Beliefs & Values
Love
Why Care?
In a fractured world, why care? This file explores the existential and practical value of compassion, connection, and shared human experience.
Gratitude for the Unknown
A meditation on presence, memory, and mystery—where beauty lives not in knowing, but in yielding to the sacred space of the unknown.
Better Governance For Nonprofits
Explore how transformative leadership redefines nonprofit governance, fostering collaboration, innovation, and systemic change for greater impact.
Unstorying the Self
Discover the journey of unstorying the self, exploring how personal narratives shape our identity and the ethical responsibility we hold to others, nature, and the world.
Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception
Marketing is deeply intertwined with our worldview because it shapes and reflects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part III)
To some extent, the hero’s journey reflects and perpetuates a colonizer mindset, leading to the subjugation of entire cultures.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part II)
Technology, profit, productivity—these are hallmarks of what is often construed as progress within the Western worldview? Progress for whom?
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part I)
Floods, wildfires, drought, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, pollution, mass riots, war—this is the world right now in active ecological crisis.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part II)
Strategic plans are particularly excellent examples of a process with questionable results, especially if stakeholder collaboration is desired.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part I)
In various fields (counseling, education, business, and leadership, etc.), transformation and change are often framed as part of a metaphorical hero’s journey.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part III)
If we think in silos, we bring ourselves deeper inside single systems.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part II)
What does social purpose mean in the context of my life? How do I apply my belief in a social purpose? How I answer these questions may provide insight into the extent to which I have retained my systemic sensibility.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part I)
Is the past really past, and is the future somewhere ahead of us? The realization that past trauma, for instance, has a direct bearing on our mental health lends credence to the notion that yesterday is alive, a consideration that leads to a cybernetic complementarity that the future is equally real today. Can we hold two seemingly disparate ideas?
Wading at the Edges
All my life, I have essentially waded at the edges of the proverbial pools of life–a condition that does not lend itself to transformation, an idea I recently gleaned from Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Development In Nonprofits
Effective development requires a substantial amount of input from different kinds of ‘players’ throughout an organization.
Self-Reflection in Marketing
Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.
Best Practices in Organizations
Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.
Great Pains
A poetic farewell to fractured selves and old myths—where love defies form, memory bends time, and the soul sways like grass in life’s vast, unanswered field.
Small Hands
A surrender to softness and flow—where logic fades, the river speaks, and the heart remembers what the mind cannot hold: that we belong to earth, and to love.
I is Me
A reflection on fear, selfhood, and myth—where the lone hero dissolves, and healing begins in the embrace of the whole, not the chase of the broken self.
Stepping Outside The Shadows Of Myself
Those two boys to my left are my sons when they were much younger and I subscribed to a much different paradigm of life, so different in fact that what I am about to write would have been unthinkable when this photo was taken.
Melody of Self
A meditation on connection and self—where beauty lives in shared feeling, and the song of the self becomes most real when sung in someone else’s embrace.
Chronicle of Dreaming Man
Every morning,
he would row his boat
gently down the stream,
merrily,
thinking life is but a dream.
He was not concerned with how things worked,
but rather how they seem
inside his often broken heart,
Running To Love
Yesterday, I was on a run near a river and actively pondering the experience of love when I had a profound realization about myself that I think is relevant for others. All my life, love has been an experience for me that has felt so utterly massive, so real, that I have run from it. I went out on my run yesterday with the intent to explore why this is the case, and I unexpectedly ran into an answer.
In Plain Sight
As
I lay hiding,
confiding
to no one
and no thing,
the remnants of past selves
bring
me pain
inside the heart
I pretend is my brain
is a boy,
so scared
to share himself
with a world
What is Love?
Exploring the complexities of love, this file questions if love is a feeling, an action, or something deeper.
Soft Feelings
Soft feelings are hard to let go,
especially when they bleed
into dreams
and streams
of consciousness
that meander and flow
into places I do not understand
or know.
