#41—What you see is what I get

What everyone sees

And who we are

What size gap lives between them?

The energy burnt to maintain a fa?ade

roughly equals the energy needed to be honest with self

What choice to make?

Aging brings decline to the energy of maintaining one's fa?ade

It fades, and we are left solely with self

Will we be content with the return on our investment?

If we stop to pay attention, we find the switch where we turn on the fa?ade, that extra burst of woo, humor, or politeness, our forced smiles, and our attempts to be sincere. It's not always dishonest fakery so much as mapping to and then functioning in a world of ever-changing stimulations and relationships. The engine the switch puts into gear gives us tools to determine what is required of us in a specific moment.

But we are so much more than boxes of tangled wires and gauges making up what we want others to see. They protect the real and developing self underneath. The fa?ade can be a protective sheath but cannot be who a person is. The self that grows inside and underneath, the self that needs alignment between external and internal

The recent end of the Paris Olympics reminds me that rather than cross the finish line as an air-brushed and autographed commemorative victory photo, we cross that line with real creases, sweat, and heaving lungs, all tied to the joy of any achievements.

Real legacy comes from real humans. ??

Going Deeper with Norah Jones

In my backpack

The Way of All Flesh, by Ambrose Perry

First in a series, this novel reads as if James Herriott and Edgar Allen Poe had collaborated, when in fact it is a husband and wife team writing under a pseudonym. They've given us an original work with interesting characters set in the opulence and grime of 1840's Edinburgh, a time of "public decorum and private sin."

Advances in society, church, and medicine set the stage for this mystery I've found riveting. ??

Executive Thinking is a?source for being and thinking as an executive who links the world's future to their enterprise mission and its profitable operations. Here, you will find some of the soul-searching, middle-of-the-night, honest reflections at the core of who we are becoming as leaders.

A Systems Convener and Executive Advisor walking alongside accomplished executives in the third turn of their careers, Mark L. Vincent , Ph.D., EPC , loves leaders who love leaders.

In his own third turn, Mark continues to grow his capacity for wise advising, artful facilitation, and public presentation.

Mark has founded?Maestro-level leaders ,?Design Group International, ?and the?Society for Process Consulting and authored a number of books, including Listening Helping Learning . He now partners with Mygrow to build an emotionally intelligent world.