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Ever since the
publication of their book in the late 1970’s, Eric Harvey and Al Lucia
have made a bundle of money coaching CEOs and corporate titans.
Although you may not know who Harvey and Lucia are, I’m sure you’ve
heard the phrase they coined nearly three decades ago, “Don’t Just ‘Talk
the Talk.’
‘Walk the Talk.’ ” Harvey and Lucia work with CEOs and corporate titans
so that they can see their personal contradictions—telling followers to
do one thing and then doing the exact opposite—and work to transform
these into personal convictions as CEOs and corporate titans engage with
their followers in organizational change efforts.
In the corporate
world, followers expect their CEOs to espouse a mission, vision, and
values. Yes, CEOs do need to “Talk the Talk.” But, more importantly,
followers also expect their CEOs to evidence in their actions all of
those elegant words and catchy phrases that flow forth so glibly from
their mouths. CEOs also need to “Walk the Talk.”
The problem is that
CEOs and corporate titans all too often espouse ideas that are
inconsistent with their core beliefs and values. All these guys do is
“Talk the Talk” because what’s in their minds is disconnected from
what’s in their guts. And, this frustrates their followers. If CEOs
are to “Walk the Talk”, Harvey and Lucia argue, they must understand
why what they are saying is so important and, then, to synchronize
that understanding (or purpose)—what’s in their minds—with their core
beliefs and values—what’s in their guts. When CEOs and corporate titans
do so, they are more likely to model the behaviors they expect to see in
followers and their followers actually will take the lead by engaging in
those behaviors their CEOs model. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, CEOs
must “become the change you wish to see in the world.”
How often have you
found yourself, in the role of parent, for example, espousing important
beliefs and values to your children, only to turn around and do the
complete opposite the very next minute? Like followers in corporations
who see their CEOs in this way, when your children see this disconnect
between what you say and what you do, they are less likely to adopt the
beliefs and values you espouse.
You “Talk the Talk”
(which is good). But, you don’t “Walk the Talk” (which is not
good).
In describing this
phenomenon, two industrial-organizational psychologists, Chris Argyris
and Don Schön, describe this disconnect as the difference between an
“espoused theory” and a “theory in practice.” It’s one thing to talk
theoretically to other about what needs to be done—that is, to espouse
something (what they call “Model I” behavior)—but it’s quite another
thing to actually do it—that is, to do that day in and day out (what
they call “Model II” behavior).
It’s so easy—and
tempting, too—to wag an index finger at CEOs and corporate titans and to
accuse them of blatant hypocrisy, that is, of “Talking the Talk” but not
“Walking the Talk.” We’ve all experienced leaders whose subsequent
actions don’t match their words. It could be a parent, a teacher, a
coach, a priest, or even your spouse. Upon hearing this person say one
thing and then do another thing time and again, we roll our eyes and
shake our heads in disbelief and ask ourselves: “How is it possible for
you not to see the contradiction between what you say and what you do?”
But,
just like those CEOs and corporate titans—after all, we’ve
all emerged from the same Procrustean bed—it’s
much more difficult for us to see any disconnect in our own lives
between the mission, vision, and values we espouse and our actual
behavior. Isn’t it? I’m sure there are people who look at many of us
and wonder how it’s possible that we don’t see the contradiction—the
disconnect—between what we say and what we do.
That’s the point St.
James was making when in his epistle he asked, “What good is it, my
brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have
works?”
We call ourselves
“Christians” and “Catholics,” too. These very important words and the
mission, vision, and values they embody flow forth all so easily from
our mouths. It’s easy to “Talk the Talk.” Yet, understanding what
those words mean and then living them out in the actual practice of
being Christian and Catholic are two completely different matters.
“Walking the Talk” isn’t so easy, is it, especially when it requires
“taking up the Cross”? No, living out the mission, vision, and values
associated with those important words isn’t easy and, perhaps for many
of us, there is a stark contradiction—a great big disconnect—between
what we espouse and how we actually live.
For example, so many
of us talk about the importance of centering our lives in God, but what
do our actions really say? Do we take time each day to nourish our
relationship with God through prayer and meditating upon scripture? We
would, wouldn’t we, if it really was important…a core value and belief?
Yes, we talk about keeping holy the Sabbath. But, when we come to
church on Sundays—the assumption being that we come willingly, not out
of fear or having been dragged to church as if we belong to some prison
chain gang in Georgia—do we give ourselves actively in worship of God?
We would, wouldn’t we, if worshiping God was important…a core value and
belief? Yes, we talk about the need for peace, justice, and
reconciliation in our world. But, when was the last time we went to the
Sacrament of Penance to seek peace, justice, and reconciliation with
God? We would confess our failures, wouldn’t we, if seeking peace,
justice, and reconciliation was truly important…a core value and belief?
Those matters
concern our relationship with God, a matter of vital importance, that
is, if we call ourselves “Christian” and “Catholic.” Do our actions
suggest that we align our core beliefs and values with our words? In
short, do we “Walk the Talk” or just “Talk the Talk”? Is there a
disconnect?
