A 'no' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'yes' uttered to please or avoid trouble. - Mahatma Ghandi

Whether a Nelson Mandela, a Martin Luther King, a whistle blower like Daniel Ellsberg... or you or me... what stokes our greatness is being in alignment with the guiding tenets of our lives. It is being coherent.

Being coherent in its most basic form is "walking your talk" --living by your core truths. When you are faithful to your guiding tenets, life is a bowl of cherries. Not pitless, but full-bodied and delicious.

Coherency isn't something we prove we've got right once and that's it. No force on high blesses us with its specter and knights us forever more as coherent. No such luck. Coherency is a minute-by-minute, conversation-by-conversation, relationship-by-relationship proving ground. It is never ending.

Click for complete Blowing My Horn: You, Me, Gandhi and King

What are your top ten truths?

Where are you on the continuum of coherency?

Look closely at "coherency." Embedded is the word "her." Not surprising.

Co-HER-ency.

True coherency comes when we know the Sacred Feminine within us.

However, many of us who have enjoyed success often rely heavily on the qualities of our Inner Masculine. We push, persevere, reason out solutions and take control in most situations. We identify with our intellect and sometimes push beyond the limits of our bodies to get results.

Many of us who have succeeded in the fast paced world of commerce, or scaled career heights, have a well-developed Masculine honed through our intellect- driven educational system. Therefore most of us have a less or totally undeveloped Inner Feminine. Thus the recent rise of "Emotional Intelligence" in the hallowed halls of corporate America in an attempt to embrace the Inner Feminine. We tap into the great drive of our Inner Masculine --and that is fabulous, but in the process we may leave behind something equally powerful: the Inner Feminine.

Click for complete feature: Co-HER-ency: A Match Made In Heaven.

1. You have just discovered that one of your clients has a history of human rights abuses in sweatshops overseas and has taken actions that are in direct conflict with your social values. You:
   1. say nothing since the client is one of your highest-paying clients.
   2. pre-determine operational definitions so that your clients know what is expected: You will not supply or support any aspect of the business that deals with abuses.
   3. boycott your client and find business elsewhere.
   4. express your opinion in an email but continue doing business anyway.

2. One of your new vendors comments on your negotiating the best deal for your company, "Wow! You're really Jewing me down!" You are a Jew and are offended, so you :
   1. say to him, "I am sure you meant no malice, and I know you are a person of integrity; however, the expression "Jewing down" can be hurtful to others."
   2. say nothing. After all, there's no sense to risking an otherwise excellent relationship.
   3. anonymously forward him a website about the rise of anti-Semitism in America.
   4. talk behind his back to others who purchase from him.

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