9 Questions, ... Question 7, Week 7, (day 2)

"No! Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try." — Yoda,?Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

"Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." — Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode VI:?Return of the Jedi

"There are things that you cannot solve by jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up."— Leia Organa,?Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Resources for Question 7: ENGAGING THE WHOLE PERSON

Introduction

This volume provides resources to explore the seventh question of nine in our curatorial book, 9 Questions for Leadership in Life and Work.

Our Western society, especially since the Age of Enlightenment, has tended to glorify and amplify human beings' rational and cognitive capacities. We often speak and act as if we can always thinking and analyze our way to the wisest decisions. While we deeply honor the rational and its many gifts to human civilizations, in this volume we seek to open space for a more inclusive conception of human capacities, one that recognizes human beings are integrated wholes, where the distinction of body and mind can be more illusory than helpful.

Some of our systemic teachers and mentors have invited us to think in terms of "four ways of knowing." How can leaders learn to recognize and liberate the emotional, intuitive, and embodied intelligences -- as well as the rational and cognitive -- in themselves, their colleagues and their organizations?

As is our custom, we share here some quotations that have inspired us around this question., followed by some exercises for experiential practice. More quotations and sources are available in the core, 9 Questions book.

Exercises for exploring Question 7

• (we offer 5 exercises, here's a response to one as an example)

Embodied reason

“Reason is not disembodied, as the tradition has largely held, but arises from the nature of our brains, bodies, and bodily experience. This is not just the innocuous and obvious claim that we need a body to reason; rather, it is the striking claim that the very structure of reason itself comes from the details of our embodiment. The same neural and cognitive mechanisms that allow us to perceive and move around also create our conceptual systems and modes of reason. Thus, to understand reason we must understand the details of our visual system, our motor system, and the general mechanisms of neural binding. In summary, reason is not, in any way, a transcendent feature of the universe or of disembodied mind. Instead, it is shaped crucially by the peculiarities of our human bodies, by the remarkable details of the neural structure of our brains, and by the specifics of our everyday functioning in the world.” ―?George Lakoff,?and Mark Johnson

Can you think of some ideas that we normally think of as abstract thought that have their foundation in metaphors associated with bodily movement or embodied experience? What sense do you make of the proposition that "reason is an embodied thing"?

Please be invited to record your observations and insights in your journal and to share and exchange insights with trusted friends and colleagues.

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." ~ Albert Einstein

For me, ... it's late in Chicago, and, I've been spent the last several hours puzzling over the drains in the kitchen which have unexpectedly slowed considerably in terms of their FLOW; they are now officially clogged.

For me, ... I've also been thinking about the physical and mental aspects of stress and how stress and anxiety shapes and (re)shapes -- and constricts -- our thinking (the rationale side of us) and how we feel and sense ourselves (and our surroundings) -- often without our realizing this. Like our kitchen drain which worked one moment and then one moment later, it was clogged. The same happens to our bodies and minds -- and probably our souls. Stress and anxiety shut us down, stop the FLOW and our ability to regulate ourselves; the same happens to endurance runners and athletes. We overheat; we dehydrate; our bodies process salt differently -- and then, we're in trouble.

For me, ... the metaphors that I've been wondering about and holding here are those of how are bodies are mostly water and how we might be part of some larger tide of waters among other individuals and those in our community, like small boats on a lake or the open waters of the ocean. And then, how do we know when we're in trouble -- generally something that we're not very good at sensing and feeling.

For me, ... with this understanding of myself, I know that I need to set up a series of external markers and friendships and activities that remind me -- even when I'm unable to remind myself, that I might be heading into severe weather and a downturn. I hope that these "lighthouse, buoys and markers" offer early warnings and lights for me to pause and take notice; it's also important during moments of strength, confidence and courage to give permission to those folks close to you -- friends, family and colleagues to also nudge you or call you when you're approaching and nearing these moments. Building trusted communities is easier said that done but it's critically important for your health and for the health of others around you. We must be beacons for others; others must be beacons for us.

For me, ... writing these regular posts (mostly daily) has served as a buoy in the harbor of life to keep me pointed in the right general direction. I'm grateful to you for this gift.

Peace and blessings.

Gerald Doyle

Accompanying Resources for the 10 Week Course:

9 Questions for Leadership in Life and Work ?(you are welcome to download a complimentary copy of this book)

Resources for Question 7: Engaging the Whole Person ?(you are welcome to download a complimentary copy of this book)

Tri Cosain: Weaving inspiration, learning and career

Gerald and Scott are co-founders of?Tri Cosain , a practice which weaves inspiration, learning and career coaching for leadership in life and work; they are the?co-authors of?9 Questions for Leadership in Life and Work ,?Conversations of Inquiry ?(a workbook and an invitation to explore),?Reflections on Careers ?(an interactive workbook). All of these publications are freely available for you to download.

Their work embraces equity, inclusion, diversity, accessibility and well-being as foundations for personal leadership.

Gerald Doyle serves on the faculty of?Wolcott College Preparatory High School , provides Ministry Placement Research/Consulting for Career Formation Services at the?Catholic Theological Union , advises several edtech companies including?Upkey ?and?GetSet ?and works as a Higher Education Consultant at?TSI - Transforming Solutions, Inc.

Scott Downs, an Agile and Design Thinking Coach, calls forward great Agile delivery teams, with leaders in every chair.