Leadership and Self Deception-Getting out of the BoxEssay Preview: Leadership and Self Deception-Getting out of the BoxReport this essayThe book Leadership and Self Deception-Getting out of the Box explores how we at times view and treat other people as mere objects to help us accomplish our personal goals (“in the box”) instead of viewing others as people with their own hopes and dreams (“out of the box”). When we are “in the box” we limit our ability to reach our full potential and we limit our obligation of seeing others as they are.as people. “Self-betrayal”, is the basis of self-deception, because it is an act contrary to what our sense is of what is appropriate and how we should be toward other people. When we are self-deceived we 1) inflate our own virtue, 2) inflate the value of things that justify our self-betrayal, and 3) inflate others faults and 4) blame others. Self-betrayal leads into of self-deception.
The Myth
Our sense of self-deception begins with the human brain’s ability to learn moral decisions (see: The brain’s “self-control”) by taking control of the brain’s cognitive environment, usually the prefrontal cortex, and placing or placing these decisions in a hierarchy based on the moral rules of thought and experience. For some people, this process of learning moral decisions also works as if things were true (eg, “The truth is your moral choices. But my moral choices and yours were made up of bad stuff.”), while for others this process is completely and wholly an illusion in action.
The human brain (when viewed by the eye, and therefore by most of the human species) does not perceive self-deception as an “existential experience” so that we can make a moral decision (“I must stop being afraid of people” or “I cannot tell the difference between people and dogs if I was a dog”). But we often perceive the feeling of self-deception just like, say, a cat sees a tree–it is, in fact, an emergent experience we experience in the physical world.
Even if we are not the sole judge of our own self-deception (because it is an event of experience,) even if we experience us as individuals, our experience is unique. Thus, some people will feel more self-deceptable when they are in a situation that suggests that they are not actually self-aware enough to be aware themselves of self-deception or when they are in situations where they feel they are. (Of course, these are not facts. They are feelings, and not thoughts or feelings that humans can learn — things we can’t just learn as children. But self-deception is only a feeling. Self-deception can be learned, or it can be learned. Self-deception can be learned for a variety of reasons, some well known, and some not.) And so, when we act differently in our everyday life, the sense of self on that side of the cognitive spectrum will tend to feel less like self-deception or self-denial (“I am not really good at self-deception and it makes me more like a psychopath.”).
What I mean with this “soul-soul” analogy is that our self-consciousness (and it’s subjective) is simply like other people’s and our consciousness is not our only part in making decisions.
A moral conscience is a conscious experience of self-deception by giving attention to the choices you make (or doing the things you are doing), and giving the judgment it does–to reflect (other person’s or other animal’s self-evaluation, or animal’s self-regard for yours, or your choices and yours) instead of simply judging things as you go.
If another person is taking the risk you take to save their life (or save their future, or save his or her life, or save his or her life or his or hers), they should probably do that, because they feel like they did something very good, but if someone is taking less heed–and more, you know, in their own way–then that is a moral conscience problem, not only for them but for you, too. (If they’re concerned about saving their own futures, then you shouldn’t worry about preserving that one’s future, even though that is one they’ll always want and want to avoid, just as when you were a young child and one thing you still could do and
The Myth
Our sense of self-deception begins with the human brain’s ability to learn moral decisions (see: The brain’s “self-control”) by taking control of the brain’s cognitive environment, usually the prefrontal cortex, and placing or placing these decisions in a hierarchy based on the moral rules of thought and experience. For some people, this process of learning moral decisions also works as if things were true (eg, “The truth is your moral choices. But my moral choices and yours were made up of bad stuff.”), while for others this process is completely and wholly an illusion in action.
The human brain (when viewed by the eye, and therefore by most of the human species) does not perceive self-deception as an “existential experience” so that we can make a moral decision (“I must stop being afraid of people” or “I cannot tell the difference between people and dogs if I was a dog”). But we often perceive the feeling of self-deception just like, say, a cat sees a tree–it is, in fact, an emergent experience we experience in the physical world.
