On Leadership

When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists.
If you don't trust people, you make them untrustworthy.
The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done people say,
"Amazing, we did it all by ourselves."
(Lao-Tzu)

Tao travelers make excellent leaders. They are excellent leaders because they follow the signs. You may ask what signs and I tell you the ones that pop up from moment to moment. They come from everywhere, people especially. Just listen carefully to what they say and the answer will be at hand. Sure, sometimes one friend says X and the other says Y and you just sit there pondering and waiting for the fog to lift. Trust that the answer will always be at hand in time and that everything will be as easy as 1 2 3. Most of the times a solution is found that works for everyone and that seems - in retrospect - obvious. Lead people by caring abou them; it is as simple as that. Every situation begs to be healed and the Tao Master knows that life heals wherever love is present.

On Leadership

If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.

The master acts without doing anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't posses,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done,
she forgets it.

Lao Tzu

I have recently led a few groups and followed Lao Tzu's advice. There is only one thing to do and that is to believe in the power of the group and every single individual and magic is likely to happen. Sure, there is an occasion or two when you will have to put your foot down, but there is no soul searching required at all. The moment will tell you what the right choice is and as you make it, it will be as intuitive as 1 2 3. Try it for yourself!

The Apprentice

The conference room is pretty full and the session has already begun when he strolls in. He has this look on his face that implies that he is is the natural leader and he consequently takes his favorite spot, the head of the table. Whatever discussion might have taken place until then, it does not matter, he is here now and the clock is set back to zero.

Did you know that leaders in the West immediately go for the head of the table, while leaders in the East go for the middle? It is all Feng Shui, the study of interpersonal and spacial energy dynamics. I title this note as 'The Apprentice' just because many Western corporate leaders do not understand this energy exchange. They feel good about themselves exerting control but do not perceive the gathering storm clouds. The person who sits in the middle of the table dances with the energy waves in the room and is truly in charge by facilitating the energy exchange. 

But then, often there are apprentices but sometimes there are true leaders. God says in Neale Walsch's 'Conversations with God' that no one has the right to judge Adolf Hitler. This statement is of course hard to swallow. I took it as a hint that while  Napoleon, Alexander the Great and the many other deluded leaders in history inflicted amazing atrocities on mankind, they also single handedly changed the course of history in the process. So who is to say who is right or wrong. What I can say though, if you like to have peace of mind and want to have the laws of physics on your side, embrace Feng Shui.