Seven management practices inspired by Freemasons
7 February 2014
Read by 5619 persons
Philosophy of life, tool for self-knowledge... the "Masonic method" transposed to business management can also prove very effective in boosting productivity in meetings, managing personal conflicts and even better "brainstorming"! What if Freemasonry brought more than a business school?
"Lausanne, Harvard, MIT... Like any HR director of a multinational company, I send my executives and high-potential talents on management training courses at the best universities in the world: these courses are nothing compared to what you can learn in a lodge!" Daniel D., 52, works for a large construction group. His scope covers 70,000 employees! A Mason for five years, this member of a lodge of the Droit Humain admits to having acquired, thanks to the Masonic method, personal peace and a real work organization to boost his professional efficiency and management. What if the Masonic method brought more to your management than any business school?
1. Better listening
Listening is the first tool given to the Mason from his initiation. "Given my high responsibilities and also my temperament, I am more inclined to speak than to listen," admits Christian N., head of a group of services to local authorities. "But in Freemasonry, we are all placed on an equal footing. When you enter, you have to be silent for at least a year!" For him too, the initiation began with "perfect silence".
"I am responsible for Asia and Eastern Europe, I have thousands of employees under my command. When I speak in my professional world where the hierarchy is very vertical and very "animal", everyone is silent. And if I say stupid things, very few people, if not nobody, dare to contradict me." Christian was obliged to remain silent for eighteen months. When he found his voice, he learned not to waste it: "Having the right to speak is a rare resource. To protect it well, you have to learn to speak at the right time and not about everything". The words of the Freemason manager carry more weight than those of the ordinary manager, because he calculates the moment when he must speak. "When you know that you cannot speak several times in a lodge, it forces you to synthesize your thought, to distinguish the superfluous from the essential," explains José Gulino, current Grand Master of the Grand Orient (GODF). "We do not dialogue directly, so it limits conflicts and power struggles."
2. Recruiting and managing more humanely
Freemasons cultivate humanism. They do not like extremes. They are wary, for example, of the entry of members of the National Front. Even if business remains business, some Freemason bosses say they give a chance to people who have difficulty entering the world of work. "I have just recruited a 57-year-old computer scientist. He brings extraordinary serenity and know-how to young people," says Thierry Ehrmann, president of Artprice and the Serveur group. "I try to give a humanist vision in the company, which is not easy considering business life and the economic situation. We are a listed group, subject to regulations, with rigidities. Since 1987, I have hired dozens of employees while I have only had two judgments in the labor courts!"
Attentive to seniors in the company, the boss and Lyonnais artist also gives a helping hand to people who have been sidelined. He knows how to give a chance to a person who has been unemployed for more than five years. "Even if it takes more time to integrate them! I take off my employer's hat to listen to the suffering of others. It is important to go beyond the employment contract to understand the difficulties of a colleague." Including when the colleague in question is rejected by the entire work community for his inexcusable words or behavior: "Freemasonry teaches me not to inflict double punishment on him: he is already rejected at work, I am not going to eject him from the company! I try to make him understand that he must behave differently so as not to put himself in further danger." We can see here that the Masonic method can prove invaluable for managing difficult personalities.
3. Triangulation for better meeting animation
"Masonic meetings, called "lodge meetings", teach the value of speech," analyzes Philippe Benhamou. To speak, you must ask a lodge supervisor for permission who will question the venerable who will let the supervisor know if he grants it... or not! Each time you ask to speak, there is therefore triangulation. "Imagine work meetings where you could only speak once! Imagine the consequences on the quality of speech or the choice of your intervention," laughs Philippe Benhamou.
"The Masonic method makes you more able to listen to people who have wealth. It also allows you to bring out this wealth from them," reveals Denise Oberlin, Grand Master of the Grande Loge féminine de France (GLFF). In meetings, people who are not comfortable speaking can remain silent, even though they hold the ideas or the solution to a problem. A good Freemason manager will know how to give them confidence so that they dare to express their point of view and prevent the born speakers or unrepentant chatterboxes from hogging the floor. The Masonic method is very much like maieutics, the art of delivering consciences, in which Socrates excelled. "It values a different perspective," also confides Patrick B., HR director of a listed group, member of the Droit Humain. "It's like with the "dan" in judo. In Freemasonry, the older and more graded you are, the more you develop the ability to have a different perspective, to see things from an unexpected angle. With the Masonic method, I encourage people who are inhibited by speaking to express themselves. I will put them at ease, give them time, and give them the message that what they are saying is interesting."