What about matters
relating to love of neighbor? Yes, we talk about the importance of
upholding the dignity and valuing the worth of people, but what do our
actions really say? Do we do good things to those who have wronged us?
We would, wouldn’t we, if we truly do uphold the dignity and value the
worth of people? Yes, we express heartfelt compassion for the lonely,
the disaffected, and the alienated. But, when was the last time we
visited our infirmed and elderly relatives, done something kind for
difficult neighbors, or extended ourselves to our alienated in-laws? We
would do all of these things, wouldn’t we, if we had compassion for the
lonely, the disaffected, and the alienated? Yes, we say to young
people, “Watch your language!”, because Jesus taught “what’s bad isn’t
what goes into the body but what comes out of it.” But, what words
immediately fly out of our mouths as we’re driving along and suddenly
find someone tailgating us, cutting too close in front of us, or
stealing our coveted parking space? Do we exercise custody over what
flies out of our mouths? We would, wouldn’t we, if we believed what
Jesus taught?
All of those matters
concern love of neighbor, a matter of vital importance if we call
ourselves “Christian” and “Catholic.” Do our actions suggest that we
align our core beliefs and values with our words? In short, do we “Walk
the Talk” or just “Talk the Talk”? Is there a disconnect?
So, we call
ourselves “Christians” and “Catholics,” too. “Talking the talk,” those
words flow so easily from our mouths. Yet, many of us fail—sometimes
miserably—to “Walk the Talk.” But, as Harvey and Lucia tell CEOs and
corporate titans, we must first understand why what we are saying
is so vitally important and, then, we must set about aligning our core
beliefs and values with that understanding. The transformation would
stun others because, as Mahatma Gandhi said, we’d become the change we
wish to see in the world.
Perhaps what’s in
our minds is so disconnected from what’s in our guts that we can only
“Talk the Talk” because, while we may understand why what we are
saying is vitally important, we are unwilling to align our core beliefs
and values with that understanding because it would require that we
change. So, rather than engage in the difficult work of making
ourselves better people, we don’t become the change we wish to see in
the world. And, sad to say, we expose ourselves as the hypocrites we
are because we won’t “Walk the Talk.”
The
nineteenth-century British biologist and educator, Thomas Huxley, once
remarked:
Perhaps the most
valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the
thing you have to do when it ought to be done whether you like it or
not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned, and however early
a person’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson a person
learns thoroughly.
“Walking the Talk”
of being Christian and Catholic isn’t easy in this or any generation.
Yet, the mission of Jesus’
disciples is
clear in any generation: to lead others to God. We do so, as St. James
reminds us, not by telling others what to value and what to do—“Talking
the Talk”—but by living what we value through what we say and do and
paying the price required—“Walking the Talk.”
Consider the example
of a high school senior who said in her retreat talk entitled “My
Faith”:
I hate my faith! It has
made me the loneliest person I know. I don’t drink like many of my
friends, so I don’t get asked out to parties. I made a choice not to
have sex before marriage, and I’ve been dropped by too many guys. I
made a choice to be good because that is what I think God wants, and as
a result I sit home most Saturday nights.
By living what we
value—“Walking the Talk”—it is quite likely we won’t be popular, at
least as the world defines “popularity.” But rather than think as human
beings do—what Jesus chided Peter for—we will think as God does and
willingly bear the price of discipleship, even if this means sitting
home most Saturday nights.
Consider also the
example of John (a pseudonym), a husband and father in his late 20s who
was an up-and-coming star in his company.
One day, John’s boss
surprised him by telling John that his progress was so good that he was
inviting John to travel with him to the national convention. This would
enable John not only to get a good look at how things work at the top,
his boss said. In addition, John would also meet and be able to network
with some very influential people who could prove very valuable in
advancing John’s career.
John was elated to
be invited and accepted the invitation immediately.
Once at the
convention, John noticed the executives engaging in a lot of heavy
drinking following the meetings each day. His boss urged John to join
right in. Furthermore, his boss told John to avail himself of the
services of the women who had been hired for the occasion. John
steadfastly refused to involve himself in either behavior.
After returning from
the convention, John’s boss told John that his behavior was unbecoming
of a candidate for an executive position. His boss offered to overlook
John’s strange behavior at the convention, if John would promise that it
would never happen again.
“Unfortunately,”
John replied, “I’d never engage in those activities under any
circumstances.”
“Why?” John’s boss
snapped in a fit of pique. “Aren’t you interested in doing what it
takes to get to the top?”
“I’m Catholic,” John
said. “I try to do what God wants, not what the world wants. I’m not
holier-than-thou. I just want to be a good husband and father.”
It wasn’t long
before John was terminated and had to seek employment elsewhere.
“Indeed someone
might say, ‘You have faith and I have works’,” St. James writes.
“Demonstrate your faith to me without works,” he demands, “and I will
demonstrate my faith to you from my works.”
It’s so easy to
espouse that we’re Christian and Catholic, to “Talk the Talk.” But, if
we are to “Walk the Talk,” we just might have to spend Saturday nights
at home or even to lose our jobs because “Walking the Talk” means
following in Jesus’ footsteps. “Whoever wishes to come after me must
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,” Jesus said. “For
whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”
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HOMILY
