Leadership and Virtue

Leadership seems to be more about the quality of being rather than the ability to give orders or boss people around. Great leaders blend general virtues into a strong individualism that permeates their thoughts, actions and results. Becoming a leader is, in a sense, becoming self-actualized and expressing that self-actualization in the medium of inspiring others to do their best; or better. If a leader is actualizing along a spectrum of virtue, her results tend toward the positive. If he is actualizing along a spectrum of vice, his results will tend toward the negative. At least positive and negative from our limited perspectives.

What are some characteristics of leaders? Here is one list: Judgement, Justice, Decisiveness, Initiative, Dependability, Tact, Integrity, Endurance, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, Enthusiasm.

There are many other lists of virtues including the 7 Heavenly virtues and the Knightly virtues. A cursory overview shows there is definitely quite a bit of overlap.

To be a good leader (not an evil leader), is to be consistent with virtue expressed along an idiosyncratic path toward self-actualization. Being, then becoming, never arriving.

Metaphysics

I've been participating in a few metaphysics discussions recently. We are lucky enough to have an erudite facilitator who has extensive background in philosophy, theology and law. One of the best things about a metaphysics discussion is the spontaneity of the session. Since, by definition, metaphysics is not logically provable, imagination and intuition play a large role in the direction of questions and comments. The range of background from the people involved can span a wide area, leading to a need for integration of perspectives that can stimulate, irritate and enlighten.

What is metaphysics? It is the exploration of ultimate causes. Isn't that Physics? No. Physics is the study of effects. That is, if you believe in metaphysics at all. To get to first base in metaphysics, you have to experience a leap of faith at some point. In other words, you have to believe that the ultimate cause of the Universe is beyond the physical that we can sense and measure. Anything that we can sense and measure is the effect of the ultimate underlying cause, which is metaphysical. Even the most fundamental physical particle or force has an underlying cause that is beyond the logical or sensuous.

Those of a traditional religious orientation might say this is a theological discussion, in other words, metaphysics is synonymous with God. What is there to discuss? The Bible say it all, right? No need to speculate. Just read the text and listen to what your local priest, preacher or pastor tells you to believe. Done. That is possible, but to do that misses getting in touch with the ultimate energy and infinity that would have to be a fundamental property of an infinite and omnipotent power. Why put "God" in a box? If we name it, we define it, and we can only define things in our own image complete with our own limitations.

Some possible world views include:

• The physical is all there is - metaphysics is just imagination
• Both the physical and the metaphysical exist - they exist in separate realms and do not affect each other
• The physical is an illusion - the metaphysical is true reality - our goal is to escape the physical
• Both the physical and metaphysical are real - the physical is the relative world or the effect of the metaphysical - the metaphysical is the absolute world and causes the physical

I subscribe to the last world view. The connection between the two is consciousness. Consciousness exists along a spectrum ranging from fundamental physical particles to human intelligence. Human consciousness is the highest consciousness that we know exists. There may be higher levels of consciousness, but we do not have direct proof of that. We have two way communication with the metaphysical realm through our consciousness

That's a screenfull for a single blog. I'll try to elaborate other perceptions on this topic as the Spirit moves.

2010 Has Arrived

Yes, I realize this happened 10 days ago, but I have not posted anything since December 21. Lots of holidays, family in town, getting ramped back up for the new year have kept me pretty silent. There are always ideas to noodle on, but sometimes it's hard to just decide which one to write about. So, I decided to write about not deciding what to write about. I'll list a few things that caught my attention over the last couple of weeks and maybe one of them will grow into a longer post.

• Today I participated in a very insightful discussion about Metaphysics. Topic was the relationship between the metaphysical and the physical world mediated by consciousness. Great stuff.
• "Up in the Air" with George Clooney was an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. If it wasn't for theatrical effect, the Clooney "girlfriend" should have been more upfront with him about her marriage situation. Just a thought.
• At work we started off the year with a bang. Two new hires started recently and we have a product release planned for March. Should be fun!
• Lots of family in town for the Cotton Bowl. I did not have a ticket so I watched it in HD at home while providing moral support to the chefs in the kitchen who produced a remarkable meal of beef slices, cheesy mashed potatoes, salad and shrimp cocktail.
• My Apple TV is working great! All my iPod music and all the photos on my laptop have been synced.
• Invictus was a great movie. Moved a little slow, but the context was very interesting. Sherlock Holmes was great but I had crappy seats.
• Enjoyed my daughter visiting for a few days. We got caught in the snow storm Christmas Eve, but made it home before most of the slipping and sliding in Dallas started.

I just remembered that I need to go review a bunch of scanned photos online and make some decisions about which ones to keep. Later...