either at the end of last year or the beginning of this one, when things were normally slow for him in the business. But the combination of spending so much time with Timothy and getting lots of benefit from their conversations, meeting all the wise people he had been connected to, and the decision to create a plan for the company that would have the best chance of being accepted by the skeptics inside the company and a team who could effectively implement it, his time evaporated.

  He was quite pleased with the team they’d put into place to do the implementation, a huge undertaking by anyone’s measure. He was also extremely happy with the strategy they created, after many hours of seeking out advice and counsel. When they couldn’t integrate the wisdom they discovered internally, they were able to retain the services of those who possessed innate talent for this work, the “naturals” who were keenly intuitive, gifted in organizational change and transformation.

  He learned from his peers around the world who had attempted things like this, although a smaller scale and often without success. But he knew most wisdom is not gained from one’s successes but from failures. The difference was to learn from the failures and not be emotionally burdened by them.

  One of his biggest learnings was the advice he received from a colleague at one of the Big Four consulting firms. Mike was a partner based in the UK and had been assigned the task of implementing their Corporate Social Responsibility consulting practice. His friend had a long track record working on environmental and social programs with the United Nations before joining the firm, so he had great depth of knowledge in the field. His challenge was to sell the new practice area, known in Europe as “CSR,” to other consultants within the firm, and all the local offices.

  He told Steven each office had its own culture and required slightly different emphases and vernacular. Additionally, offices in other countries, with workers from other nations, also possessed their own cultures so the pitch he would make to an office in China would be different if the people in that office were primarily local or if more of them were either ex-patriots or foreigners living there.

  “Different regions of the world have different sensibilities around CSR,” he told Steven. “One culture may value social values and issues and another may put more value on environmental matters. Some may value both. But you need to pay attention to the mindsets of the people you are talking with if you are proposing a major change in the way they do things and how they think about their work.”

  He also warned Steven about varying attitudes about litigiousness. Mike told him how some offices were located in countries where lawsuits were more likely, like the U.S., and this could influence the reception he might receive. Sometimes people saw any departure from the corporation’s conventional routines as a basis for a lawsuit, citing any number of silly charges, as long as they made a case for the lawsuit. In litigious societies, it didn’t seem to matter if the lawsuit had merit as long as there was enough to get it filed and start settlement negotiations.

  A big surprise for Steven was his friend’s experience with different people in the same office, not only based on their nationality but also on the role they played. “You have a marketing challenge, Steven, and you need
to pitch your plan just like you would sell an investor in one of your deals: you address the things that matter most to them,” Mike said.

  “The marketing people are more concerned about how this change in culture will give the company better advantage over rivals. So you might want to point to a competitor who is ahead of you on this. Similarly, human resource people can be persuaded by the argument that the company will be more attractive to new employees, kids coming out of business school.

  “Some country managers might appreciate getting all the answers they might anticipate from their people so they don’t have to research it themselves…in other words, make it easy for them to say ‘yes.’ Remember you are dealing with people, all of whom have egos, Steven.

  “Markets vary in maturity too,” Mike told Steven. “It is amazing how an office in the states can seem as compared to another in India or Thailand. Asians have well-developed consciences and a sense for social justice as do the Europeans, particularly the Northern Europeans, who have environmental concerns high in their priorities. The Arab states have strong interest in environmental laws and enforcement policies.”

  Mike also told Steven something that was enormously valuable, something he was so glad to know before they embarked upon implementing their plan once it was accepted and approved. “Once you push the button and get your program in place and the culture starts changing, you will have opened Pandora’s Box, Steven. Once people embrace this new philosophy about doing business more consciously, they may start coming up with things you could never foresee. Just go with it! Don’t try to control all the innovation and creativity that starts to flow. If you do, you will sabotage yourself. People will feel the whole thing was bullshit, close back down and return to their cynicism about you, the program, everything.

  “You will be surprised, most of the time delightfully. Things will be unpredictable because you are taking the lid off the box and giving people permission to care about things they’ve been privately concerned about for years. Tell them this may happen and to be prepared for it. Celebrate it…. don’t try to crush it.” Steven recalls seeing how excited Mike was getting when he gave him this advice. Obviously, he still could tap into the passion he felt for his work in his company.