Broken people made whole
inside the hole
within the sphere of the heart
of the soul
and liquid dreams,
Motivation
We have all heard it. “If I were you, I would…” Is such a statement meant to motivate, or is it instead a strategy by which we assert our position in life? Is it motivation at all?
Objectives
Interpretation, though, can be dangerous, in business. Isn't this why managers seek to control the variables in any equation? Without measurable objectives, our staff may end up achieving any number...
Love(s)
This post explores the nature of love—its cultural roots, changing forms, and complexities.
Perspective
If we are to understand an organization, we must ask certain questions first, right?
What are your job descriptions? What is your employee retention rate? Do you offer benefits? Are you profitable? What is your mission?
Decisions
In an office, who makes the decisions? Is it the manager? Supervisor? General staff? Do these questions matter? Absolutely, because how this question is answered reveals much about how an individual views reality itself.
The Truth
The truth. It is a fascinating concept and one that supports how many of us go through our everyday lives. There is some sort of ‘truth’ that supports our cultural values, approach to life, or how we build our business(es).
Selfies
There is something unnerving about our reliance on presenting ourselves to “the world” through the use of ‘selfies.’ It is as if our ability to capture an image of ourselves with the use of a phone’s camera indicates something about our inherent power.
Millennials
Why Care?
In a fractured world, why care? This file explores the existential and practical value of compassion, connection, and shared human experience.
Gratitude for the Unknown
A meditation on presence, memory, and mystery—where beauty lives not in knowing, but in yielding to the sacred space of the unknown.
Better Governance For Nonprofits
Explore how transformative leadership redefines nonprofit governance, fostering collaboration, innovation, and systemic change for greater impact.
Unstorying the Self
Discover the journey of unstorying the self, exploring how personal narratives shape our identity and the ethical responsibility we hold to others, nature, and the world.
Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception
Marketing is deeply intertwined with our worldview because it shapes and reflects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part III)
To some extent, the hero’s journey reflects and perpetuates a colonizer mindset, leading to the subjugation of entire cultures.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part II)
Technology, profit, productivity—these are hallmarks of what is often construed as progress within the Western worldview? Progress for whom?
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part I)
Floods, wildfires, drought, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, pollution, mass riots, war—this is the world right now in active ecological crisis.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part II)
Strategic plans are particularly excellent examples of a process with questionable results, especially if stakeholder collaboration is desired.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part I)
In various fields (counseling, education, business, and leadership, etc.), transformation and change are often framed as part of a metaphorical hero’s journey.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part III)
If we think in silos, we bring ourselves deeper inside single systems.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part II)
What does social purpose mean in the context of my life? How do I apply my belief in a social purpose? How I answer these questions may provide insight into the extent to which I have retained my systemic sensibility.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part I)
Is the past really past, and is the future somewhere ahead of us? The realization that past trauma, for instance, has a direct bearing on our mental health lends credence to the notion that yesterday is alive, a consideration that leads to a cybernetic complementarity that the future is equally real today. Can we hold two seemingly disparate ideas?
Wading at the Edges
All my life, I have essentially waded at the edges of the proverbial pools of life–a condition that does not lend itself to transformation, an idea I recently gleaned from Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Development In Nonprofits
Effective development requires a substantial amount of input from different kinds of ‘players’ throughout an organization.
Self-Reflection in Marketing
Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.
Best Practices in Organizations
Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.
Great Pains
A poetic farewell to fractured selves and old myths—where love defies form, memory bends time, and the soul sways like grass in life’s vast, unanswered field.
Small Hands
A surrender to softness and flow—where logic fades, the river speaks, and the heart remembers what the mind cannot hold: that we belong to earth, and to love.
I is Me
A reflection on fear, selfhood, and myth—where the lone hero dissolves, and healing begins in the embrace of the whole, not the chase of the broken self.
