Social and Ecological Intelligence

Read Are You a Socially Intelligent Leader? for a succinct overview of the importance of social Intelligence.  For more read Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatz in the September 2008 Harvard Business Review.   Visit http://www.morethansound.net./ for more from Daniel Goleman and other leaders in emerging fields that are crucial to our time about ideas that deepen our understanding of the human experience.  You can also watch Daniel Golemen discuss his book “Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships” as a part of the Authors@Google series.   

Daniel Goleman’s newest work Ecological Intelligence may seem a bit of a divergence, but it is certainly relative and critical to ours and our world’s future.  It  ”reveals the hidden environmental consequences of what we make and buy, and shows how new market forces can drive the essential changes we all must make to save our planet.”  Read exerpt from the book.  Also, find out why Time Magazine listed it as one of ’10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now’ .

the brain, leadership and change

If you want leading edge research and implications about how the brain works, check out the offical site for the emerging NeuroLeadership field, The Global Neuroleadership Summit .   What is Neuro Leadership you ask?   It is a new field of study fo­­cused on bringing neuroscientific knowledge into the area of leadership development, management training, education, consulting and coaching.  David Rock, author of Quiet Leadership , Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work and Founder/CEO of Results Coaching Systems, is one of the key people leading the charge to marketing and promoting Neuroleadership worldwide.  Good on ya David! 

Hear interview with David Rock on NeuroLeadership and the Global NeuroLeadership Summits. Learn how to apply the latest in neuroscience to the art of coaching and leadership Brain-Based Coaching and Leadership.  Listen to why change is so hard from a physical perspective from the teleseminar Insights about the brain that change everything.   Learn about companies that brought in and built a coaching culture report significantly reduced staff turnover, increased productivity, greater happiness and satisfaction at work.

And just to keep things a little in balance, here is a healthy dose of skepticism on the value of Neuroleadership….Is Neuroleadership More Than Reinventing Wheels?

Transitions

Transition is defined as a process or period in which something undergoes a change and passes from one state, stage, form, or activity to another.  Reflecting on the 15 months I spent working at PULSE Institute prompts a myriad of thoughts and feelings.  Like the PULSE frame that is the core of the company’s programs and work, my thoughts span the different time zones of the past, present and future.   I appreciate the opportunities, learnings and experiences it provided me.  It represented the chance to grow as a person on all levels – mind, body, emotion and spirit – in additon to meet and spend time with many amazing people.

What I know for sure is PULSE is a reflection of Nancy Love - her openness, intellect, creativity and gifted ability for making the complex simple and enabling others.  I learned so much about myself and the business of human development.    It afforded me the opportunity to to act upon my knowledge and thinking, thereby building and more fully integrating reflective-action capabilities.   During and after, the journey uncovered past events, provoking learning about what is important to me in the present.  These lessons form the basis of my criteria for being committed to do what it takes to get what I want in my life.   

Overall, my time with PULSE and the transition away from it mirrors the many dichotomies faced in life.   The dreams versus reality; hopes and fears, uplifting successses and painful disappointments.   Regardless, the experience stretched and taught me valuable lessons in preparation for what’s next.   The courage and confidence to take the leap of faith to transition onto a new path.  One enriched with new discoveries, learnings and contributions to others in whatever feasible and doable way can.   With me I have new knowledge, skills and tools for gentle, honest, open, specific talk in the art and science of conversation.   Change the words, change the world.

  Terry Tudor said this on May 30, 2008 at 5:04 pm

Freedom Age

Today a friend sent me one of those inspirational type emails that flood our inbox.   You know, the ones that remind us about what is important in life – love, laughter, friendship, appreciation, and such…   

There are a lot of them and sometimes I find myself weary of the same old message.  Especially those ones that at the end say I better send to X number of people or else….?  What is that about anyway…seems a bit contradictory and hypocritical, don’t ya think. 

 Ooops, I digress…  

Anyway, even though I get a bunch of these, I do usually end up opening and reading them.  Why?  Because I am curious.  And because sometimes the message is just what I need to hear at that specific moment. 

Today, it was a message I needed to hear.  It was on the subject of aging.  Oh yea – that… the subject most of us avoid like the plague.   Well as it happens, I have recently been contemplating this matter as I imagine we all do from time to time.  Particularly as we come to those major marks of time passing.  Perhaps this was what is going on for me as I am in the final year of another decade of life where the next one is a very significant milestone.    And no I am not saying which one.  Anyway,  I found it to be quite wise and therefore am posting it to not only share with others, but for me to review when I need to.  Enjoy!

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don’t agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more kind to myself, and I am less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend.

I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn’t need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70′s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love … I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody’s beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning grey, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

May your friendships never come apart especially whit’s straight from the heart!. May you always have a rainbow of smiles on your face and in your heart forever!