  Steven walked over to the window and looked out over the lawn, cracked the window open, and took a deep breath of the outside air.

  It is just possible these revisions will make it through and this might be the final document. If so, then the visuals need to be created, the team briefed on the changes and a final meeting of the team before we present it to the Board.

  Steven looked at the calendar on his desk and estimated that would be in just over five weeks when they present it to the Board. At last, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, he thought.

  April 30: San Francisco, World Headquarters, Ventures International, 10:09 AM PST

  Steven walked into the boardroom where most of the members were waiting for him. The noise level was higher than usual, with nearly everyone inside engaged in lively conversation, much like a successful cocktail party. He felt fairly confident he'd receive sufficient support for the proposal they had before them today—a proposal prepared by a team that included himself, representatives of the management staff as well as a cross-section of all their employees—even the interns—the new Ventures internal consultant, and the external consultants. The Values and Priorities Program—or V2P as it had been nicknamed—had been the most inclusively created document he'd ever heard of. It certainly was a milestone in Ventures' history of participative management.

  The vision for V2P was truly transformational. It wasn’t such a large change in what functions the company performed, but it was a huge shift in the types of ventures they supported and the kind of investors they would serve.

  First thing, they’d go private. Since investment banking was reliant upon eventual public offerings, and one of Ventures’ values was to reject traditional approaches to the public marketplace, IPO activity would be seriously reduced—at least in the early years of V2P.

  Ventures would work exclusively with companies that passed muster for their social responsibility policies, sustainable business practices, and humanistic management. Mergers and acquisitions projects would be entertained only when all the stakeholders would be served—not merely the capital markets. Employees in both companies being merged, the communities affected, as well as vendors would all be considered.

  Bonds and Treasury notes would be the least affected by V2P. People—including employees, communities, and small investors—would receive equal respect and priority to large investors in all future deals. No consulting, advising, underwriting, or other activity would be offered unless the venture had a significant social agenda and conformed to strict criteria shared by all Ventures stakeholders. It was very clear the new Ventures would be the first major investment banker to step away from conventional, dollar-chasing transactions and make profit and income one of many criteria for themselves and their partners rather than the sole motive.

  Steven was thrilled that a journey described by some of his closest advisors as totally impossible was about to begin. He stood silently for a minute in quiet reflection, took a deep breath, and headed for the conference room.

  “People, it's time to begin,” he said to open the meeting. “We have an ambitious agenda today and, last time I checked, your collective time was worth close to three hundred thousand dollars an hour and I don't want to waste another dime,” Steven said with a smile as the last people took their seats. “First of all, good morning to you all and welcome to San Francisco. I know some of you are here for the first time, either because you are new to the board, or because I asked you to come to this particular meeting in person.

  “You should know I received the resignation of Joe Hughes yesterday, who decided he had to leave our board for personal reasons.” Steven noticed some quizzical looks at this news but decided not to elaborate. “We’re grateful to Joe for his service and wish him well.”

  He then turned the agenda over to Ruth who oversaw the early agenda items. By the time the Values program had come up on the agenda, people had loosened up a bit. Several jackets had been shed, and coffee and teacups had been refilled a time or two. Steven made sure he had a freshly filled cup of decaf when it was time for the proposal.

  The door opened and Ruth led in a man and a woman, each carrying briefcases and looking quite self-assured. The man, Rick Overmyer, was thirty-eight and represented Choicepoint. The woman was Brenda Bartholomew, a recent hire and team leader for Ventures' in-house consultants who had been totally dedicated to this project since they'd hired her four weeks ago. Brenda was thirty-one, but had a maturity about her that suggested wisdom far beyond her chronological age. Steven had spent more time with these two young people in the past month than he had with Catherine. The three of them had been so immersed in this project, he felt a certain pride as they prepared for the presentation—like he was watching his children walk on stage for the school play.

  As if by magic, a large projection screen began to lower itself from the ceiling above the west wall and the draperies started closing. The quiet whirring of the electric motors operating these remote devices filled the background as Steven spoke.

  He proceeded to introduce each of them, keenly aware of the need for him to appear neutral, since he was acting in the capacity of board chair for this meeting.