Stepping Outside The Shadows Of Myself
Those two boys to my left are my sons when they were much younger and I subscribed to a much different paradigm of life, so different in fact that what I am about to write would have been unthinkable when this photo was taken.
Melody of Self
A meditation on connection and self—where beauty lives in shared feeling, and the song of the self becomes most real when sung in someone else’s embrace.
Chronicle of Dreaming Man
Every morning,
he would row his boat
gently down the stream,
merrily,
thinking life is but a dream.
He was not concerned with how things worked,
but rather how they seem
inside his often broken heart,
Running To Love
Yesterday, I was on a run near a river and actively pondering the experience of love when I had a profound realization about myself that I think is relevant for others. All my life, love has been an experience for me that has felt so utterly massive, so real, that I have run from it. I went out on my run yesterday with the intent to explore why this is the case, and I unexpectedly ran into an answer.
In Plain Sight
As
I lay hiding,
confiding
to no one
and no thing,
the remnants of past selves
bring
me pain
inside the heart
I pretend is my brain
is a boy,
so scared
to share himself
with a world
What is Love?
Exploring the complexities of love, this file questions if love is a feeling, an action, or something deeper.
Soft Feelings
Soft feelings are hard to let go,
especially when they bleed
into dreams
and streams
of consciousness
that meander and flow
into places I do not understand
or know.
Broken people made whole
inside the hole
within the sphere of the heart
of the soul
and liquid dreams,
Motivation
We have all heard it. “If I were you, I would…” Is such a statement meant to motivate, or is it instead a strategy by which we assert our position in life? Is it motivation at all?
Objectives
Interpretation, though, can be dangerous, in business. Isn't this why managers seek to control the variables in any equation? Without measurable objectives, our staff may end up achieving any number...
Love(s)
This post explores the nature of love—its cultural roots, changing forms, and complexities.
Perspective
If we are to understand an organization, we must ask certain questions first, right?
What are your job descriptions? What is your employee retention rate? Do you offer benefits? Are you profitable? What is your mission?
Decisions
In an office, who makes the decisions? Is it the manager? Supervisor? General staff? Do these questions matter? Absolutely, because how this question is answered reveals much about how an individual views reality itself.
The Truth
The truth. It is a fascinating concept and one that supports how many of us go through our everyday lives. There is some sort of ‘truth’ that supports our cultural values, approach to life, or how we build our business(es).
Selfies
There is something unnerving about our reliance on presenting ourselves to “the world” through the use of ‘selfies.’ It is as if our ability to capture an image of ourselves with the use of a phone’s camera indicates something about our inherent power.
Power
Why Care?
In a fractured world, why care? This file explores the existential and practical value of compassion, connection, and shared human experience.
Gratitude for the Unknown
A meditation on presence, memory, and mystery—where beauty lives not in knowing, but in yielding to the sacred space of the unknown.
Better Governance For Nonprofits
Explore how transformative leadership redefines nonprofit governance, fostering collaboration, innovation, and systemic change for greater impact.
Unstorying the Self
Discover the journey of unstorying the self, exploring how personal narratives shape our identity and the ethical responsibility we hold to others, nature, and the world.
Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception
Marketing is deeply intertwined with our worldview because it shapes and reflects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part III)
To some extent, the hero’s journey reflects and perpetuates a colonizer mindset, leading to the subjugation of entire cultures.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part II)
Technology, profit, productivity—these are hallmarks of what is often construed as progress within the Western worldview? Progress for whom?
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part I)
Floods, wildfires, drought, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, pollution, mass riots, war—this is the world right now in active ecological crisis.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part II)
Strategic plans are particularly excellent examples of a process with questionable results, especially if stakeholder collaboration is desired.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part I)
In various fields (counseling, education, business, and leadership, etc.), transformation and change are often framed as part of a metaphorical hero’s journey.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part III)
If we think in silos, we bring ourselves deeper inside single systems.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part II)
What does social purpose mean in the context of my life? How do I apply my belief in a social purpose? How I answer these questions may provide insight into the extent to which I have retained my systemic sensibility.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part I)
Is the past really past, and is the future somewhere ahead of us? The realization that past trauma, for instance, has a direct bearing on our mental health lends credence to the notion that yesterday is alive, a consideration that leads to a cybernetic complementarity that the future is equally real today. Can we hold two seemingly disparate ideas?
