Imagine four levels of infinity; people are infinite in a sense; the earth is infinite; the cosmos is infinite, Tao is infinite. Although each of these four may be infinite in a way, the first three are subject to the next greater one.
People are dependent on the earth. The earth is dependent on the cosmos. The cosmos is dependent on Tao.
But Tao is not dependent on anything.
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The leader who is centered and grounded can work with erratic people and critical group situations without harm.
Being centered means having the ability to recover one's balance, even in the midst of action. A centered person is not subject to passing whims or sudden excitements.
Being grounded means being down-to-earth, having gravity or weight. I know where I stand, and I know what I stand for: that is ground.
The centered and grounded leader has stability and a sense of self.
One who is not stable can easily get carried away by the intensity of leadership and make mistakes of judgement or even become ill.
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An experienced leader does not need a packaged tour to go places safely.
A good political speech does not need to make promises or antagonize the crowd.
A good mathematician does not need a computer to solve every problem.
A secure home does not have bolts and bars and locks and alarms everywhere, yet a burglar cannot get inside.
The wise leader's ability does not rest on techniques or gimmicks or set exercises. The method of awareness-of-process applies to all people and all situations.
The leader's personal state of consciousness creates a climate of openness. Center and ground give the leader stability, flexibility, and endurance.
Because the leader sees clearly, the leader can shed light on others.
The group members need the leader for guidance and facilitation. The leader needs people to work with, people to serve. If both do not recognize the mutual need to love and respect one another, each misses the point.
They miss the creativity of the student-teacher polarity. They do not see how things happen.
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The leader can act as a warrior or as a healer. As a warrior, the leader acts with power and decision. That is the Yang or masculine aspect to leadership.
Most of the times, however, the leader acts as a healer and is in an open, receptive, and nourishing state. That is the feminine or Yin aspect of leadership.
This mixture of doing and being, of warrior and healer, is both productive and potent.
There is a third aspect of leadership: Tao. Periodically, the leader withdraws from the group and returns to silence, returns to God.
Being, doing, being ... Tao. I withdraw in order to empty myself of what has happened, you replenish my spirit.
A brilliant warrior does not make every possible brilliant intervention. A knowing healer takes time to nourish self as well as others.
Such simplicity and economy is a valuable lesson. It deeply affects the group.
The leader who knows when to listen, when to act, and when to withdraw can work effectively with nearly anyone, even with other professionals, group leaders, or therapists, perhaps the most difficult and sophisticated group members.
Because the leader is clear, the work is delicate and does not violate anybody's sensibilities.
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Too much force will backfire. Constant interventions and instigations will not make a good group. They will spoil a group.
The best group process is delicate. It cannot be pushed around. It cannot be argued over or won in a fight.
The leader who tries to control the group through force does not understand group process. Force will cost you the support of the members.
Leaders who push think that they are facilitating process, when in fact they are blocking process.
They think that they are building a good group field, when in fact they are destroying its coherence and creating factions.
They think that their constant interventions are a measure of ability, when in fact such interventions are crude and inappropriate.
They think that their leadership position gives them absolute authority, when in fact their behaviour diminishes respect.
The wise leader stays centered and grounded and uses the least force required to act effectively. The leader avoids egocentricity and emphasizes being rather than doing.
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The leader who understands how process unfolds uses as little force as possible and runs the group without pressuring people.
When force is used, conflict and argument follow. The group field degenerates. The climate is hostile, neither open nor nourishing.
The wise leader runs the group without fighting to have things a certain way. The leader's touch is light. The leader neither defends nor attacks.
Remember that consciousness, not selfishness, is both the means of teaching and the teaching itself.
Group members will challenge the ego of one who leads egocentrically. But one who leads selflessly and harmoniously will grow and endure.
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There are times when it seems as if one must intervene powerfully, suddenly, and even harshly. The wise leader does this only when all else fails.
As a rule, the leader feels more wholesome when the group process if flowing freely and unfolding naturally, when delicate facilitations far outnumber harsh interventions.
Harsh interventions are a warning that the leader may be uncentered or have an emotional attachment to whatever is happening. A special awareness is called for.
Even if harsh interventions succeed brilliantly, there is no cause for celebration. There has been injury. Someone's process has been violated.
Later on, the person whose process has been violated may well become less open and more defended. There will be a deeper resistance and possibly even resentment.
Making people do what you think they ought to be do does not lead toward clarity and consciousness. While the may do what you tell them to do at the time, they will cringe inwardly, grow confused, and plot revenge.
That is why your victory is actually a failure.
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Tao cannot be defined. One can only say that it is the single principle responsible for every event or thing.
When the leader has regard for this principle, and for no lesser theories, the group members trust the leader. Because the leader pays equal attention to everything that happens, there are no prejudices to divide the group into faction. There is unity.
Because the group work is grounded in an obvious and natural righteousness, rules and regulations are not needed to make people behave.
Even though the single principle cannot be defined, it is possible to explain what is happening in a group. We speak of gestalt formation, of polarities, of flows and blocks, of interventions that either hinder or facilitate, and so on.
But too much theoretical talk distracts the group from what is happening, from the process itself. Talking about process is one way to block process and lower the energy of the group field.
When that happens, the wise leader returns once again to an awareness of what is happening and to the single principle that lies behind what is happening.
In the long run, focusing on this single principle is the most potent aspect of leadership. From this unity, we learn how things happen.
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To know how other people behave takes intelligence, but to know myself takes wisdom.
