Real empowerment comes from having both the principles and the practices understood and applied at all levels of the organization. Without understanding the principles of a given task, people become incapacitated when the situation changes and success requires different practices. When we teach practices without principles, we tend to make people dependent on us or others for further instruction and direction. Principle-centered leaders create a common vision and a set of principles, and work on decreasing the restraining forces. But these methods create tensions and those tensions break out in new problems, requiring new driving forces.
Performance tends to slip, particularly as the organization becomes fatigued and cynical.
Management by drives will lead to management by crises. Much energy is spent internally on effort that does not serve the customer, contribute to quality, or build long-term relationships. Long-term relationships are developed upon natural laws and proven principles. Women have the edge over men in cultivating long-term relationships. Women have a higher sense of the importance of long-term relationships.