Wading at the Edges
All my life, I have essentially waded at the edges of the proverbial pools of life–a condition that does not lend itself to transformation, an idea I recently gleaned from Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Development In Nonprofits
Effective development requires a substantial amount of input from different kinds of ‘players’ throughout an organization.
Self-Reflection in Marketing
Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.
Best Practices in Organizations
Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.
Great Pains
A poetic farewell to fractured selves and old myths—where love defies form, memory bends time, and the soul sways like grass in life’s vast, unanswered field.
Small Hands
A surrender to softness and flow—where logic fades, the river speaks, and the heart remembers what the mind cannot hold: that we belong to earth, and to love.
I is Me
A reflection on fear, selfhood, and myth—where the lone hero dissolves, and healing begins in the embrace of the whole, not the chase of the broken self.
Stepping Outside The Shadows Of Myself
Those two boys to my left are my sons when they were much younger and I subscribed to a much different paradigm of life, so different in fact that what I am about to write would have been unthinkable when this photo was taken.
Melody of Self
A meditation on connection and self—where beauty lives in shared feeling, and the song of the self becomes most real when sung in someone else’s embrace.
Chronicle of Dreaming Man
Every morning,
he would row his boat
gently down the stream,
merrily,
thinking life is but a dream.
He was not concerned with how things worked,
but rather how they seem
inside his often broken heart,
Running To Love
Yesterday, I was on a run near a river and actively pondering the experience of love when I had a profound realization about myself that I think is relevant for others. All my life, love has been an experience for me that has felt so utterly massive, so real, that I have run from it. I went out on my run yesterday with the intent to explore why this is the case, and I unexpectedly ran into an answer.
In Plain Sight
As
I lay hiding,
confiding
to no one
and no thing,
the remnants of past selves
bring
me pain
inside the heart
I pretend is my brain
is a boy,
so scared
to share himself
with a world
What is Love?
Exploring the complexities of love, this file questions if love is a feeling, an action, or something deeper.
Soft Feelings
Soft feelings are hard to let go,
especially when they bleed
into dreams
and streams
of consciousness
that meander and flow
into places I do not understand
or know.
Broken people made whole
inside the hole
within the sphere of the heart
of the soul
and liquid dreams,
Motivation
We have all heard it. “If I were you, I would…” Is such a statement meant to motivate, or is it instead a strategy by which we assert our position in life? Is it motivation at all?
Objectives
Interpretation, though, can be dangerous, in business. Isn't this why managers seek to control the variables in any equation? Without measurable objectives, our staff may end up achieving any number...
Love(s)
This post explores the nature of love—its cultural roots, changing forms, and complexities.
Perspective
If we are to understand an organization, we must ask certain questions first, right?
What are your job descriptions? What is your employee retention rate? Do you offer benefits? Are you profitable? What is your mission?
Decisions
In an office, who makes the decisions? Is it the manager? Supervisor? General staff? Do these questions matter? Absolutely, because how this question is answered reveals much about how an individual views reality itself.
The Truth
The truth. It is a fascinating concept and one that supports how many of us go through our everyday lives. There is some sort of ‘truth’ that supports our cultural values, approach to life, or how we build our business(es).
Selfies
There is something unnerving about our reliance on presenting ourselves to “the world” through the use of ‘selfies.’ It is as if our ability to capture an image of ourselves with the use of a phone’s camera indicates something about our inherent power.
Why Care?
In a fractured world, why care? This file explores the existential and practical value of compassion, connection, and shared human experience.
