Leadosophy

Episode 21 This is Leadosophy's first episode in 2021. Titled, "Why Do You Want To Lead," this episode urges leaders of all types to explore their authentic reason or reasons for desiring a position of leadership or staying in a position of leadership.

Season One: Foundations of Leadosophy — Leadosophy is the fusion of leadership and philosophy. We use philosophical thought to deepen our understanding of leadership, together.

Leadosophy interviews Dr. Markiel Perkins, a Principal at Cardinal High School in Middlefield, Ohio. Tim and Markiel served in the Coast Guard together, and they reunite through a conversation about life and leadership, about role models and personal and professional mentors.

Markiel provides keen insight into a leader's preparedness, the quest for understanding problems and challenges of all scopes and scales, and his desire to lead directly and authentically. He discusses empowerment, servant leadership, the role of families in education, and the challenges and opportunities of leading education systems and processes through the periods of COVID. Leadosophy probes Markiel to expand on how his military service prepared him for his career as an administrator in the education system.

In this interview, Markiel's views, ideas, and opinions on life and leadership are his own and are not supported or endorsed by his High School or school district at large.

This was an inspiring interview. Check it out!

Episode 20 Tim briefly recaps his interview with Captain Ryan Leo. Did Leadosophy deepen the understanding of Leadership with that interview? I think so! Tim discusses hard decisions by leaders, the grind of leadership, communication, and a book written by the late Peter Scholtes titled, "The Leader's Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done." This book dives into Systems Thinking concepts; Tim reads short excerpts from Peter's book. He also gives some brief analysis.

Are there universal truths in the realm of leadership?

Reference

Scholtes, P. R. (1997). The leader's handbook: Making things happen, getting things done. McGraw Hill Professional.

Season One: Foundations of Leadosophy Leadosophy is the fusion of leadership and philosophy. We use philosophical thought to deepen our understanding of leadership, together.

Episode 19 In this episode Tim uses the power of infographics (because Leadosphy loves infographics) to explore some of the essential ingredients — provided by leaders — that promote human flourishing. Leaders can provide knowledge, tools, and resources to help others grow, achieve personal goals, and enhance technical competence. Leaders can simultaneously remove barriers or obstacles to knowledge, tools, and resources. And further, leaders must understand the difference between trying to fix people versus trying to fix processes that people are beholden to.

Season One: Foundations of Leadosophy Leadosophy is the fusion of leadership and philosophy. We use philosophical thought to deepen our understanding of leadership, together.

Leadosophy Interview: Tim interviews Ryan Leo, a ship Captain who works for Matson Navigation Company, Inc. In 2020, Ryan graduated from Gonzaga with an M.A. Degree in Organizational Leadership. Ryan talks about leadership and life aboard the Motor Vessel Muanalei, a 681-foot, U.S. flagged container vessel. There's plenty of leadership nuggets in this interview, both of the general and nautical variety.

This interview has some great sea stories; Ryan has a wealth of technical knowledge about ship operations and leadership knowledge from both a practical and a theoretical perspective. Leadosophy is grateful whenever we can collectively deepen our understanding of leadership by learning from one another's perspectives and unique experiences.

Episode 18 Tim discusses and analyzes physicist and philosopher David Bohm's thoughts on dialogue and the differences between discussion and dialogue using excerpts from Peter Senge's book, "The Fifth Discipline."

Leadosophy does not believe in pushing universal leadership truths upon the masses, but deliberately practicing, honing, and seeking mastery of the conversational skills must fit somewhere in the leader’s quest for leadership and technical competence. We are social creatures or at least one must pretend to be if charged with leading other humans. Human relationships are inextricably linked to leadership. Positive or corrosive human relationships rise and fall on the tides of effective communication or lack thereof. How we communicate matters in leadership. It follows that we must deliberately work on our methods of communication and the thought processes that govern our communication with others if we seek to gain more from a conversation than simply pushing our worldview on others. By “gain more,” I mean approaching a conversation in an attempt to learn alongside and co-create reality with someone else. Ideas flow back and forth. Personal agendas give way to collective meaning. Winning arguments gives way to the partnership of understanding.

