Finding Beauty in Business

Finding Beauty in Business

May 15, 2025 | Leadership, Love, Strategy

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Recently, I have been thinking quite seriously about the concept of beauty as it relates to business. Can business be beautiful? Can beauty be found in business? 

These are not rhetorical questions; rather, they are doorways into new ways to reframe the very meaning of business. I suppose one way to look at business is that it is transactional, whereby a product or service is exchanged for money.

However, is money the only currency we have to exchange with others? Today, I had a meeting with an individual who is on the cusp of releasing to the public new ways to conceive leadership. She and her business partner describe their approach as ‘disruptive.’

I found this concept and the experience itself quite beautiful. Here I am, listening to someone share not just an idea, but a passion for life, the need for systemic change, and the promotion of equity. Such an exchange was sacred…and beautiful because we were not discussing business. We were exploring what it means to be human.

So what does it mean to be human? The answer to this question depends on the human, right? I mean, can my experience as a white man somehow provide adequate insight(s) into the experience(s) of Black women, for example?

No, my experience is not adequate. So how can I understand anything, or anyone, outside of myself? Perhaps one answer is to pay attention to the space(s) in which I find myself. These spaces are external (the environment) and internal (my assumptions and ideas regarding what I believe is real and/or true).

So what is real and/or true in business? This question is interesting, because prevailing Western thinking leads us to ideas related to ‘scale’ and ‘funnels,’ whereby exchanges of all manner and kind can be automated and facilitated by artificial intelligence to effect huge revenue gains.

When is enough enough? How much do we really need as human beings? Perhaps this question is flawed in that it presupposes that what is needed is somehow quantifiable. Are there edges to beauty, borders that can somehow contain it?

In business, or anything in life, borders are constructs that represent the edge(s) of our imagination instead of anything structural that exists ‘out there.’ Ultimately, business is an endeavor that captures the hopes, dreams, and desires of human beings—and such ‘things’ do not exist in specific spaces.

Rather, our hopes, dreams, desires, fears, and vulnerabilities diffuse out into every aspect of life—yours and mine. Conducting business, then, is an opportunity to hold space for these expressions—and that is beautiful.

Stepping Off the Train: Beyond Right and Wrong

Stepping Off the Train: Beyond Right and Wrong

Mar 28, 2025 | Leadership, Strategy, Truth

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In these divisive times, it feels somewhat comfortable to gravitate toward an existing train of thought. This train goes left, and this one right.

Invariably, some of us shout at those who ride what we may perceive as the “wrong” train. Who determines the ‘wrongness’ of a particular train of thought? Who determines if it is “right?” Are not concepts of wrong or right arbitrary at best, catastrophic and limiting at worst?

Recently, I came across a passage in Meeting Life by Krishnamurti. In it, he suggests that to be “ really revolutionary” means “non-acceptance of any pattern set by oneself or another, no sense of conformity, nor accepting any sort of authority, which means freedom from fear” (1991, p. 118).

Out of this freedom, we can “live a totally different kind of life” (p. 118-119). This is not a life established by those who have come before us nor a life experienced in the abstract.

No, life is not an abstraction nor can its meaning be captured in “brilliant articles” by “clever men” (p. 124). So what is life about?

Krishnamurti says it is about love, but do any of us see this love today? We do not love. “We have become brutal, callous, indifferent, ruthless. Without love you can solve nothing” (p. 125).

Krishnamurti uttered these words more than 50 years ago, yet their relevance to today cannot be overstated. Why don’t we love? This is the question.

Why don’t we love sunsets and shooting stars? Why don’t we love each other, especially the ones who grace our lives with their presence?

It is remarkably easy to allow oneself to drift into what is known. When something is known, something is lost.

Perhaps freedom from the known means rediscovering the mystery and the mysteries present in the experience of everyday life. A bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins. A piece of homemade bread with melted butter and orange marmalade. A single solitary butterfly wafting through the air on a Saturday morning in June just before 9 AM.

I also love trains, regardless of the direction they may travel, because ultimately they all return to the same station. Who runs this station?

Perhaps, this station is not a station at all. Perhaps, it is simply an open space, boundless, without tracks or timetables, through which we pass.

