This is the first and most primitive value system. Shamans that are primarily survival-oriented tend to be highly superstitious, deeply fearful, and willing to do anything to survive including murdering opponents, planting curses, and engaging in black magic to harm people and promote their own selfish agendas. They are absolutely ruthless and do not understand the concepts of service, love, and selflessness. They develop a primitive type of power but are not "truly" powerful according to a master's definition and always self-destruct in the end.

Similar types exist in the business world: psychopaths, utterly ruthless con-artists, people who deal in harmful substances, and corrupt individuals who bribe and cheat to carry out their business plans. They create conflict and discord, and inevitably, in ruin and disgrace, lose what little power they have.

Similar to evolving from infant to toddler, the next step up is the rule-oriented shaman. These shamans tend to be rigid, orthodox, and inflexible, not deviating from what they have been taught and doing everything according to an exact, established set of rituals. They are not psychologically sophisticated or insightful and tend to blame problems on external forces. Their concrete way of thinking causes them to perceive others as enemies and to justify retaliation against them.

The business world is filled with small-minded bureaucrats, inflexible in their thinking, attached to traditional but outmoded methods, protective of their turf, and inclined to blame all problems on external forces. They attempt to maintain the status quo even as great changes happen all around them. They do not fare well with the forces of change, trying to hang onto their security, and resisting what they do not understand. The results, of course, are ultimately weakness and ineffectiveness.

Next in development comes success-orientation, akin to the interests of a latency-age child. Success-oriented shamans tend to focus primarily on reputation. What is meaningful and important to them is being known, having the most powerful influence, and being highly successful, regardless of the means. They are often adept at psychological warfare, taking advantage of others' weakness, and are politically sophisticated, promoting themselves shamelessly for their own success. They want to win at all costs and will gladly sacrifice others on the altar of their own drive for achievement. For a success-oriented shaman, appearances are everything and they are often quite good at manipulating physical forces to appear powerful.

In business there is a difference between those whose primary motivation is to win at all costs and someone with an even higher priority on quality and service. The purely success-oriented business type stops at nothing to win the game, even if the outcome robs the public of the best quality or most advanced products. From the master shaman's perspective, this false appearance of power will always exact the high price of a loss of "real" power and ultimately whoever practices it will be brought down in humiliation and disgrace.

The next step up the ladder of a shaman's evolution is to become motivated primarily by a desire to be of service to others. Here the child has grown to young adulthood. The shaman is now more relationship oriented, and success at all costs gives way to a desire to heal, empower, and support those who need it. This shift in values represents a major power increase because at this higher level of understanding, a shaman can operate from a position where differences between themselves and others fall away.

The relationship-oriented businessperson is a new breed of manager. Increasingly, the business world sees the influence of this value orientation in people who seek to shift management from a vertical to a more horizontal style. They value the worker and sense that long-term profits are far greater with policies that lead to employee satisfaction and morale rather than to policies that bring about virtual slavery. Relationship-oriented business leaders care about employees, work side by side with them, and place a high priority on high-quality communication. The result of course is an increase in power for everyone involved.

These are the master shamans, the truly great leaders who stand out head and shoulders among their peers. The young adult grows into the wise elder and achieves such personal power that they no longer expend any energy on self-promotion. They can discover solutions simply by looking within for confirmation of what they suspect is true and they realize that blaming others for anything is pure folly.

Philosophically-oriented master shamans are aware of this important truth: To achieve a desired end, they must let go of their attachment to the outcome. They are not powerful because they want power; they are powerful because they are unattached to their own power and are willing to relinquish it if that is what they perceive as the right action. They are disciplined yet relaxed, dominant yet submissive, strong yet humble, deadly serious yet have a twinkle in their eye.

Philosophically-oriented business leaders are, in many ways, no different in values from master shamans; they are in reality masters themselves, simply in a different costume. They have a strong focus on the truth; are powerfully attentive and disciplined yet appear calm and relaxed, even easy going. They are not attached to convention and are always willing to take risks and abandon old systems and methods for new ones.

Philosophically-oriented business leaders have natural authority and command attention and respect even if what they say seems to defy convention. They are not afraid to be alone, to meditate, to reflect, and to take swift action in the name of their inner authority. They have access to true power and are the finest role models for everyone to emulate.