June 6, 2000
Newsbriefs:
Profits Mix with Prophets on the Web
The June 13 issue of Business 2.0 magazine features THREE articles on what many would call the “softer” issues of business – one on trust in the workplace, another Zen-like piece on using the Web to access meaning and happiness, and a third article on spirituality on the Web.
Ray Called “The Most Creative Man in Silicon Valley”
Michael Ray was featured as the “Most Creative Guy in Silicon Valley” in the May 16 issue of Fast Company magazine; the story acknowledges the incredible contribution Michael has made as a faculty member of the Stanford Business School. Ray, now a Stanford Professor Emeritus, co-authored Creativity Business and co-edited The New Entrepreneurs anthology with John in 1995. Go to Fast Company.
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AHA! FEATURE:
Liking the Poetry vs Living the Poem
by John Renesch
The other day, I received a review copy of a new book on leadership from a major publisher. I had an immediate reaction to this book, which will probably do quite well in the business marketplace. As I looked it over, I felt I was holding an “antique” — a collection of outmoded ideas which have been stated over and over again for the past dozen or so years.
We all know plenty about what kind of leadership is needed and the type of individual who is being called for by the challenges of these times. Dozens of books have been written about it, including a few of mine. Why then, do we continue to consume and digest text that discloses yet another technique, or the “ten ways to”, or “how to see if you are…” or all the rest of the rubbish that ambitious consultants and profit-focused publishers continue to promote to the business community?
This is akin to enjoying the poetry without any possibility of it becoming real. It remains a fantasy, which keeps it at a distance. This refusal to “live the poem” may go far beyond the global business community. It is probably rooted in our westernized society, perhaps even our entire species as it wrestles with the challenges of the next step in our evolution.
These times call for a kind of leadership never before required of human beings! All the old cliches are useless. In fact, most of the present criteria for leadership are more than outdated — they are outright dangerous if humanity is going to successfully transition to a new planetary consciousness. Now, what kind of leadership do we really need?
Leaders of the future are men and women who are keenly aware of the larger context of things. They are not merely focused on the content or the form of things — like technique, procedure, methodology, shape, form or application. These mostly fall into the physical or material plane of reality. These new leaders appreciate the value of the non-physical and non-material aspects of reality, heretofor unexplored for most business people. These folks recognize the value of context — source, intention, integrity, vision, values, and the larger purpose of things
These are the things that mystics talk and write about. Able to appreciate context, these leaders are also sensitive beyond what they see and hear. They have a keen sixth sense that allows them to discern beyond the physical senses. They can pick up on “texture of the space”, like knowing something or someone isn’t right without any rational reason. In this way, they are irrational. They are deeply intuitive and can instantly pick up when the texture changes, like a dog behaves just before an earthquake.
These leaders possess a strong knowing that goes beyond mental capacity; this knowing relies on their deep sense of interconnection with others, an appreciation for what philosopher Martin Buber called the “between”.
Sound crazy and off-the-edge? If it does, you might look at you own attachment to the status quo and your own appetite for rehashed drivel from the latest leadership guru wanting to build a reputation by identifying the five key qualities, the six ways to lead, etc. We all have attachments to the way things are you know. It shows up differently in each of us, but we all resist change somehow. That’s what makes real transformation so damn difficult.
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John to Address Net Impact Interns:
Net Impact, the 5,000 member organization formerly known as Students for Responsible Business, is hosting its first Internship Conference, having placed several dozen members in intern positions. John will be presenting one of two keynotes to the interns on Friday, June 9, at the University of San Francisco. The other keynote will be delivered by Bob Dunne, former Levi executive and President of Business for Social Responsibility.
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Get an Autographed Copy of John’s New Book
JUST OUT!!!!
“Getting to the Better Future: A Matter of Conscious Choosing”
by John E. Renesch
from New Business Books of San Francisco…
Foreword by Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
Rave reviews by Warren Bennis, Neale Donald Walsch, Peter Russell, Sally Helgesen, Michael Ray and others…..
For preview, go to Getting to the Better Future
FOR AUTOGRAPHED COPIES, BUY DIRECT……
Credit card orders: call TOLL FREE 877-273-6372 or 415-437-6974.
Single copies: $13.50 (plus $3.75 S&H); CA residents add 8 1/2% sales tax.
20% discount for orders of five or more copies.
Also, available from Amazon & Barnes & Noble
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eCHOICE: The E-Newsletter for the Introspective Leader
John’s new monthly E-newsletter eCHOICE contains provocative articles, resources, and network contacts for subscribers who are interested in making meaningful change happen in the business or organizational world.
Recent guest editorials include mystic Rob Rabbin and California Senator John Vasconcellos. Next month’s guest editorial will be by Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
eCHOICE subscribers may find it as “inciteful” as they do “insightful.”
eCHOICE is SENT DIRECTLY FROM JOHN, not through the automatic system of his Web site – Renesch.com – like issues of Aha! Subscribers receive eCHOICE in two formats – as text in the body of the email AND in MS Word as an attached file so more attractive copies can be archived by subscribers.
To SUBSCRIBE to eCHOICE:
US$43/two-years ($1.79/issue); US$24/one-year ($2.00/issue):
Visa & Mastercard credit card orders: TOLL FREE: 877-2-RENESCH; fax 415-474-7202 with card number,expiration date, and “snail mail” address complete with mail code; mail checks (payable to “John Renesch”) to P.O. Box 472379, San Francisco, CA 94147-2379 USA.
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About John Renesch
Aha! is prepared monthly by John E. Renesch, a San Francisco writer, futurist, and business philosopher. His new book – Getting to the Better Future: A Matter of Conscious Choosing – is just out. You can preview it at his Web site: www.Renesch.com/TheBetterFuture. To order the book or to contact John call TOLL FREE 877-2-RENESCH (see details above).