4. Cultivating the art of "working" in teams
"I naively thought that researchers were great people who know how to listen to each other!" In his job, Philippe Benhamou has to animate prospective networks in the field of aeronautical research. This researcher at Onera, an aeronautical research center in Palaiseau (Essonne), uses Masonic tools to make engineers from diverse cultures work together. His attendance at the Grande Loge de France has trained him to listen and rephrase.
"The Masonic method helps me to make engineers from different worlds talk to each other: the aerodynamicist does not know what his counterpart in propulsion materials does, and yet these people must coexist in a working group. As in a Masonic lodge, we must work together." "Work"? Another verb from Masonic vocabulary: the papers are those presentations given in the lodge by a brother on a given subject...
More broadly, professional life, to gain efficiency, must obey certain rituals. And Freemasonry is full of them! Lodge meetings, for example, obey the rituals of opening and closing the lodge to create a different space-time... Thus, we will work in the lodge from "noon to midnight"... even if the meeting only lasts three hours in "profane" time! Before going to dinner (those famous "feasts" that the Freemason is fond of!). So many rituals that can be transposed to the world of work to structure a meeting or inject conviviality into the office.
5. Boosting creativity sessions
"If everyone agrees in a meeting, we are not going to produce much. Ideas must oppose each other to generate superior ideas," says Philippe Benhamou. A good Freemason knows that he builds himself by rubbing against the rough edges of others. "In a creativity meeting, it is this tension that I try to implement." This member of the GLDF has become a master in the art of listening and making contradictions coexist when he leads creativity meetings and prospective groups. Just as in the lodge the venerable leads the debates, he masters this art of making "necessary and fruitful oppositions" work together. Historically, it was necessary to find a place where Protestants and Catholics could speak without drawing their swords! Freemasonry aspires to create this "center of union" where one can speak without fighting. Philippe Benhamou, when an idea is expressed, does not hesitate to play the naive and ask if the opposite idea would not be better. "Everyone laughs and makes fun of me: "This Benhamou is stupid, he hasn't understood anything!" And, at the same time, this generates, by reaction, new ideas!" Patrick B., head of a subsidiary of a large group, confirms: "By applying Masonic techniques, I build a nest that will allow more new ideas and technical innovations to be born."
6. Knowing how to resolve conflicts
"When you ask to speak in a lodge, you are given the floor according to a certain ritual," recalls Denise Oberlin, Grand Master of the Grande Loge féminine de France. "This calms passions." Christine N., executive assistant and Freemason for twenty years, uses the tools of Freemasonry to calm tensions in her office world: "I listen with empathy to the secretaries, but I try to put reason into passions. To keep a sense of proportion, to restore balance. I listen to the one who complains about a colleague, but I also show her something she hasn't seen in the other. When a conflict erupts between two people, when one vents negatively about the other, I acknowledge that the person in question has indeed made a mistake, but I remind her that she is going through difficulties in her personal life."
A school of moderation, Freemasonry invites us to see at least two aspects of everything. "It's true, we like to look for a third term to avoid confrontation," smiles Marc Henry, Grand Master of the Grande Loge de France. "A Freemason does not interrupt you, has ethical behavior, does not constantly put his navel forward. He listens to points of view and tries to make something else out of them: he builds." A "brother" does not like binary oppositions, he will look for a third way forward. No wonder the triangle is one of the Masonic symbols!
7. Gaining serenity and self-control
This is perhaps the most important tool! "Since I've been a Mason, I'm happier. I feel infinitely better in my own skin. I've gained a lot of distance in my everyday life, and when difficulties arise at work, they have less hold on me. And that reflects in my management, of course," explains Daniel D., an executive in the construction industry.
"I've learned to better manage my anxieties and I have much less emotional outbursts in my job," confides this member of the Droit Humain, a Mason for five years. "I had a reputation for easily "turning red", for getting angry. I am much calmer. Where I used to have ten conflicts a month at work, I now only have five!" "We learn not to be overwhelmed by our emotions," also confides Christine N. Self-control, the art of listening, the ability to manage opposites and to (self-)build... All these Masonic tools are not so mysterious. "But there is no secret in Freemasonry! The only secret is your experience," says Marc Henry with a smile. Words of a Grand Master!