Check out David Bohm's thoughts on dialogue in his interview titled "Essential Reality:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzlx1AXVp7s&t=644s

Reference:

Senge, P. M. (2010). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. Currency.

Season One: Foundations of Leadosophy Leadosophy is the fusion of leadership and philosophy. We use philosophical thought to deepen our understanding of leadership, together.

Leadosophy Interview: Tim interviews his oldest son who is a college Freshman at Heidelberg University located in Tiffin, Ohio. Michael discusses life living on campus yet he attends classes in a remote learning environment. He also discusses his challenges and successes as a college student with no house parties allowed, i.e., a COVID world on campus. Micahel is majoring in Biochemistry and he wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. He gives advice to other students who might be struggling with remote learning in this period of COVID. Tim surprises Michael with some Heidelberg trivia at the end: fun stuff.

Episode 17 Tim discusses an infographic he created that outlines four reasons why a leader may need to act or decide from a close-minded perspective: 1. Survival, 2. Time Pressure Sensitivity, 3. Knowledge, Perception, and Intuition, and 4. Organizational or System pressures.

Season One: Foundations of Leadosophy Leadosophy is the fusion of leadership and philosophy. We use philosophical thought to deepen our understanding of leadership, together.

In this episode of Leadosophy OTR, Tim discusses the first two months of Leadosophy shows and comes to the conclusion that they might be too theoretical with not enough practical application. Is he right, or do we like the academic side of leadership? Leadosophy thinks a balance is necessary: easier said than done. Also, he gets some leadership advice from his significant other, Jess. She's a Lieutenant in the US Coast Guard and the Commanding Officer of a Search and Rescue Unit in Ilwaco, WA.

Leadosophy On The Road humbly tries to capture the essence of philosophical and leadership thoughts away from mission control, e.g., the Leadosophy Bunker. Sometimes Leadosophy, and Tim by proxy, like to travel. Leadership conundrums don't stop simply stop emerging when Tim's away from his home base. We can try to gain a deeper appreciation of leadership anywhere on Planet Earth, and, one day, maybe beyond Planet Earth.

Episode 16 Our minds are conditioned for closure rather than openness; this affects how we lead others, how we follow others, and how we judge others. On any given day, how many thoughts (could be a belief, an assumption, a conclusion, a judgment) are derived from information that we were given, information that we took on face value without running that information by the tools of philosophical thought? I would argue, many. Now, apply this same question over one’s lifetime.

From an early age, our minds are programmed, conditioned by others: their wisdom or lack of wisdom it matters not. We are programmed and conditioned by informal and formal structures: norms and ideology, gangs, prisons, the media, our parents, crazy uncle Bob, school systems, politicians and academics, social media, religious institutions, courts, and law enforcement entities. Each of these formal and informal structures is defined, in part or totally, by power and authority, led by people with power and authority. We are told what's right and what's wrong, how to act and behave, and what values are important. In many cases, this is a good thing: human rights, laws, religious codes of conduct, or general wisdom guide one's conduct and keeps one on the straight and narrow. In other cases, conflicts may arise between one's beliefs and the beliefs of power structures. What then? Does the mind stay open, or does the mind close?

We must separate the argument that a certain power structure is good or bad and the discussion that power structures influence our values and beliefs. It is the latter discussion that we are focused on: how these power structures form the basis for our cognitive biases and belief systems, which in turn can keep our minds closed to new information.

In this episode, we also explore the idea of the "panopticon" using thoughts from Brown University's Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World. Link here:

https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/7121.html

Season One: Foundations of Leadosophy Leadosophy is the fusion of leadership and philosophy. We use philosophical thought to deepen our understanding of leadership, together.