leadership

Five phases of leadership during the pandemic

Last week was a very busy one for me for writing and reflecting. To write is to learn.

I finished my five-part series on leadership during the pandemic in Austin’s definitive cultural magazine, Urbānitūs. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Editor and Co-founder, David Judson, who really brought out the best in me and helped make the series much better. I was also able to work in the historic and tragic events of the week — a week I’ll never forget.

Here are the five, published Urbānitūs articles:
1. Fear
2. Euphoria
3. Depression
4. Acceptance (not surrender)
5. Imagining what lies beyond

The wisdom of Vedanta (now available online)

One of the practices that has really helped me as a leader has been the study of Vedanta. It is not a religion (I'm Jewish) but rather a philosophy on how to live a life of happiness. It is all about gaining control over your mind - that your mind is where the secret to happiness really lives. If you would like to dive in, here is a five-minute video on why you may feel so tired “because of your job” to entice you. The great news is that, in these times of COVID-19, their classes are now available online for free. In 2013, Debra and I went all the way to just outside of Pune, India to study this in person at The Vedanta Academy with the then 85-year old founder, Swamiji Parthasarathy (who wrote my favorite book on business and relationships simply titled "Governing Business and Relationships" - the chapter on Leadership is just incredible).