Etienne Gless.
Lentreprise.lexpress.fr
Posted online on February 7, 2014.
"Lausanne, Harvard, MIT... Like any HR director of a multinational company, I send my executives and high-potential talents on management training courses at the best universities in the world: these courses are nothing compared to what you can learn in a lodge!" Daniel D., 52, works for a large construction group. His scope covers 70,000 employees! A Mason for five years, this member of a lodge of the Droit Humain admits to having acquired, thanks to the Masonic method, personal peace and a real work organization to boost his professional efficiency and management. What if the Masonic method brought more to your management than any business school?
1. Better listening
Listening is the first tool given to the Mason from his initiation. "Given my high responsibilities and also my temperament, I am more inclined to speak than to listen," admits Christian N., head of a group of services to local authorities. "But in Freemasonry, we are all placed on an equal footing. When you enter, you have to be silent for at least a year!" For him too, the initiation began with "perfect silence".
"I am responsible for Asia and Eastern Europe, I have thousands of employees under my command. When I speak in my professional world where the hierarchy is very vertical and very "animal", everyone is silent. And if I say stupid things, very few people, if not nobody, dare to contradict me." Christian was obliged to remain silent for eighteen months. When he found his voice, he learned not to waste it: "Having the right to speak is a rare resource. To protect it well, you have to learn to speak at the right time and not about everything". The words of the Freemason manager carry more weight than those of the ordinary manager, because he calculates the moment when he must speak. "When you know that you cannot speak several times in a lodge, it forces you to synthesize your thought, to distinguish the superfluous from the essential," explains José Gulino, current Grand Master of the Grand Orient (GODF). "We do not dialogue directly, so it limits conflicts and power struggles."
2. Recruiting and managing more humanely
Freemasons cultivate humanism. They do not like extremes. They are wary, for example, of the entry of members of the National Front. Even if business remains business, some Freemason bosses say they give a chance to people who have difficulty entering the world of work. "I have just recruited a 57-year-old computer scientist. He brings extraordinary serenity and know-how to young people," says Thierry Ehrmann, president of Artprice and the Serveur group. "I try to give a humanist vision in the company, which is not easy considering business life and the economic situation. We are a listed group, subject to regulations, with rigidities. Since 1987, I have hired dozens of employees while I have only had two judgments in the labor courts!"
Attentive to seniors in the company, the boss and Lyonnais artist also gives a helping hand to people who have been sidelined. He knows how to give a chance to a person who has been unemployed for more than five years. "Even if it takes more time to integrate them! I take off my employer's hat to listen to the suffering of others. It is important to go beyond the employment contract to understand the difficulties of a colleague." Including when the colleague in question is rejected by the entire work community for his inexcusable words or behavior: "Freemasonry teaches me not to inflict double punishment on him: he is already rejected at work, I am not going to eject him from the company! I try to make him understand that he must behave differently so as not to put himself in further danger." We can see here that the Masonic method can prove invaluable for managing difficult personalities.
3. Triangulation for better meeting animation
"Masonic meetings, called "lodge meetings", teach the value of speech," analyzes Philippe Benhamou. To speak, you must ask a lodge supervisor for permission who will question the venerable who will let the supervisor know if he grants it... or not! Each time you ask to speak, there is therefore triangulation. "Imagine work meetings where you could only speak once! Imagine the consequences on the quality of speech or the choice of your intervention," laughs Philippe Benhamou.
"The Masonic method makes you more able to listen to people who have wealth. It also allows you to bring out this wealth from them," reveals Denise Oberlin, Grand Master of the Grande Loge féminine de France (GLFF). In meetings, people who are not comfortable speaking can remain silent, even though they hold the ideas or the solution to a problem. A good Freemason manager will know how to give them confidence so that they dare to express their point of view and prevent the born speakers or unrepentant chatterboxes from hogging the floor. The Masonic method is very much like maieutics, the art of delivering consciences, in which Socrates excelled. "It values a different perspective," also confides Patrick B., HR director of a listed group, member of the Droit Humain. "It's like with the "dan" in judo. In Freemasonry, the older and more graded you are, the more you develop the ability to have a different perspective, to see things from an unexpected angle. With the Masonic method, I encourage people who are inhibited by speaking to express themselves. I will put them at ease, give them time, and give them the message that what they are saying is interesting."
