Author: michael

Business: The Enterprise of Humanity

Posted on by michael

Business isn’t an exercise in numbers; it is an enterprise of humanity that is an inalienable part of life. So if we focus on taking care of the people in our enterprise and harness our intuitive capacity to co-create together, business will take care of itself.

In this context even the language of teams and teamwork may inadvertently conjure up associations with the competitive language of battle and sports so perhaps we look toward the language of neighborhood, to fellowship and to being in community together instead

To read more visit the management-issues website at: http://www.management-issues.com/opinion/6957/business-the-enterprise-of-humanity/

The Roots of Aliveness: The Art of Regenerative Leadership

Posted on by michael

We are like islands separated on the surface
but connected in the deep

William Blake

It has often been said that our span of awareness is a mile wide and an inch deep. The quality of our deeper life is frequently overlooked in our efforts to cope the daily demands and expectations of our outer life. One enabling metaphor that helps us look at this is the ecology of a tree. The outer life is symbolized by the leaves and branches – they correspond to a life of reactivity and busyness – of action plans, performance goals, desired outcomes and results. Continue reading →

Creating Communities of Belonging: Re-imagining Leaders as Place-makers

Posted on by michael

If what a tree of a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

From the Poem Lost, David Wagoner

Think of a place where you experienced the greatest sense of aliveness, vitality and belonging ? How has this connection to a place inspired how you think of how you belong to your community now? Continue reading →

Where is Home? Leadership and the Soul of Placemaking

Posted on by michael

Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place. Your bright gaze will kindle this old shadow world to Blaze up once again with the fire of faith.

— Rumi, One Song

We are shifting from the industrial age and the age of information and technology to the biological age where we are asking how do we create spaces for life to happen and align our thinking with how nature thinks. In my new book The Soul of Place I explore how our relationship with place in nature, art and community deepens our connection with the core energetic patterns that form the undercurrents of life and living systems.

Continue reading →

Remembering Mariposa – Creating a Community Story of Place

Posted on by michael

In this blog post, I explore how one community is discovering its sense of place through re-imagining its own ‘mythic’ story. Through this story we are reminded that every place is both a journey – and a homecoming. This blog post has been co-authored with colleague Daphne Mainprize with whom I have had the pleasure to serve as co-chair on the Mariposa Roundtable which has been formed to explore our own community story of place. Continue reading →