The Mighty Missouri

It was a dark and stormy night.

"Captain, captain, wake up!"

"Ohh ... What is it?"

"Sorry to awaken you sir, but we have a serious problem."

"Well what is it?"

"There's a ship in our sea-lane about 20 miles away, and they refuse to move."

"Tell them to move."

"Sir, we have. They won't move."

"I'll tell them!" The signal goes out: "Move starboard 20 degrees. At once!"

The signal returns: "Move starboard yourself 20 degrees. At once."

"I can't believe this. I mean, I'm a captain. Let them know who I am. I am important." The signal goes out: "This is Captain Horatio Hornblower the 26th commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once."

The signal returns: "This is seaman Carl Jones the third commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once."

"What arrogance! Who is this joker? I mean, we're a battleship! We could just blow them -- let them know who we are!" The signal goes out: "This is the Mighty Missouri, Flagship of the Seventh Fleet!"

The signal returns: "This is the Lighthouse."

That's a true story by the way. It's found in the Naval Proceedings Manual where they literally interpreted a lighthouse to be a ship, but I like the story because it helps me introduce this subject: That there are Laws of Nature, or Lighthouse Principles that govern life.

We think we govern it. We may let our values govern our behavior, but the consequences of that behavior is governed by those Lighthouse Principles. One of which is that there are four parts to our nature: our body, our mind, our heart, and our spirit. And that all four parts represent four capabilities, four needs, four intelligences, four dimensions that need to be honored and respected and integrated and put into a synergistic whole. In doing so, it can help a person find his or her voice and also inspire others to find his or her voice.

The above is an extract from Stephen Coveys world famous book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide".