We strive for self-improvement, but knowledge of the self is very elusive. It does not elude us - we seek to quell it and stifle it, as we were trained to do. Braintenance Mind-Builders, Business-Builders, captains of growing companies, and thought-leaders understand that leadership requires intensive self-knowledge as well as self-control. And procedurally, you must understand your psychological and spiritual landscape before you can control or cultivate it. The best interrogators know exactly who they are. The best leaders know exactly who they are. I hope that you enjoy this post which was surgically implanted from The Interrogation Room blog. You can get there by clicking on http://TheInterrogationRoom.wordpress.com . Don't mind the creaky doors and the frequent power outages. Dress warmly - the air is always somewhat dank and cold in various places.Don't worry about the rats scurrying about. We bought the place very inexpensively, and we paid cash so that we could avoid unnecessary delays and unwelcome scrutiny. Oh yes...about the rats -- we hired an exterminator last month, and he seems to have just "vanished." I don't remember his leaving. No troubles - we'll look through the yellow pages (we have no cellular or internet reception in the area!) to find a new pied piper... :)
- Douglas E CastleTo be a leader, you must
KNOW YOURSELF. From the core of your spirit on outward. In becoming a leader or in
taking command, your first three assignments are as follows:
1)
Find Yourself - This requires deep introspection, and is as frightening for most of us, as it is physically and psychically draining;
2)
Claim Yourself - Own your identity, your beliefs, your real feelings...merge with them and stop fighting them. See, hear taste, touch, smell and feel things through your own unfiltered, unadulterated senses;
3)
Be Yourself - If you are not yourself, you are either somebody else (a lie), or nobody at all (a void in search of something to fill it -- as an empty vessel).
The Bottom Line: You must be fully self-aware and self-secure if you are to command yourself. And you must achieve true command of yourself or you cannot ever even hope to command others. This is not just about discipline -- no, this is about integrity of purpose and presentation.
Leadership: Find Yourself, Claim Yourself and Be Yourself. I learned about this from a children's picture book. -DCDespite this, the book uses many large words, and cliche'd phrases referring to the story's protagonist, Mr. Plumbean, making the book almost targeted at
adults as well, and helping the children's vocabulary.
Plot
The
main character, Mr. Plumbean, lives on a "neat
street" where all the houses look the same. A seagull flies over his house and drops a can of bright orange paint on his roof, but instead of repainting his house to look like all the others on the street, Mr. Plumbean paints it to look like all his dreams. His neighbors send people to talk him into repainting his house to look like theirs, but everyone he talks to ends up painting their houses like their dreams also. In the end, all the neighbors say:
"Our street is us and we are it. Our street is where we like to be, and it looks like all our dreams."
The drawings were made with
markers, and if one looks closely one can see the marker lines.
[][][][][][][]
When my ex-wife read this story to my daughter (she's quite grown-up, and recently became engaged) at bedtime, I had to leave the room and weep.
The message was so profound and so personal. It opening a portal to a part of myself that I had suppressed for many, many years. Once acknowledged and attended to, that part would never let me forget about it again. The genie was forever out of the bottle.
From the moment we are old enough to understand language, we are taught to lie to ourselves. We are taught to draw "within the lines." We are stunted with some sadistic version of realism -- and it is always "
for our own good, child."
That last part is a lie. We are confined for the comfort of others, as they were confined for the comfort of those who parented them. And so the cycle repeats itself. You have to
break it, and to
break free of it in order to become the great individualist and leader that was and remains your very birthright. It's been stolen from you; you must sneak out of your cubicle, cell or
row house and reclaim it.
And now, as an adult you must become an uncorruptible sentinel of your true identity.Stop flagellating yourself for being who you really are. Get out of your crypt, shake the scales from your eyes, and put your fingerprint on the face of the world, Leader.Click on this link (below) to enjoy a wonderful brief video [please turn up your volume and listen very carefully]:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93m5ro3ACpYFaithfully,Douglas E Castle:
Negotiator,
Leader,
Human Being and Chairman of
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Leadership Requires Intensive Self-Knowledge As Well As Self-Control.
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