Gratitude for the Unknown
A meditation on presence, memory, and mystery—where beauty lives not in knowing, but in yielding to the sacred space of the unknown.
Better Governance For Nonprofits
Explore how transformative leadership redefines nonprofit governance, fostering collaboration, innovation, and systemic change for greater impact.
Unstorying the Self
Discover the journey of unstorying the self, exploring how personal narratives shape our identity and the ethical responsibility we hold to others, nature, and the world.
Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception
Marketing is deeply intertwined with our worldview because it shapes and reflects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part III)
To some extent, the hero’s journey reflects and perpetuates a colonizer mindset, leading to the subjugation of entire cultures.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part II)
Technology, profit, productivity—these are hallmarks of what is often construed as progress within the Western worldview? Progress for whom?
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part I)
Floods, wildfires, drought, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, pollution, mass riots, war—this is the world right now in active ecological crisis.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part II)
Strategic plans are particularly excellent examples of a process with questionable results, especially if stakeholder collaboration is desired.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part I)
In various fields (counseling, education, business, and leadership, etc.), transformation and change are often framed as part of a metaphorical hero’s journey.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part III)
If we think in silos, we bring ourselves deeper inside single systems.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part II)
What does social purpose mean in the context of my life? How do I apply my belief in a social purpose? How I answer these questions may provide insight into the extent to which I have retained my systemic sensibility.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part I)
Is the past really past, and is the future somewhere ahead of us? The realization that past trauma, for instance, has a direct bearing on our mental health lends credence to the notion that yesterday is alive, a consideration that leads to a cybernetic complementarity that the future is equally real today. Can we hold two seemingly disparate ideas?
Wading at the Edges
All my life, I have essentially waded at the edges of the proverbial pools of life–a condition that does not lend itself to transformation, an idea I recently gleaned from Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Development In Nonprofits
Effective development requires a substantial amount of input from different kinds of ‘players’ throughout an organization.
Self-Reflection in Marketing
Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.
Best Practices in Organizations
Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.
Great Pains
A poetic farewell to fractured selves and old myths—where love defies form, memory bends time, and the soul sways like grass in life’s vast, unanswered field.
Small Hands
A surrender to softness and flow—where logic fades, the river speaks, and the heart remembers what the mind cannot hold: that we belong to earth, and to love.
I is Me
A reflection on fear, selfhood, and myth—where the lone hero dissolves, and healing begins in the embrace of the whole, not the chase of the broken self.
Stepping Outside The Shadows Of Myself
Those two boys to my left are my sons when they were much younger and I subscribed to a much different paradigm of life, so different in fact that what I am about to write would have been unthinkable when this photo was taken.
Melody of Self
A meditation on connection and self—where beauty lives in shared feeling, and the song of the self becomes most real when sung in someone else’s embrace.
Chronicle of Dreaming Man
Every morning,
he would row his boat
gently down the stream,
merrily,
thinking life is but a dream.
He was not concerned with how things worked,
but rather how they seem
inside his often broken heart,
Running To Love
Yesterday, I was on a run near a river and actively pondering the experience of love when I had a profound realization about myself that I think is relevant for others. All my life, love has been an experience for me that has felt so utterly massive, so real, that I have run from it. I went out on my run yesterday with the intent to explore why this is the case, and I unexpectedly ran into an answer.
In Plain Sight
As
I lay hiding,
confiding
to no one
and no thing,
the remnants of past selves
bring
me pain
inside the heart
I pretend is my brain
is a boy,
so scared
to share himself
with a world
What is Love?
Exploring the complexities of love, this file questions if love is a feeling, an action, or something deeper.
Soft Feelings
Soft feelings are hard to let go,
especially when they bleed
into dreams
and streams
of consciousness
that meander and flow
into places I do not understand
or know.