  The plan was not simple. It was quite complex, and very ambitious. One of the key parts of the program—and one which would have to precede everything else—was taking the company private. Rarely had any publicly traded corporations been successful in repurchasing sufficient amounts of outstanding stock. Not only did this involve huge sums of capital and credit lines, but secrecy was absolutely essential—it was a sort of hostile takeover from the inside.

  Secrecy at this stage required everyone in the room be bound by a written contract not to reveal anything they heard, Rick explai
ned. Billions could be lost because of one person's inability or unwillingness to maintain secrecy. But Steven was convinced that if each and every person who heard of the plan knew they were being entrusted with knowledge that could sabotage the entire project, they would be responsible and adhere to the confidentiality agreements they each had signed.

  He recognized he had a lot riding on his conviction. The scariest part of the whole thing, Steven knew, was that there was no place for any failure. Like defusing a bomb, there was either total success or none.

  When Rick and Brenda’s presentation concluded, Steven opened the floor for questions. He expected this agenda item would fill their entire morning and was relieved they were now becoming fully engaged in the process of determining what they were made of as a company.

  As lively exchanges were taking place all around him, Steven felt his gut tightening again—that mixture of positive excitement and fear, enthusiasm and apprehension, worry and glee. A most interesting potpourri of emotions, he thought. The room seemed to be getting warmer by the minute as the intensity and volume grew.

  April 29: San Francisco, Nob Hill, Fairmont Hotel, Laurel Court, 5:43 PM PST

  Steven and Mark walked into the restaurant where Ruth had made dinner reservations for a group of them to gather after the arduous board meeting. The idea had been quite spontaneous, and he was very excited that both Catherine and Kathy were able to join them. Ruth greeted the two men as they entered, cocktail glass in hand and obviously much more relaxed than she'd been all day.

  “How many of us are there?” Steven asked. He'd been preoccupied since the meeting ended.

  “An even dozen, counting Kathy and Catherine, boss,” Ruth told him. “This was all I could get on such short notice. I tried to get a private room but the Hotel was completely booked except for this end of the restaurant. With such a small group I thought it would work.”

  “Never mind,” Ruth. “It’s fine! All we need is each other to celebrate and we could do that out on the street,” said Steven, obviously much more relaxed than he’d been for many months.

  The celebration continued until nearly midnight. Once the group had adjourned to the adjoining room for dinner, impromptu toasts began. They continued long past the anticipated time for the gathering to end. As they headed down the Bayshore Freeway in the limo during the early morning, Steven wondered how the opposing board members were dealing with the board’s decision. He hoped they could recover from their defeat and align behind the Values and Priorities Program. He told himself these people were professionals as well as experienced board members—not likely to hold a grudge and resent the company taking any course they did not support initially.

  Five board members had opposed the plan as too risky—the final tally was fifteen for and five against, with two abstentions and a newly vacated seat.

  He remembered the very difficult meeting he'd had with Joe Hughes last night. Some weeks before, he'd been informed by the company’s compliance officer of some shady trading going on with Ventures stock and it appeared there were some insider leaks to a Wall Street speculator. This kind of activity could not be tolerated for even one day after the facts of V2P were known. At the suggestion of legal counsel, the compliance officer, and several of his vice presidents, Steven authorized retaining a private detective to confirm the identity of the leak.

  Yesterday, while Joe had been in transit from New York to California for today’s board meeting, Steven had seen the report that itemized the “friendship” that had been developing between Joe and a Manhattan trader named Tivor Sagi, a man who had a questionable reputation although he clearly had done very well for himself financially. Based on the report and from knowing Joe personally, Steven was convinced that the former engineer had been an unwitting party to any insider trading that went on. He was absolutely confident that Joe had not profited any from the transactions. But, whether he was aware of what he was doing or not, he nonetheless had improperly discussed Ventures business with someone in a position to profit from the knowledge gleaned.

  He recalled when Joe’s wife had died over a year ago, and how hard he had taken it. He'd started drinking a bit too much and lost contact with most of his old friends. Then he moved down to southern New Jersey where he lived a relatively quiet life after a stellar career in the aerospace industry. It wasn’t hard to imagine how someone who was cunning and conniving could “work” Joe for news that wasn’t generally public information.