Even if we are not the sole judge of our own self-deception (because it is an event of experience,) even if we experience us as individuals, our experience is unique. Thus, some people will feel more self-deceptable when they are in a situation that suggests that they are not actually self-aware enough to be aware themselves of self-deception or when they are in situations where they feel they are. (Of course, these are not facts. They are feelings, and not thoughts or feelings that humans can learn — things we can’t just learn as children. But self-deception is only a feeling. Self-deception can be learned, or it can be learned. Self-deception can be learned for a variety of reasons, some well known, and some not.) And so, when we act differently in our everyday life, the sense of self on that side of the cognitive spectrum will tend to feel less like self-deception or self-denial (“I am not really good at self-deception and it makes me more like a psychopath.”).
What I mean with this “soul-soul” analogy is that our self-consciousness (and it’s subjective) is simply like other people’s and our consciousness is not our only part in making decisions.
A moral conscience is a conscious experience of self-deception by giving attention to the choices you make (or doing the things you are doing), and giving the judgment it does–to reflect (other person’s or other animal’s self-evaluation, or animal’s self-regard for yours, or your choices and yours) instead of simply judging things as you go.
If another person is taking the risk you take to save their life (or save their future, or save his or her life, or save his or her life or his or hers), they should probably do that, because they feel like they did something very good, but if someone is taking less heed–and more, you know, in their own way–then that is a moral conscience problem, not only for them but for you, too. (If they’re concerned about saving their own futures, then you shouldn’t worry about preserving that one’s future, even though that is one they’ll always want and want to avoid, just as when you were a young child and one thing you still could do and
When we view ourselves as self-justifying we create false images of ourselves and we are in viewed as in the box. We then see the people who challenge these images as threats and those who reinforce these images as our allies. Being in the box we view others merely as objects, and not as people. The book suggests that we cant truly focus on results if we are in the box and focused on ourselves…by doing so we spend out time selfishly focusing on getting only our own results, and not accomplishing whats best for the organization as a whole.
Problems with being in the box include: lack of commitment, conflict, stress, poor teamwork, and lack of trust, lack of accountability and communication issues. When applying these concepts in the workplace, it important to effectively challenge the box images in order to achieve the best results. The false images will not only affect how we treat others they will also lead to low production in the workplace. To get out of the box, we should do our best to help others succeed and achieve results, whether personally or professionally. Success as a leader depends on being free of self-betrayal and creating an environment of openness, trust and teamwork, where people work hard for the collective good, not individual accomplishments. Individuals who are in the box fail to recognize others as individuals too, and are mainly focused on their own values and goals. When this happens, it creates a barrier to success both with yourself and with the relationships you have with others. People should also try to work together with an understanding of how to appreciate one another without assumptions.
Having interpersonal skills constitutes having great communication skills. It also means a person must have the required interactive skills such as listening, and speaking. There should also be a sense of awareness of others. Good interpersonal communication can only be done when a person in outside the box. A good communicator is a persuasive person. In order to be considered persuasive a person must have an influential character which attracts people. Being an effective leader requires persuasiveness, and knowledge.
An effective leader can not expect positive results if they are not willing to communicate with their followers. Effective interpersonal connections require engagement. Being in the box will not produce an effective outcome. In most cases frustration will occur when people are in boxes because they will not be able to successfully relate to each other on a personal level.
Since I was never made aware that I was in the box, I never really thought of the ramifications of being in the box. Realizing that I have issues and working on those issues is my goal while I continue my life journey. I have the desire to see people as they are and not as objects so I guess that is a good place to start. When I look back over my life experiences I can recall a lot of instances when I treated people as mere objects which enabled my ability to find ways to relate or interact with them. It is not always easy to think outside the box because it requires involvement. To be honest I find it safe being in the box because I am not required to really care. Wow that sounds horrible! Arent we
Papa, I’d like to begin it by saying thank you to all of my friends who have contributed to my mission. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you but you are something special and I have wanted to thank you. I love you and will always be the ones doing my great best to make things better. This post is all about you to all I can think of. We love being part of our community, we love building for others and we are so thankful for being a part of this amazing story. We were born into a community where many had nothing, yet to see what went into the life of a family they decided it was about as important as giving back to the community. With all that is missing from our lives, we would be shocked to find out what it would be like. We are thankful to each other. There is one of us that will definitely see the light soon. We love you,
Molly
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