Once again, a couple of random thoughts while reading (I really have to learn how to focus...but I digress...again).
I really like the idea of a silent conductor, listening for whatever drives passion in others. I try to even extend that thought to parenting, as Zander speaks to in Chapter 5. I am looking for that passionate idea my 16-year old son can grab on to (other than always XBox) and help him steer it toward his schoolwork or teamwork on the football/track fields. Nothing against games (Dr. Siegel), I love to play myself, but I think it's one of the primary responsibilities of leaders/parents to listen to the passion in others and steer it toward a common, agreed upon goal.
While reading Chap. 6, I kept thinking in the back of my mind that I used to be much more my calculating self in my younger years. As I get older, the long-repressed central self has come out. It was during one of these thoughts that I came across what I think is a central theme to this chapter on page 95. The authors write, "It (the central self) is what a person who has survived - and knows it - looks like." The central self smile at the calculating self's perceptions,..." As I get older, I find myself more and more in this position...thinking how silly I was in my younger days, chasing after "stuff" and worrying about myself rather than others.
You know, I couldn't help thinking of a co-worker during my reading of Ch. 7. He constantly talks in a "downward spiral", in fact he is a continual "joke" regarding his "black cloud" over his head. And he's PROUD of this attitude! I am constantly pushing him in a different attitude by pointing out that we need to see the possibilities out there. Yes...we will fall down once in awhile, but if we don't attempt new things, we won't succeed! Before I get too full of myself though...I often have the other problem. I sometimes think everything is possible and can over-committ to something I may have a hard time implementing. Luckily I have been more successful than disappointed in my opportunities, and it has paid off. This is what I think the Zander's call "the art of possibility"
Chapter 8 really spoke to me, for a couple of years now, I have had this nagging feeling that I wanted to start my own business, but didn't know what direction that business should take. Well, this past school year and my corporate media production work has pointed me in a new direction. See last week's blog letter to Mr. B for a the overview.
Love the rambling thoughts as you go over the text. Funny how we can see things differently as the years go by. I know that it's not the same for everyone and that some really get stuck in their old way of thinking about things. My education has led me to recognize that I really don't have the command on Existence that I once thought I had. It's a really big universe out there.
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