To manage other people's lives takes strength, but to manage my own life takes true power.
If I am content with what I have, I can live simply and enjoy both prosperity and free time.
If my goals are clear, I can achieve them without fuss.
If I am at peace with myself, I will not spend my life force in conflicts.
If I have learned to let go, I do not need to fear dying.
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The single principle can be found everywhere, all the time. Everything works according to it. Every life unfolds according to it. The single principle does not say yes to this and no to that.
Even though Tao is the source of all growth and development, nothing profits Tao. Tao benefits all without return and without prejudice.
Neither is the single principle private property. You cannot own it. It does not own you.
Its greatness lies in its universality. It is all inclusive.
The wise leader follows this principle and does not act selfishly. The leader does not accept one person and refuse to work with another. The leader does not own people or control their lives. Leadership is not a matter of winning.
The work done in order to shed the light of awareness on whatever is happening: also, selfless service, without prejudice, available to all.
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Do not get carried away by the group process.
Stick to the single principle. Then you can do good work, stay free from chaos and conflicts, and feel present in all situations.
The superficial leader cannot see how things happen, even though the evidence is everywhere. This leader is swept up by drama, sensation, and excitement. All this confusion is blinding.
But the leader who returns again and again to awareness-of-process has a deep sense of how things happen. This leader has a simple time of it. The sessions flow smoothly, and when the group ends, the leader is still in good spirits.
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All behaviours contain their opposites:
- Hyper-inflation leads to collapse.
- A show of strength suggests insecurity.
- What goes up must come down.
- If you want to prosper, be generous.
Also:
- The feminine outlasts the masculine.
- The feminine allows, but the masculine causes.
- The feminine surrenders, then encompasses and wins.
And:
- Water wears away the rock.
- Spirit overcomes force.
- The weak will undo the mighty.
Learn to see things backwards, inside out, and upside down.
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It puzzles people at first, to see how little the able leader actually does, and yet how much gets done.
But the Leader knows that is how things work. After all, Tao does nothing at all, yet everything gets done.
When the leader gets too busy, the time has come to return to selfless silence.
Selflessness gives one center.
Center creates order.
When there is order, there is little to do.
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Potent leadership is a matter of being aware of what is happening in the group and acting accordingly. Specific actions are less important than the leader's clarity or consciousness. That is why there are no exercises or formulas to ensure successful leadership.
Potency cannot be calculated or manipulated, nor is it a matter of trying to look good.
Three examples illustrate differing degrees of potency in leadership:
- Potent: a conscious yet spontaneous response to what is happening in the here-and-now; no calculation or manipulation.
- Less Potent: trying to do what is right. This is calculated behaviour base don the concept of right, and manipulative behaviour based on an idea of what should happen.
- Least Potent: imposed morality. Imposed morality rests entirely on should and shouldn't. It is both calculated and manipulative, and meets resistance with punishment. It sheds no light on what is actually happening. It often backfires.
Leaders who lose touch with what is happening cannot act spontaneously, so when they try to do what they think is right. If that fails, they often try coercion.
But the wise leader who loses the sense of immediacy becomes quiet and lets all effort go until a sense of clarity and consciousness returns.
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Natural events are potent because they act in accordance with how things work. They simply are.
Study natural processes: the light in the sky, the gravity of earth, the unfolding of your own ideas and insights, the emptiness of space, the fullness of life, and the behaviour of saints.
Imagine what would happen if these processes were neurotic and self-centered: a lazy sky flickers; gravity varies from moment to moment; your mind is irrational; space is agitated; life is abortive; the saints are worthless models. Nothing works.
The wise leader knows better than to be neurotic and self-centered. Potency comes from knowing what is happening and acting accordingly. Paradoxically, freedom comes from obedience to the natural order.
Since all creation is a whole, separateness is an illusion. Like it or not, we are team players. Power comes through cooperation, independence through service, and a greater self through selflessness.
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Learn to return to your self.
Become silent: What is happening when nothing is happening?
Can you tell the difference between what is happening and how it happens?
Can you sense how what is happening arises out of how it happens?
Process... and principle.
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The wise leader, learning how things happen, lives accordingly.
The average leader also learns how things happen, but vacillates, now acting accordingly and then forgetting.
The worst leaders learn how things happen and dismiss the single principle as total nonsense. How else could their work be so futile?
After all, they say, any principle that does not get you love or money or power must be useless. A silent mind is a dumb mind. Selflessness is no way to get ahead. Virtue is for fools. Kindness is weakness. And so on.
This is a problem: because the wise leader's only allegiance is to how things happen, people who do not see how things happen naturally think that the wise leader's behaviour has no basis in reality. Also, the leader's silence and manner of being are disturbing. Because the leader's motives are obscure, the leader is hard to figure out.
The problem comes back to the fact that the principle is not a thing and cannot be defined. That does not make sense to some people.
It is not easy to understand a person whose foundation is invisible.
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The principle is not a thing. Call it zero.
The principle in action is the unity of creation. This unity is a single whole. Call it one.
Creation consists of pairs of opposites or polarities. Call these polarities two.
These polarities become creative when they interact. Their interaction is the third element. Call it three.
For example, a man and a woman are two. Their interaction, or intercourse, the third element makes babies. That is creative. That is how all creativity occurs.
The wise leader knows about pairs of opposites and their interactions. The leader knows how to be creative.
In order to lead, the leader learns to follow. In order to prosper, the leader learns to live simply. In both cases, it is the interaction that is creative.
