One of our trainers asks:

I was wondering if you would expand on the concept of a philosophy at the “emotional” level. Thank you.

In one sense, all levels of the philosophy of a motivating mission are emotional because we have to care about them. However, when we discuss the four levels of mission as economic, professional, emotional, and spiritual, we specifically mean the personal one-to-one connections that tie individuals together.

In Sun Tzu's strategy, we teach that there are three types of interpersonal connections, one-to-one (personal), one-to-many (hierarchical), and many-to-many (networked).

The personal level is the most basic and important to most people. These emotional connections ties us to our family and loved ones. Motivating us to want to help and win the love of those close to us. However, these emotions can also dark. People are also motivated by personal hatred, jealousy, and anger.

While these emotions, both hatred and love, can also be applied to our feelings about other philosophies or the groups and individuals that hold them, motivations at this level are not personal. They are abstract and intellectual. They are not about people but their positions. This type of emotional motivation belongs either at the economic level (I hate or love this group or individual because they are helping or hurting me economically) professional level (I love or hate this group or individual because they are helping me advance or holding me back), or at the philosophical level (I love or hate this group or individual because they are saving or destroying the world).

However, at the emotional level, our caring arise from a personal connection, a connection to who the other person is and how we feel about them. It not an abstract and intellectual connection.