Broken people made whole
inside the hole
within the sphere of the heart
of the soul
and liquid dreams,
Motivation
We have all heard it. “If I were you, I would…” Is such a statement meant to motivate, or is it instead a strategy by which we assert our position in life? Is it motivation at all?
Objectives
Interpretation, though, can be dangerous, in business. Isn't this why managers seek to control the variables in any equation? Without measurable objectives, our staff may end up achieving any number...
Love(s)
This post explores the nature of love—its cultural roots, changing forms, and complexities.
Perspective
If we are to understand an organization, we must ask certain questions first, right?
What are your job descriptions? What is your employee retention rate? Do you offer benefits? Are you profitable? What is your mission?
Decisions
In an office, who makes the decisions? Is it the manager? Supervisor? General staff? Do these questions matter? Absolutely, because how this question is answered reveals much about how an individual views reality itself.
The Truth
The truth. It is a fascinating concept and one that supports how many of us go through our everyday lives. There is some sort of ‘truth’ that supports our cultural values, approach to life, or how we build our business(es).
Selfies
There is something unnerving about our reliance on presenting ourselves to “the world” through the use of ‘selfies.’ It is as if our ability to capture an image of ourselves with the use of a phone’s camera indicates something about our inherent power.
Time
Why Care?
In a fractured world, why care? This file explores the existential and practical value of compassion, connection, and shared human experience.
Gratitude for the Unknown
A meditation on presence, memory, and mystery—where beauty lives not in knowing, but in yielding to the sacred space of the unknown.
Better Governance For Nonprofits
Explore how transformative leadership redefines nonprofit governance, fostering collaboration, innovation, and systemic change for greater impact.
Unstorying the Self
Discover the journey of unstorying the self, exploring how personal narratives shape our identity and the ethical responsibility we hold to others, nature, and the world.
Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception
Marketing is deeply intertwined with our worldview because it shapes and reflects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part III)
To some extent, the hero’s journey reflects and perpetuates a colonizer mindset, leading to the subjugation of entire cultures.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part II)
Technology, profit, productivity—these are hallmarks of what is often construed as progress within the Western worldview? Progress for whom?
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part I)
Floods, wildfires, drought, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, pollution, mass riots, war—this is the world right now in active ecological crisis.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part II)
Strategic plans are particularly excellent examples of a process with questionable results, especially if stakeholder collaboration is desired.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part I)
In various fields (counseling, education, business, and leadership, etc.), transformation and change are often framed as part of a metaphorical hero’s journey.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part III)
If we think in silos, we bring ourselves deeper inside single systems.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part II)
What does social purpose mean in the context of my life? How do I apply my belief in a social purpose? How I answer these questions may provide insight into the extent to which I have retained my systemic sensibility.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part I)
Is the past really past, and is the future somewhere ahead of us? The realization that past trauma, for instance, has a direct bearing on our mental health lends credence to the notion that yesterday is alive, a consideration that leads to a cybernetic complementarity that the future is equally real today. Can we hold two seemingly disparate ideas?
Wading at the Edges
All my life, I have essentially waded at the edges of the proverbial pools of life–a condition that does not lend itself to transformation, an idea I recently gleaned from Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Development In Nonprofits
Effective development requires a substantial amount of input from different kinds of ‘players’ throughout an organization.
Self-Reflection in Marketing
Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.
Best Practices in Organizations
Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.
Great Pains
A poetic farewell to fractured selves and old myths—where love defies form, memory bends time, and the soul sways like grass in life’s vast, unanswered field.
Small Hands
A surrender to softness and flow—where logic fades, the river speaks, and the heart remembers what the mind cannot hold: that we belong to earth, and to love.
I is Me
A reflection on fear, selfhood, and myth—where the lone hero dissolves, and healing begins in the embrace of the whole, not the chase of the broken self.
Stepping Outside The Shadows Of Myself
Those two boys to my left are my sons when they were much younger and I subscribed to a much different paradigm of life, so different in fact that what I am about to write would have been unthinkable when this photo was taken.
