In a short piece, Daniel Goleman(see Curing the Common Cold of Leadership: Poor Listening) reminds us again of the importance of listening as a key leadership skill. Neuroscience tells us that our brain is super proficient at mastering procedures like brushing our teeth or sending a text. It stores these “how to” processes in the […]
In Aikido there is a particular throw that practitioners refer to as the “twenty year throw.” Why? It takes twenty years to master this move. I’m in my third year of learning the twenty year throw. (Yes, that’s me, the one standing in the snapshot). I am little more fluid, a little more graceful. I […]
Visualize this: two young girls recognize each other across the playfield and run to greet each other. One girl’s father says, “We only have thirty minutes before we need to go home for dinner.” The girls hug each other and are filled with delight. They talk fast and their voices lilt with giggles. They run […]
75% of our meaning making comes from visual input (Roam, 2009, p.22). By visual I mean both physical and cognitive vision like dreams and inner vision: both the STOP sign you see while driving and the inner vision you have of your car coming to a stop. David Sibbet’s new book (2013), Visual Leaders speaks […]
When faced with big challenges, it’s easy for our bodies to contract, to tense—to brace for what is coming towards us. I notice this impulse in my Aikido practice. My opponent comes towards me with a strike, and my body wants to brace and contract. Yesterday, in one of these moments, I heard the words, […]
The great leader and visionary, Martin Luther King Jr., would have celebrated his 84th birthday this week. Dr. King held the vision of equality for all. He dreamed a world where, “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” In […]
Since the tragedy at Sandy Hill Elementary in Connecticut, I have been reflecting on the circle as a liberating structure in leadership. It’s not a new structure yet it is so rarely practiced in “civil society.” In the very old days we sat around a fire for warmth. And in that circle we began to […]
In written music rest notes are marked just as all the other musical notes are indicated. The rest notes are pauses of a certain length between notes. Not every rest note is the same. Some are whole rest notes, some are half, or quarter, or sixteenth rest notes. The one pictured here is a quarter […]
“Leadership is about being better able to listen to the whole than anyone else can,” Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of Seventh Generation What is the quality of your listening? Are you listening to your own opinions forming in your mind while being spoken to—preparing a response? Or are you able to place your intention in […]
On the aikido mat I learn that mastery of movement and action begins with connecting to my center. From my center, I connect to my partner and lead him or her into graceful action. If I skip the connection part, my action is as effective as vacuuming the carpet with a vacuum cleaner that is […]