  Steven had no choice but to ask Joe to resign and keep him from the next day’s board meeting where secrecy was so essential. Embarrassed and ashamed at how he'd been duped, Joe offered no resistance. Eager to make things right, he offered to resign before even being asked. He also told Steven he’d sever the relationship with Tivor Sagi immediately and tell him of his plans to inform the federal and New York state authorities, so that whatever punishment was called for would be forthcoming, hopefully soon.

  Too bad, Steven thought. Joe was really a good person. He'd just gotten himself into a position where he’d been compromised. He chewed his lip a bit as he fought back some tears himself. God, he said to himself, I hope I never have to go through that again!

  With a squeeze of his hand, Catherine brought his attention back to the present. She leaned over in the plush rear seat of the limo and gave him a big kiss.

  “Wonderful party, darling. Congratulations once again.” Her hand slid up his thigh and settled on his groin.

  He put his arms around her and took in a long, deep breath. Despite the late hour, he was also feeling amorous and looked forward to getting home. His attention started moving rapidly from his head to his lower torso where Catherine's gentle touch seemed to be having quite an effect. At this moment, he was on top of the world.

  April 30: New York City, Offices of Tivor Sagi, 3:30 PM EST

  Ty was furious! Joe Hughes had called him to tell him he'd just returned from the West Coast where he'd resigned from the board of Ventures. Joe had become aware he had been duped into providing Ty with insider information and was really pissed. While he was professionally embarrassed and feeling quite repentant, he minced no words in telling Ty what he thought of him and the way he'd manipulated the so-called friendship. He'd called Ty a fraud and a few other things before he hung up.

  Ty sat there staring at the phone. No one had ever talked to him like that before. Joe was meeting with his attorney within thirty minutes and expected to report the activity to the SEC, the National Association of Securities Dealers, and any other state or federal regulating bodies he could think of.

  Ty’s anger was mostly with himself. Where did I mess up? he wondered. He was so cock-sure that his manipulations of Hughes had been perfect his mind wouldn’t let go of what went wrong. He was sure he handled the transactions discreetly so no one would suspect insider activity. His puzzlement over this was more troubling than the potential ramifications of his being reported to the authorities.

  Still wondering how Hughes had found out, he started going through his inbox, which he’d started sorting through when Joe called. He saw a confidential memo sealed in an envelope from his understudy, the young woman who’d been serving as an apprentice.

  Hand-written across the envelope was “IMPORTANT.” He opened the envelope and quickly scanned the typed message. In seconds he realized Joyce had resigned and her resignation was effective immediately. She disclosed in the letter she'd become aware of his shady dealing with Joe Hughes and made the connection with his trading on the Ventures options after she'd talked with a private detective hired by the company.

  “So that’s it,” he muttered under his breath as he leapt from his chair and started toward the two EAs in the reception area. Then, he stopped, thought better of having any tirades in front of the help, and returned to his office to ponder how he would cover his ass. For one of the first times in Ty’s life, he felt panic.

  August 30: Over Eastern Canada, United Air Lines, Flight #988, Seat 3A, 10:3
7 AM

  Steven sipped the decaf the flight attendant had just served him as he pondered the challenges ahead. He felt as if he had climbed a very high mountain.

  It had taken almost four months, but Ventures was now privately held, with employees owning a majority of the stock. The first phase of V2P was complete. Steven’s ownership remained essentially the same. He had not sold any of his shares as testimony to his faith in what the V2P meant for the future of the company. The buy-out of unrelated shareholders had gone smoothly and, as far as he could tell, no one felt they’d been treated unfairly. Some of the hardboiled bottom-liners who had no stake in Ventures other than their stock rattled some sabers and threatened to sue for a bigger piece of the pie but the team skillfully negotiated the transfers and settlements. All in all, they were under budget in the reacquisition cost and the financing worked out well, particularly since interest rates dropped a bit in the interim since the bank consortium’s commitment.

  Now that Ventures was off the trading exchanges, the next phase in implementing V2P involved selling the project to all the company's satellite offices and staff. Getting employees around the world to agree to a leveraged buy-out, resulting in their gaining ownership in Ventures, was a fairly easy task, given they were pretty savvy about stock ownership. Selling the social responsibility piece would be more difficult, they figured, since most employees came to Ventures to make big bucks and some might think the new vision could reduce their earnings. To achieve this, they created a “road show” team that consisted of Steven, Brenda, Rick, and two support people who would meet with each and every employee and all in-house contractors. They planned to visit each office around the world, individually arranging for everyone who was on the road or telecommuting to come into the closest office while the road show team members were in the area. They would spend about two and a half days at each site, on average.

