Reward only results–and lose your right to judge the means

Hannah Arendt

Only the modern age’s conviction that man can know only what he makes, that his allegedly higher capacities depend upon making and that he therefore is primarily homo faber and not an animal rationale, brought forth the much older implications of violence inherent in all interpretations of the realm of human affairs as a sphere of making. [p. 228]


We are perhaps the first generation which has become fully aware of the murderous consequences inherent in (more…)

The Last Word on Power

 


 

The Last Word on Power:
Re-Invention for Leaders and Anyone
Who Must Make the Impossible Happen

by Tracy Goss (Betty Sue Flowers, Editor)

 


 

Tracy GossCapsule Review

Tracy Goss has long been closely associated with Werner Erhard, the originator of EST and Landmark Education Corporation’s Forum. I expect happy graduates of those programs to be very happy with this book (I am and I am). The book presents the central concepts of those programs very clearly and in a format designed to help business people put the “distinctions” to work immediately. I doubt, however, that a person not trained in ontological coaching could get much sense from these pages. It can seem to be merely jargon and wild promises unless you have actually put the techniques to work for yourself with the assistance of a coach (as I have and I do).

For people experienced with the methods, this book is an effective refresher and spur to action. A friend and I (more…)

Goal Setting Sabotage

I frequently coach individuals and groups on long-term goal setting. I have found a subtle trap that you can easily avoid if you take a moment to notice that not everything progresses at the same rate.

A great benefit of specific plans is the opportunity to track progress. After my clients set a ten year goal, I invite them to imagine themselves in the future, ten years hence, with the goal achieved. I then ask, “Look back five years. Tell me how much progress you had made at the halfway point.”

This where most people make a crucial error. Luckily, it is easy to avoid.

Let’s say you have set a goal for (more…)

Imagination is Real

Alison Gopnik“For human beings the really important evolutionary advantage is our ability to create new worlds.”

“In fact, I think now that the two abilities – finding the truth about the world and creating new worlds-are two sides of the same coins. Theories, in science or childhood, don’t just tell us what’s true – they tell us what’s possible, and they tell us how to get to those possibilities from where we are now. When children learn and when they pretend they use their knowledge of the world to create new possibilities. So do we whether we are doing science or writing novels. I don’t think anymore that Science and Fiction are just both Good Things that complement each other. I think they are, quite literally, the same thing.”

The World Question Center at Edge.org

Alison Gopnik
Psychologist, UC-Berkeley

Coauthor, The Scientist In the Crib

Capsule Coaching

 


 

I recently came across this email I sent to a client after an executive coaching conversation. It has broad applicability for leaders.

The key from today is: get very clear about and keep your attention on the future you are committed to and the values at your core. Develop the discipline to pause and assess each event and communication in light of your commitments. Take your next step in service to your future, not as a reaction based on automatic, unexamined assessments from your past. Learn your triggers (people exhibiting disrespect, for example, or lack of candor) and move them into the realm of choice instead of letting them run you.

People follow a leader who is pulled by a compelling future and is adept at using data from a variety of sources, even unfriendly ones. They are made uncomfortable by an authority who is the victim of events or who devotes his energy to repairing the past. Instead, use the precious present to set-up a fulfilling future.

Tony Mayo

 


 

Click to download as a printable Adobe .PDF file.

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