Melody of Self
A meditation on connection and self—where beauty lives in shared feeling, and the song of the self becomes most real when sung in someone else’s embrace.
Chronicle of Dreaming Man
Every morning,
he would row his boat
gently down the stream,
merrily,
thinking life is but a dream.
He was not concerned with how things worked,
but rather how they seem
inside his often broken heart,
Running To Love
Yesterday, I was on a run near a river and actively pondering the experience of love when I had a profound realization about myself that I think is relevant for others. All my life, love has been an experience for me that has felt so utterly massive, so real, that I have run from it. I went out on my run yesterday with the intent to explore why this is the case, and I unexpectedly ran into an answer.
In Plain Sight
As
I lay hiding,
confiding
to no one
and no thing,
the remnants of past selves
bring
me pain
inside the heart
I pretend is my brain
is a boy,
so scared
to share himself
with a world
What is Love?
Exploring the complexities of love, this file questions if love is a feeling, an action, or something deeper.
Soft Feelings
Soft feelings are hard to let go,
especially when they bleed
into dreams
and streams
of consciousness
that meander and flow
into places I do not understand
or know.
Broken people made whole
inside the hole
within the sphere of the heart
of the soul
and liquid dreams,
Motivation
We have all heard it. “If I were you, I would…” Is such a statement meant to motivate, or is it instead a strategy by which we assert our position in life? Is it motivation at all?
Objectives
Interpretation, though, can be dangerous, in business. Isn't this why managers seek to control the variables in any equation? Without measurable objectives, our staff may end up achieving any number...
Love(s)
This post explores the nature of love—its cultural roots, changing forms, and complexities.
Perspective
If we are to understand an organization, we must ask certain questions first, right?
What are your job descriptions? What is your employee retention rate? Do you offer benefits? Are you profitable? What is your mission?
Decisions
In an office, who makes the decisions? Is it the manager? Supervisor? General staff? Do these questions matter? Absolutely, because how this question is answered reveals much about how an individual views reality itself.
The Truth
The truth. It is a fascinating concept and one that supports how many of us go through our everyday lives. There is some sort of ‘truth’ that supports our cultural values, approach to life, or how we build our business(es).
Selfies
There is something unnerving about our reliance on presenting ourselves to “the world” through the use of ‘selfies.’ It is as if our ability to capture an image of ourselves with the use of a phone’s camera indicates something about our inherent power.
Transformation
Why Care?
In a fractured world, why care? This file explores the existential and practical value of compassion, connection, and shared human experience.
Gratitude for the Unknown
A meditation on presence, memory, and mystery—where beauty lives not in knowing, but in yielding to the sacred space of the unknown.
Better Governance For Nonprofits
Explore how transformative leadership redefines nonprofit governance, fostering collaboration, innovation, and systemic change for greater impact.
Unstorying the Self
Discover the journey of unstorying the self, exploring how personal narratives shape our identity and the ethical responsibility we hold to others, nature, and the world.
Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception
Marketing is deeply intertwined with our worldview because it shapes and reflects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part III)
To some extent, the hero’s journey reflects and perpetuates a colonizer mindset, leading to the subjugation of entire cultures.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part II)
Technology, profit, productivity—these are hallmarks of what is often construed as progress within the Western worldview? Progress for whom?
Beyond the Hero’s Journey (Part I)
Floods, wildfires, drought, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, pollution, mass riots, war—this is the world right now in active ecological crisis.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part II)
Strategic plans are particularly excellent examples of a process with questionable results, especially if stakeholder collaboration is desired.
Space as Metaphor: Beyond Output-Oriented Paradigms (Part I)
In various fields (counseling, education, business, and leadership, etc.), transformation and change are often framed as part of a metaphorical hero’s journey.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part III)
If we think in silos, we bring ourselves deeper inside single systems.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part II)
What does social purpose mean in the context of my life? How do I apply my belief in a social purpose? How I answer these questions may provide insight into the extent to which I have retained my systemic sensibility.