  When they drafted the Plan, they set very high objectives for employee buy-in. They did not want to settle for a simple majority. They wanted 100% acceptance of the Plan by every employee and were committed to work toward that goal. This would require varying degrees of explanation, hand holding and patience.

  Based on Steven's knowledge and relationships with his key executives in Ventures satellite offices, some extra effort went into explaining the program to key people in each city. These were the people the team saw as leverage points—leaders of the regional office staffs. Some of them were designated leaders with position and rank indicating their place in the office hierarchy. Some were simply people who had unofficial influence over the staffs' collective opinions, whose leadership among their peers was more subtle and intrinsic—like an executive assistant in Stockholm and one of the more charismatic account executives in New York.

  The V2P Program was an ambitious one—more ambitious than any corporate change program Steven had ever heard of or read about. Its objectives were also the most comprehensive and transformative that Choicepoint had ever taken on. Everyone on the team knew this. The consultants had not kept this a secret like some firms might. This honesty and forthright dealing was one of the major reasons Steven had selected the Choicepoint people to work with. They hadn't tried to bullshit him, pretending they had experience in doing programs this ambitious, or avoiding the truth.

  The team also knew unless they had near-perfect execution of the buy-in phase, it would be a total and very expensive flop. It would probably also be the end of Steven's career.

  In many ways, the road show was pivotal to the success of the whole V2P Program. The road show had to succeed if the program were to have any chance of being implemented.

  The first road show was in London, in a few short hours. He took another sip of his decaf, and looked out the window and wondered at the sea of cotton clouds below him.

  September 3, London, Ventures International UK Ltd., 1:46 PM GMT

  Steven looked across the Thames at Parliament. A magnificent view. He was enjoying a break.

  Implementation of the V2P plan had begun with a lot of work, required of every single employee. No one was exempt from extra effort. Even the stock analysts reps' jobs had become more complex. Explaining the nature of what Ventures was trying to do was challenging for them when the conventional investor mindset was so resistant to such new thinking. But week by week, the program had become more and more a routine part of everyone's workday. The Europeans were certainly easier to convince than Americans, just like Mike advised. This was a pleasant relief. He didn’t need many more Jon Franklins blocking his way.

  The extra stress from the added work had resulted in several people talking about leaving. Anticipating this, they had a small cadre of previously interviewed executive coaches, some with psychotherapy backgrounds, who were available to talk with these employees. The strain of changing things at such a primordial level was very difficult for some Ventures people, both seasoned veterans who were used to things being a certain way and newcomers fresh out of business school. But the bulk of the employees worldwide were excited. Some needed a little morale boost once in a while, so Steven would pack his bags and speed off to visit his teammates in Asia or Europe or wherever he could—serving as corporate cheerleader.

  Steven's presence on this occasion was largely window dressing—the “main man” from headquarters here to demonstrate his commitment to the program.

  The formal presentation was delivered by Brenda and Rick, much as it had been done in San Francisco, with Steven sitting in the audience. There was no mistaking the power he evoked as the chairman of the company, so he was clearly the center of attention from the inferential perspective. He knew many of the questions that would follow the presentation would be asked as if he would be answering them, even though protocol called for them to be asked of the presenters in front of the room.

  The Ventures Values and Priorities program was a “noble undertaking,” as one of the board members had put it in San Francisco. But Steven had a vision far beyond nobility. He saw this program as being essential to aligning soul and work, not only for him but for anyone interested in working for a better world while making a good living for their families.

  It would have been impossible to say who was the actual author of the program since so many people were involved in its creation and so many others were expected to be involved in revisions and additions as it was being received by the entire Ventures stakeholder body. However, it was inarguable that Steven had been the genesis—the father of this noble undertaking—and that it would never have happened had it not been for him and his own personal transformation.

  Rick and Brenda clearly explained that profitability was still very much a requirement for the company and they were not proposing that Ventures be converted to a charity. The new company might be even more profitable. But its driving force would be to serve the well-being of humanity as well as shareholders. They pointed out how commercial ventures were initially created to fill a need in society, to serve the citizenry. Over the last couple of centuries business had become more exploitive, often putting its own needs ahead of the rest of society, shifting from a service orientation to an exploitive one.

