Inspiring Greatness [Michael Behunin] - 3.20.11

    Inspiring greatness in others is a characteristic of Statesmen, and in order to be an effective leader, you must be able to inspire not only yourself, but others. Whether you are mentally limited, socially challenged, or have many emotional problems, you can inspire yourself and others by demanding and expecting responsibility, strength, and empowerment of self and those that you associate with. Stephen Covey said, "Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves ... To communicate the worth and potential of others so clearly, so powerfully, and so consistently that they really come to see it in themselves is to set in motion the process of seeing, doing, and becoming." In order for me to become an inspiring leader, I must be able to see the great potential in others. If I am unable to see their potential, how will I ever be able to communicate it to them in a powerful, clear, and consistent way that inspires them to see it themselves, do something great, and become a more effective person? When we entrust someone with responsibility, that person is naturally inspired to take that responsibility and do their best. We all have greatness within us, we simply need to see that greatness, do something with it, and become great through our actions.

    Michael Behunin is a leader and statesman that has truly realized how to inspire. He expects everyone to take responsibility, and to have the strength to do something great. Every time that I've spoken to him, or listened to him teach a lesson, I feel like he has inspired me to do something great,   whether it be to serve others, read the scriptures and ponder them more, or even have the passion to go ahead and do something that I had been feeling uneasy about. So, how does he do it? I sat down to interview him, and he told me about something that he created, called "The Strong Model." It is a model that he uses in every setting and relationship in which he is involved. "It is a model of faith and belief in others, and in their potential. It is the awareness and implementation of the model's concepts that allows him to demand strength of himself and others in the form of empowerment.

    The model itself implies that no matter what disciplinary group you are in (authority, peer group, and self,) you can achieve a value-based performance (or empowered performance) through caring and helpful intent. An empowered performance goes beyond simple obedience. Simple obedience only requires adherence to whatever the authority dictates, whether the performance is established upon an extrinsic reward or threatened punishment. In order to achieve a value-based performance, you must have a base value. A base value is like a moral code that you live by, and that guides your actions. In Behunin's case, the value-based system that he uses in every relationship is established upon the following three principles: "(1) Do no harm to yourself, (2) Do no harm to others, (3) Be a positive (value-based) contributor to your world." By using this value-based system, we can empower ourselves and others through love and example.

    During my interview with him, Behunin told me how he was able to empower a student, which led the student to inspire those around him. This student that he spoke of had a form of autism, called Aspergers Syndrome. Because of his disability, he had many difficulties while interacting with his peers in the previous schools he had attended. He wanted to find a way to cope with his disability, and learn how to communicate with others in a more effective manner. He applied for Behunin's Top Flight Academy, an organization for troubled teens which provides flight school as a part of the student's curriculum, so that they may work on becoming actual, licensed pilots. Because Behunin expected his students to be strong enough to accept responsibility and to demand strength of themselves, this student was able to literally soar. Behunin said,

“...not only was this student able to begin interacting in a more 'empowered' manner with his peers, he was also able to excel in his flight skills. He ended up becoming one of the best pilots ever to have gone through Top Flight. An amazing side-benefit to the Strong Model in this school is that his entire peer group (consisting of students with ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, etc..) evolved to a level of amazing strength and caring, in the face of often extremely irritating issues associated with their Asperger's peer. They rallied around him, sought to help him, strengthened one another in being sure not to bully or 'trigger' him to explode. They became a stronger, amazingly unified and powerful, caring, value-driven, empowered group of young people ... In other words, the group became stronger because the individuals became stronger."

    This is but one of the many examples that Behunin shared with me, in which he was able to empower someone, who then inspired themselves and others to great strength and love for their peers. Another story that he related to me was about a student who had an extremely violent history in other schools and was deeply involved in gang activities. His mother had pleaded with Behunin to accept the teen into his Top Flight Academy, after all the many "troubled teen" centers that the child had been to before. The student had beat up staff members and fellow students on a daily basis. Behunin finally interviewed the teen, and presented the Strong Model to him before accepting him into the school. Behunin said,

"I challenged him to discover that bringing harm to others, lacking empathy for their issues, problems, and responsibilities was a sign of weakness, not strength... We did not (and would not) seek to control our students ... We demanded that they control themselves. He took the challenge. Interestingly, by the time he left the program he was genuinely and deeply loved and respected by all of the other students, as well as the staff members. He became a protector, and an advocate for the weakest of the students. He became openly the person his mother always believed was within himself. He left the school empowered with a completely different perspective on life. He is, perhaps, the most amazing student I ever worked with."

Reflecting upon these examples, it is obvious that we just have to encourage strength and responsibility in ourselves so that we can inspire others to do the same. When you inspire someone, you are asking them to do something great, and you are showing them that they can do it! It is truly impossible to achieve greatness by holding out a prize for accomplishment, or threatening someone with a punishment if they don't do what you asked. The only way that someone can reach their full potential and influence everyone in their peer group is if you make it known to them that they have the strength, they have the power, and they have the responsibility to take care of what you have asked of them. Gordon B. Hinckley said,

"No system can long command the loyalties of men and woman which does not expect of them certain measures of discipline, and particularly self-discipline ... Permissiveness never produced greatness. Integrity, loyalty, and strength are virtues whose sinews are developed through the struggles that go on within as we practice self-discipline under the demands of divinely spoken truth."

So, will you do what Behunin has done, empowering yourself, by accepting responsibility and being strong enough to do what you need to do? Will you love those around you, and trust them with responsibility, and let them know that they have the strength to overcome anything that's holding them back from a goal? And will you demand and expect empowerment of self, in order to become a leader that truly inspires others to greatness?