To ‘Lead’ Or Not To ‘Lead’ (Part I)
Is the past really past, and is the future somewhere ahead of us? The realization that past trauma, for instance, has a direct bearing on our mental health lends credence to the notion that yesterday is alive, a consideration that leads to a cybernetic complementarity that the future is equally real today. Can we hold two seemingly disparate ideas?
Wading at the Edges
All my life, I have essentially waded at the edges of the proverbial pools of life–a condition that does not lend itself to transformation, an idea I recently gleaned from Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Development In Nonprofits
Effective development requires a substantial amount of input from different kinds of ‘players’ throughout an organization.
Self-Reflection in Marketing
Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.
Best Practices in Organizations
Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.
Great Pains
A poetic farewell to fractured selves and old myths—where love defies form, memory bends time, and the soul sways like grass in life’s vast, unanswered field.
Small Hands
A surrender to softness and flow—where logic fades, the river speaks, and the heart remembers what the mind cannot hold: that we belong to earth, and to love.
I is Me
A reflection on fear, selfhood, and myth—where the lone hero dissolves, and healing begins in the embrace of the whole, not the chase of the broken self.
Stepping Outside The Shadows Of Myself
Those two boys to my left are my sons when they were much younger and I subscribed to a much different paradigm of life, so different in fact that what I am about to write would have been unthinkable when this photo was taken.
Melody of Self
A meditation on connection and self—where beauty lives in shared feeling, and the song of the self becomes most real when sung in someone else’s embrace.
Chronicle of Dreaming Man
Every morning,
he would row his boat
gently down the stream,
merrily,
thinking life is but a dream.
He was not concerned with how things worked,
but rather how they seem
inside his often broken heart,
Running To Love
Yesterday, I was on a run near a river and actively pondering the experience of love when I had a profound realization about myself that I think is relevant for others. All my life, love has been an experience for me that has felt so utterly massive, so real, that I have run from it. I went out on my run yesterday with the intent to explore why this is the case, and I unexpectedly ran into an answer.
In Plain Sight
As
I lay hiding,
confiding
to no one
and no thing,
the remnants of past selves
bring
me pain
inside the heart
I pretend is my brain
is a boy,
so scared
to share himself
with a world
What is Love?
Exploring the complexities of love, this file questions if love is a feeling, an action, or something deeper.
Soft Feelings
Soft feelings are hard to let go,
especially when they bleed
into dreams
and streams
of consciousness
that meander and flow
into places I do not understand
or know.
Broken people made whole
inside the hole
within the sphere of the heart
of the soul
and liquid dreams,
Motivation
We have all heard it. “If I were you, I would…” Is such a statement meant to motivate, or is it instead a strategy by which we assert our position in life? Is it motivation at all?
Objectives
Interpretation, though, can be dangerous, in business. Isn't this why managers seek to control the variables in any equation? Without measurable objectives, our staff may end up achieving any number...
Love(s)
This post explores the nature of love—its cultural roots, changing forms, and complexities.
Perspective
If we are to understand an organization, we must ask certain questions first, right?
What are your job descriptions? What is your employee retention rate? Do you offer benefits? Are you profitable? What is your mission?
Decisions
In an office, who makes the decisions? Is it the manager? Supervisor? General staff? Do these questions matter? Absolutely, because how this question is answered reveals much about how an individual views reality itself.
The Truth
The truth. It is a fascinating concept and one that supports how many of us go through our everyday lives. There is some sort of ‘truth’ that supports our cultural values, approach to life, or how we build our business(es).
Selfies
There is something unnerving about our reliance on presenting ourselves to “the world” through the use of ‘selfies.’ It is as if our ability to capture an image of ourselves with the use of a phone’s camera indicates something about our inherent power.
Social Media