  V2P would require each and every person inside Ventures to do their own soul-searching, perform their own introspections. It would be impossible for any employee, officer, or contractor to remain part of the Ventures organization and stay in their old mindset about how the business would be run. This might be particularly difficult for all the MBAs Ventures hired, they explained, since some of these new values would be contradictory to the sole focus on the financial bottom line. To be implemented, the program would require every person in the organization to reassess their own personal values and the values they embraced if they were to remain with Ventures.

  There was no doubt that the V2P program was historic. And it was ambitious. Its implementation called for three phases, taking between twenty-four and thirty months to complete and integrate. They were presently immersed in the first phase—gett
ing everyone's agreement on the idea and their commitment to the Plan—two separate yet very important ingredients. The V2P team was fully aware mere agreement to the terms of the Plan was insufficient, since history had proven millions of times that agreeing to ideas offered no assurances people would stand by them or honor them. This was not because people were not trustworthy. It had more to do with the systemic pressures —real or imagined—people felt they were under.

  Personal commitment would be essential if this ambitious plan were to have any chance for succeeding. People had to own this Program as if they had authored it, or they would not be served by it. They would fight it if they felt it was being imposed on them. The team members had seen plenty of great change programs fail because people had felt they were being forced to accept changes they didn’t like or agreed with.

  Every Ventures stakeholder—employee, board member, vendor, shareholder, and investor-partner—was invited to be a member of the change team, with encouragement to participate in critiques and improvements to the plan. Suggested in the plan was that there be several teams, each dealing with specific aspects of the transformation. People could serve on more than one team if they wished. One team would be what they call the Internal Team—stakeholders from around the world who would focus on the well-being, success, and communication among staff, field managers, portfolio managers, account representatives, and board members. Then there would be an External Team, which would focus on relationships with vendors, the investment community, the media, local communities, and other groups outside of the company. Within these two primary teams there were smaller teams focused on a specific objective to be coordinated with other teams. Of course, the lines were blurred between internal and external—a condition which would become even less clear as the transformation neared completion.

  Then there was a need for Regional Teams, consisting of people from each region where Ventures had clusters of people, who focused on the specific needs of the local cultures.

  In Steven's view, it would be ideal if every stakeholder became a participating member of one of the change teams. The Plan relied on high levels of participation from Ventures people, rather than farming all the work out to consultants. The entire transformation of this $12 billion company would depend on six outside consultants from Choicepoint and Brenda's in-house team of six—positions that would be considered permanent after V2P had been fully implemented. The rest of the work would rely on stakeholders.

  An in-house newsletter was being launched to keep everyone informed as to the progress of the transformation, but the contributing editors of this newsletter included everyone at Ventures. Anyone could post stories of successes and failures to the newsletter, eliminating much of the need for gossip networks. A blog series was also launched, with total access for any Ventures employee, vendor or shareholder. Such a democratic and transparent way of dealing with everything would allow for total self-expression.

  The third phase included the grunt work—where the rubber met the road, so to speak. With systems and structures in place so the changes would be sustained once they were made, specific work with the people of Ventures began.

  Brenda and Rick were winding up their presentation now, and Steven shifted his weight in his chair, knowing he would soon become the center of attention.

  September 4, San Francisco, Ventures International Headquarters, 8:37 AM PST

  Ruth sat ready to hear from Steven, who was supposed to have called a few minutes earlier. She was quite comfortable with the agenda she had prepared for them to discuss. As a matter of fact, she was feeling very comfortable holding down the fort while he was traveling around the globe, tending to this new program. He'd be calling from London this morning and would want to hear about activities here at home over the past several days.

  Ruth was becoming more of a believer in the Program. When her boss had first come up with this idea, she'd been sure he'd gone off the deep end. It was one thing to have suffered the tragedy Steven and his family had experienced. It was another to go through such a powerful personal change as he clearly had, even if he seemed a bit out there in the ethers when it came to hard reality. But to bring all his newfound spirituality or whatever you called it into the business—she really had her judgments about that. She'd thought Steven was wrong and told him so. She'd been concerned about the company's ability to survive such a radical reorganization, but initially doubted Steven would be able to sell it anyway. Then, when he'd succeeded convincing the board, she was flabbergasted. She found herself in the awkward position of going along with things without really believing in their chances for pulling it off. For the first time since she'd come to work with Steven, she'd actually thought about quitting.

