Dear Bob ...I found lots of good insights in "Iacocca's alliterative leadership list," including some that are new to me. Thank you very much. I especially appreciated the one about planning rather than blurting. However, I question your statement about values being personal, not universal. In fact, you show you don't believe it yourself. You appealed to the universal value of taking responsibility for ones' own Dear Bob …I found lots of good insights in “Iacocca’s alliterative leadership list,” including some that are new to me. Thank you very much. I especially appreciated the one about planning rather than blurting. However, I question your statement about values being personal, not universal. In fact, you show you don’t believe it yourself. You appealed to the universal value of taking responsibility for ones’ own moral code. You certainly didn’t present that one as just a personal, subjective belief. I’ve heard many people make statements such as yours, but so far have not heard anyone talk consistently as though s/he believed it.– UniversalistDear Universalist … There is no such thing as opinion without underlying premises, which are, by definition, a form of belief. It’s true in mathematics; it’s just as true any other time someone has to develop a position through logic. I’ve never said otherwise. The problem comes when someone presents a personal belief as though it is an objective truth.My opinion regarding the importance of taking personal responsibility for one’s values is the practical result of years of observation, and is restricted to business leaders.Those who have gone the “do the right thing” route generally invoked a general-purpose deity as the authority that justifies their values, imagining that all religions teach the same values. This is a notion that is emphatically not the case. Worse, their invocation of their deity (and denomination) can and sometimes did offend those who worship differently. In business, “these are our values and we live by them,” followed by a consistent demonstration that they really are the values through which the leader guides the organization, seems to be most effective.That’s in business. Whatever my preference might be, we seem to be living in an age in which political leaders succeed by being the best at proclaiming how devout they are.My personal preference, not that it’s relevant to the discussion, would be that instead of the Pledge of Allegiance we taught kids the Preamble to the Constitution, and instead of pointing to the Bible, political leaders pointed to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution and said, “These are the values through which I will lead this country.” Maybe next year.– BobPowered by ScribeFire. Technology Industry