Humanise: Why Human-Centred Leadership is the Key to the 21st Century

CHAPTER 7 In search of Beauty, Goodness and Truth

‘Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.'

CONFUCIUS

The next question that needs to be answered concerns the direction in which you orient yourself. Imagine for a moment you are planting the seeds of an oak tree. Which direction will the sun and wind come from? Where does the water naturally flow? Your character is in those deep roots that grow beneath your feet, so you need to consider your surroundings.

As you embark on this journey, therefore, first look beyond yourself, far out over the horizon to what the ancient Greeks called ‘transcendentals'. (This is not to be confused with Transcendental Meditation, or the transcendent — what some people call God.)

The Greeks suggested there are three transcendentals: Beauty, Goodness and Truth. They believed that these three realities transcend, or go beyond, this place and this moment. Plato and his companions also saw in them the foundations of reality. What this means is that when you perceive the fullness of Beauty or Goodness or Truth you know reality, you know without doubt what is. Please restrain your desire to ask the pressing question: ‘How do you know when you know Truth?' I hope this will be answered as we continue the journey together. At this stage I am suggesting that the Greeks were onto something when they noted that Beauty, Goodness and Truth are the foundations of reality, and that it is possible to know these even when you cannot fully explain them.