  Now, after seeing the enthusiasm and professionalism with which Steven and the transformation team had enrolled others in the Program and were implementing it so effectively, she was becoming a believer herself. In addition, Ruth was starting to enjoy her new role—sort of an assistant CEO. She realized she was probably as familiar with the everyday challenges and dynamics at Ventures as anyone except Steven. In fact, in recent weeks, with Steven's attention so focused on the implementation of the program, she might even have a better grasp of the day-to-day crises and issues facing the company.

  She felt a tinge of guilt at the thought. She told herself while she might be managing some things temporarily; she was far from being in complete charge of everything permanently. The phone rang and she picked it up.

  “Hi, Ruth. Good to hear your voice! How are things?” Steven asked after she answered his private line.

  “Everything's in good order, Steven. I have those things you wanted, and I have a couple of questions for you,” she answered. “But first, how did it go yesterday?”

  “Colin's got everything in great shape here, Ruth. He really did a good job. I was mostly cheerleader. He could have done it all fine without me.”

  “But, Steven…”

  He interrupted Ruth and said, “I know, I know. My presence here was important for morale. Yeah, I know.”

  He asked Ruth to let Catherine know he'd be calling that afternoon—about three PM. She told him she thought Chelsea was going to be staying over tonight, so maybe he could visit with her too if she was there that early. Steven was very pleased to hear he might be able to speak with both his wife and his daughter.

  March 18, San Francisco, Ventures International Headquarters, 11:25 AM PST

  The transformation team's trip was a huge success, with over ninety percent of the employees, contractors, and part-time consultants enthusiastically endorsing the program. Of the 771 people at Ventures the team had met with over the past six and a half weeks, only twenty-five managers were considering early retirement as a result of learning about the program. To date, only three senior people had decided to leave Ventures, one in Hong Kong and two in San Francisco. Jon Franklin was one. The biggest problem for most of these people had not been a conflict in the explicit values being proposed, but the amount of work and chaos they'd envisioned coming about as a result of any attempt to implement such a comprehensive plan.

  The remaining stakeholders were enthusiastic about the paradigm-change. The Plan had sparked the innate visionary residing in them all, had awakened their spirits and warmed their hearts. While they were nervous, even scared a little, they were also stimulated and excited about what they were part of.

  Steven knew seven of the departing managers quite well and supported their early retirement. He knew they were fair weather types who would find any adversity too stressful. Besides, they wouldn't be good soldiers—what he liked to call “spiritual warriors”—when it came down to the rigor of living the values they would be adaptive and compliant but the new Ventures needed more from them. The remaining eighteen were less known to him. The consensus was the company would be better served without these managers as it moved forward to implement the ambitious plan worldwide.

  A full-participation teleconference, a follo
w-up to the road show, was attended by all the same people. The teleconference was scheduled so that it was an inconvenience for the fewest number in different time zones. Steven presented a summary of the program to everyone, and then Brenda and Rick reported on the trip as a whole. After an hour of questions and responses from various directors and team managers, the teleconference closed on a high note when a vice-president from Great Britain and a manager from Brussels each conveyed their excitement at being a part of such a pioneering effort in their industry. Each of their eloquent statements served to excite everyone else, and the teleconference ended as upbeat as could be imagined.

  What Steven and the headquarters staff couldn't hear afterward was the spontaneous applause that independently broke out at each site after the link was cut by the satellite company. Even if the sound link hadn't been cut, the headquarters staff might have had difficulty hearing anything, the applause in their own conference room was so loud.

  “We couldn't have planned a better end,” shouted Brenda excitedly. “That was terrific! Weren't Warren and Ingrid incredible there at the end?”

  “Yes, they were,” yelled Steven over the applause and whoops. He and Brenda and Rick embraced at the podium in a spontaneous act of solidarity and emotion. Each of them had tears running down their cheeks.

  “We're on our way,” shouted Steven. “From here on out, it’s a matter of implementation!”