What if the real journey is not about choosing the right train but stepping off entirely? What if love is not found in the direction we take, but in the stillness between arrivals and departures?

Perhaps freedom is not about the next destination but rather about looking very deeply—past the station lights, past the timetables, past the tracks—into the infinite self.

Why Care?

Why Care?

Feb 22, 2025 | Leadership, Love, Strategy

In this fractured world, why care? What is the point of caring in a world where humans cannot accept themselves, much less anything–or anyone–else?

We live in a world in crisis, and this crisis does not just refer to climate woes or social inequity. Rather, we live in a crisis of home, a crisis of the soul where people are encouraged to define their lives by the extent to which they achieve their individual dreams. The earth is merely a backdrop to a larger story in which humans are somehow architects of a brand-new future. Whose future and for whom?

It is often said that the children are the future. How is that possible? Is not the future contingent on today? As a species, all humans can do is live in the here and now because that is all that has ever existed.

The future is a mirage, a carrot dangling before us, and it is always just out of…………reach. Why care………….about now? Now is the only quantifiable experiential space that exists, and yet the space of now is invisible. Where does it begin? When does it end? How was it created?

Why Care Infographic

While they appear abstract, these questions serve as the ethic upon which EcoDialogues rests. How can existential questions add practical value? Because the internal and external spaces of our lives have been co-created by a constellation of cosmic and everyday forces that stretch across billions of years.

Why care…………about now? Because now is all that has ever existed. It is always now, and yet there is no clear demarcation between past and future, which highlights the importance of accountability. We are all responsible for now, which is a shared space divided by perspective and experience.

Why care…………at all? Because everyone, every animal, every tree, every leaf, every molecule, everything everywhere in every place in every space has value, even if now presents us with challenges that threaten to break us individually and collectively.

Why care…………about everything? It is not clear where you or I begin or end, nor is it clear how the past affects our present. In a world intent on encouraging us to judge, critique, and dissect our differences (of perspective and experience), perhaps the most radical action to which we can commit ourselves rests in our ability to embrace our shared internal and external spaces.

These are complicated spaces that stretch back into a past that is full of bloodshed, colonization, and brutality. These are spaces not bound by time or circumstance. Rather, we carry our collective history on our backs and in our very bones. For some, this history is not a theoretical construct but a lived reality that can only be explored in dialogue.

How can we explore difficult spaces? Well, I do not think binary thinking gets us anywhere. Where are we going as a society when we are presented with ‘this’ or ‘that’ solutions to complex inequities that invite exploration instead of clenched fists and closed hearts?

Why care…………about other perspectives that diverge from our own? Because caring and compassion are not feelings that must be experienced (or shared) in a particular direction, nor are they necessarily bound by the cultural constraints of time. Rather, if we can conceptualize care and compassion as spaces, it invites open-ended explorations of our (and others’) perspectives and gentle humility.

What do we explore? If care and compassion can be reimagined as space rather than a skill or resource, we might discover it is endless. I have never seen space of any kind, but I have experienced it. Does space not exist?

While it may seem that none of us have the time to care or extend compassion to anyone, especially those we perceive as ‘wrong,’ perhaps we can find the space. I believe that if we can find the space (within ourselves) to care, then we can make the time.

Why care? Because spaces of care are as beautiful as they are difficult to find, especially as we age and discover that we are vulnerable in every possible way. Our vulnerabilities are what we share as humans–and regardless of color or creed, care is crucial because life’s meaning is not singular, nor can it be defined through theory.

Why care? Because life’s meaning is derived through experience, and every experience and every ‘thing’ matters…

