By Charles E. Smith | Bio
During the second year in my transition from a static world to an
energetic-based point of view, I took a training program with a Mexican
teacher, Victor Sanchez, who had studied and lived with the Toltec
Indians in northern Mexico. Victor had developed a coherent conceptual
framework that was very much based on energy. Lorin Smith didn’t have a
lot of explanation for what he did. He just did it, and I saw that he
was working with
Barack Obama’s speech to the United States and the world last week moved me more than any political oratory I can recall. It wasn’t just the content of the speech I found moving but the quality of human being that he showed us—a man willing to take a stand for his convictions and tell the truth about a subject that has been an ‘elephant head on the table’ for decades. He will have my vote and whatever the maximum financial contribution allowed is to support his campaign.
I was also impressed
By Charles E. Smith | Bio
Lorin Smith had developed his own healing practice based on massage, singing, dance, telling stories. As I came to know him over time, I saw he could look at a person, individual, or look at a group, and see exactly what kind of energy was missing. He could see where the joy was missing, or where the relationship was missing. He could see whether people didn’t mean what they said. He could see how their bodies were contracted or turned against themselves or twisted out
By Shae Hadden | Bio
With each passing day, it seems as if every environmental and social crisis we’re facing is heading into even more dangerous waters. In the conversations I’ve been having, it has been quickly apparent to me who is resigned about this state of affairs and who is engaged and in action. Although the latter group appears to me (for the moment) to be in the minority, I’m reminded of Buckminster Fuller’s concept of the ‘trimtab factor’ and of the potential influence a
By Charles E. Smith | Bio
This is my personal journey, how I came from seeing organizations as static objects, to seeing them as interacting energy fields. It began six years ago, when I was the owner of a 16-person organization development and training firm. We helped companies with strategic visioning, culture change projects, coaching programs, and project effectiveness. I built the business from a $25.00-a-day practice in 1969 to over $2.5 million in annual revenues in 1993, with the
By Rick Fullerton | Bio
I’m in love (or at least infatuated) with an amazing young woman.
She is in her 20s, about the same age as my youngest daughter. I just
met her last Friday, and we are having lunch this week. Let me explain
how this unfolded and why it is so exciting!
For several years,
I have been an adjunct professor in the faculty of management at a
local university, where I teach graduate courses in human resources and
management skills. This work is very rewarding,
By Don Arnoudse | Bio
My wife and I recently visited seacoast New Hampshire to celebrate our wedding anniversary. After leaving historic Union Chapel, the scene of our wedding 26 years ago, we were in a nostalgic mood as we drove into the center of Portsmouth. As we left the car to stroll through the town center, we heard quite a ruckus. To my surprise, the cause of all the commotion was a crowd of white-haired people holding signs in the town square and loudly shouting slogans in protest of the Iraq war.I
was immediately transported to those days in the late ‘60s when I was
marching with my classmates in protest of the Vietnam War. We closed
down Michigan State University in the spring of 1970 and spent our time
in tents on the campus lawn engaged in intense discussions about
politics and war. We sang protest songs along with Joan Baez and Bob
Dylan. We erupted in fear and rage when a blood-covered young man ran
into our Tent City
I am on the road again. I’ve just spent two weeks in Mexico: one week with my son Clarke, and the other working at what must be one of the most fantastic meeting sites I have ever encountered. It is called the Hacienda San Gabriel de las Palmas. Built in 1529, it is easy to imagine Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors riding up the roadway. There are lots of ruins on the grounds and the meeting room was in what appears to be an old barn or storehouse with curved ceilings and antiques all around.
I’m on vacation in Madrid. I was here once before for a short visit earlier this year to lead a workshop for a couple of friends I knew in Buenos Aires who have opened a coaching school here. This time I am able to just relax and take some time to get to know the country a bit better. It always amazes me how the first few days of every holiday are spent ‘shifting gears’ and adjusting to another context and pace than we have in our ‘normal’ work life. It dawned on me yesterday that this
I just finished leading the first week of a course by the same name as today’s blog. It is a pilot program designed to facilitate and accelerate the transfer of leadership from one generation to the next. Most large organizations and institutions are confronting an unprecedented turnover of executives and managers primarily due to the wave of Boomer retirements. This is not just a personnel problem—it is also a strategic concern because how well we prepare the next generation to take the reins