4. Cultivating the art of "working" in teams
"I naively thought that researchers were great people who know how to listen to each other!" In his job, Philippe Benhamou has to animate prospective networks in the field of aeronautical research. This researcher at Onera, an aeronautical research center in Palaiseau (Essonne), uses Masonic tools to make engineers from diverse cultures work together. His attendance at the Grande Loge de France has trained him to listen and rephrase.
"The Masonic method helps me to make engineers from different worlds talk to each other: the aerodynamicist does not know what his counterpart in propulsion materials does, and yet these people must coexist in a working group. As in a Masonic lodge, we must work together." "Work"? Another verb from Masonic vocabulary: the papers are those presentations given in the lodge by a brother on a given subject...
More broadly, professional life, to gain efficiency, must obey certain rituals. And Freemasonry is full of them! Lodge meetings, for example, obey the rituals of opening and closing the lodge to create a different space-time... Thus, we will work in the lodge from "noon to midnight"... even if the meeting only lasts three hours in "profane" time! Before going to dinner (those famous "feasts" that the Freemason is fond of!). So many rituals that can be transposed to the world of work to structure a meeting or inject conviviality into the office.
5. Boosting creativity sessions
"If everyone agrees in a meeting, we are not going to produce much. Ideas must oppose each other to generate superior ideas," says Philippe Benhamou. A good Freemason knows that he builds himself by rubbing against the rough edges of others. "In a creativity meeting, it is this tension that I try to implement." This member of the GLDF has become a master in the art of listening and making contradictions coexist when he leads creativity meetings and prospective groups. Just as in the lodge the venerable leads the debates, he masters this art of making "necessary and fruitful oppositions" work together. Historically, it was necessary to find a place where Protestants and Catholics could speak without drawing their swords! Freemasonry aspires to create this "center of union" where one can speak without fighting. Philippe Benhamou, when an idea is expressed, does not hesitate to play the naive and ask if the opposite idea would not be better. "Everyone laughs and makes fun of me: "This Benhamou is stupid, he hasn't understood anything!" And, at the same time, this generates, by reaction, new ideas!" Patrick B., head of a subsidiary of a large group, confirms: "By applying Masonic techniques, I build a nest that will allow more new ideas and technical innovations to be born."
6. Knowing how to resolve conflicts
"When you ask to speak in a lodge, you are given the floor according to a certain ritual," recalls Denise Oberlin, Grand Master of the Grande Loge féminine de France. "This calms passions." Christine N., executive assistant and Freemason for twenty years, uses the tools of Freemasonry to calm tensions in her office world: "I listen with empathy to the secretaries, but I try to put reason into passions. To keep a sense of proportion, to restore balance. I listen to the one who complains about a colleague, but I also show her something she hasn't seen in the other. When a conflict erupts between two people, when one vents negatively about the other, I acknowledge that the person in question has indeed made a mistake, but I remind her that she is going through difficulties in her personal life."
A school of moderation, Freemasonry invites us to see at least two aspects of everything. "It's true, we like to look for a third term to avoid confrontation," smiles Marc Henry, Grand Master of the Grande Loge de France. "A Freemason does not interrupt you, has ethical behavior, does not constantly put his navel forward. He listens to points of view and tries to make something else out of them: he builds." A "brother" does not like binary oppositions, he will look for a third way forward. No wonder the triangle is one of the Masonic symbols!
7. Gaining serenity and self-control
This is perhaps the most important tool! "Since I've been a Mason, I'm happier. I feel infinitely better in my own skin. I've gained a lot of distance in my everyday life, and when difficulties arise at work, they have less hold on me. And that reflects in my management, of course," explains Daniel D., an executive in the construction industry.
"I've learned to better manage my anxieties and I have much less emotional outbursts in my job," confides this member of the Droit Humain, a Mason for five years. "I had a reputation for easily "turning red", for getting angry. I am much calmer. Where I used to have ten conflicts a month at work, I now only have five!" "We learn not to be overwhelmed by our emotions," also confides Christine N. Self-control, the art of listening, the ability to manage opposites and to (self-)build... All these Masonic tools are not so mysterious. "But there is no secret in Freemasonry! The only secret is your experience," says Marc Henry with a smile. Words of a Grand Master!
Etienne Gless.
Lentreprise.lexpress.fr
Posted online on February 7, 2014.