Gratitude for the Unknown

Gratitude for the Unknown

Feb 10, 2025 | Spoken Poetry

Gratitude for the Unknown

by Robert Levey

There is beauty in the unknown,
unknown in the beauty
of the unknown
is the beauty
of the unknown,
which is beautiful
on an unknown sphere,
so dear,
here
in the unknown
beauty
of the unknown
is the beauty
that rests,
waxes
and wanes
and seeks not to interpret
nor explain
the beauty
of the unknown
beauty
within the unknown
that hurtles
through internal and external space
in the tears
and the lines on the face
that grows old
within the beauty of the unknown
is the beauty
and the softness
that yields
and flows past childhood
and the memories
we lose
so we may gain
the wisdom
of what we cannot know,
or explain,
because
beauty is not an experience
that resides in the brain,
but in the spaces
within which we move
in bodies,
on bodies
spinning through outer spaces
and nebulae and black holes
and foundations
floating through time
and rhymes
about the beauty in the unknown,
the unknown in the beauty,
and how two is three
because space
has presence,
character
and grace
within every fold
and untold beauty
and a secret
tucked inside the unknown
times
of space,
elegance and pace,
the dance inside the space
of the unknown beauty
is a place
plus one
and two
is space
in the dance
of happenstance
and chance
is the beauty
of the unknown
in the spaces
of space,
past the beauty
beneath the place
inside the heart
of every body
is shared space.

Better Governance For Nonprofits: Leadership That Works

Better Governance For Nonprofits: Leadership That Works

Dec 1, 2024 | Leadership, Transformation

In the nonprofit world, governance often clings to outdated, top-down leadership models, emphasizing hierarchy, control, and directive authority. These approaches may have served organizations in the past, but they are increasingly inadequate in addressing today’s complex challenges.

Nonprofits operate in a world of interconnected systems, shifting cultural values, and growing demands for equity, collaboration, and innovation. Many boards and leaders, however, remain entrenched in traditional leadership concepts, failing to adapt to the participatory and relational approaches that modern times demand.

The Need for Transformative Leadership
At the heart of this issue lies a fundamental misunderstanding of leadership. Too often, leadership is viewed as a static quality embodied by a select few rather than a dynamic, relational process that involves all system members.

Scholars like Peter Senge (1990), however, argue that leadership is about building systems and fostering organizational learning to respond effectively to complexity. This approach contrasts with traditional, top-down models of leadership that emphasize individual authority. Transformative leadership offers a much-needed alternative to outdated models because it shifts the focus from individual authority to collective participation, creating a context where all voices are valued, relationships are nurtured, and creativity thrives.

Transformative leaders understand that effective governance is not about exerting control but fostering collaboration. They embrace the idea that leadership is not a one-way street but a mutual process where leaders and followers engage in a shared journey. James MacGregor Burns (1978) introduced the idea of transformational leadership as a mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders. Building on this notion, transformative leadership emphasizes mutual growth and the creation of generative contexts where all members of an organization contribute meaningfully.

This shift is essential for nonprofits. While hierarchical structures might offer a sense of order, they often stifle creativity, marginalize diverse perspectives, and fail to address systemic issues. Research by scholars such as Margaret Wheatley (1992) highlights the limitations of control-based systems and the power of collaborative, adaptive approaches.

However, resistance to change persists. Boards and executive teams often cling to hierarchical models out of habit or fear of losing control. This mindset is counterproductive, as traditional governance frameworks may provide a veneer of stability, but they are ill-suited to the interconnected and unpredictable challenges nonprofits face today.

Reimagining Nonprofit Governance
To overcome these limitations, nonprofits can reimagine governance through the lens of transformative leadership. Leaders must engage in self-inquiry—a practice emphasized by thinkers like Parker Palmer in The Courage to Lead (1998)—to reflect on their assumptions about power, identity, and relationships. Boards, too, must evolve, shifting from oversight and gatekeeping to active partnerships with staff and stakeholders.

Transformative leadership is not just a theoretical ideal but a practical necessity. As Otto Scharmer argues (2007), effective leadership requires letting go of old patterns and embracing the co-creative potential of the present moment. Nonprofits that adopt this approach can move beyond the inadequacies of top-down governance and become true agents of systemic change.

The question is not whether transformative leadership is needed in nonprofit governance—rather, it is why we still cling to outdated models. By embracing participatory and relational leadership, nonprofits can align with the complexities of the world they seek to change, fostering equitable, sustainable, and impactful futures.

The time for transformative leadership is now. Are we ready to answer the call?

References

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.

Palmer, P. J. (1998). The Courage to Lead: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Leader’s Life. Jossey-Bass.

Scharmer, O. (2007). Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline : the art and practice of the learning organization. New York :Doubleday/Currency,

Wheatley, M. (1992). Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.