a blog by John P. Schuster
Every four years we do an election thing and the cyclicality of the whole, shenanigans and all, is a rhythmic national ritual of affirming our values, our identity, our direction. The shenanigans make us cynical about politics, as if we needed more reasons to get cynical. Remember what Lilly Tomlin said, “No matter how cynical I get, it never seems to be enough.” If we slip, or dive, into the cynical path, there is no[…]
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We all have a hidden job. [Note: In 1957. Ayn Rand wrote a novel with mythic staying power—Atlas Shrugged. It is the story of the innovators and productive leaders of the industrialist world prepare to go into hiding as the masses of moochers, or “looters”, in the world live off and keep taking from the leaders without understanding the leaders’ crucial role. Below is a different version and vision.] Keep Pulling Our Weight for the[…]
Read moreSome teachers of human awareness start with the language we used a long time ago, before we knew what a synapse or neuro-science was. One of our great teachers, with one foot in modern anthropology but with her heart in the wisdom traditions, needs to be better known. I invite you to learn more about this teacher, Angeles Arrien, whom we lost this spring, via this piece I recently wrote for my Psychology Today blog. Image[…]
Read moreCoaches and therapists work in the same two energy fields—the first, those cognitive places where we think, and the second, the those pre-verbal, old brain places from which our core energy emerges. Coaches and therapists have different terms and ways of working with these inner energy fields as we interact in the world of work, families, and communities. The article “Therapy, Depth Psychology and Executive Coaching” is my attempt to describe how these two professions[…]
Read moreIn modern times, by definition, we emphasize progress and the future. The mindfulness movement is of course about the one eternal now. What, then, can the indigenous peoples of the world teach us with their emphasis on “the ancestors?” A whole lot and way more than we know. Here is my attempt to learn from my Irish ancestors as I head for Ireland and Iona this month on a soul retrieval trip, the one I[…]
Read moreLeaders do good business when they understand that they are getting results and growing and nurturing people. They know that as they go higher in the organization they gain increased authority, but the power to execute their plans is increasingly in the hands of the doers– middle managers down to the front-line performers. In other words, as authority increases, the power to execute decreases. This can be a problem, but the best executives know how[…]
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