I’m in the process of reading The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, the Teacher, Healer and Visionary, by Angeles Arrien, PhD.  It explores paths to wholeness and empowerment from the perspectives of indigenous societies and shamanic traditions.

In her research, Arrien discovered a pattern of human archetypes that are consistent across cultures, seemingly universally embedded in the mythic structure of societies. When we learn to live these archetypes within ourselves, we can tap into their wisdom and begin to heal ourselves and our fragmented world.

The principles of the Four-Fold Way, based on the four archetypes, are:

1. Show up, or choose to be present. Being present allows us to access the human resources of power, presence, and communication. This is the way of the Warrior.

2. Pay attention to what has heart and meaning. Paying attention opens us to the human resources of love, gratitude, acknowledgment, and validation. This is the way of the Healer.

3. Tell the truth without blame or judgment. Nonjudmental truthfulness maintains our authenticity, and develops our inner vision and intuition. This is the way of the Visionary.

4. Be open to outcome, not attached to outcome. Openness and nonattachment help us recover the human resources of wisdom and objectivity. This is the way of the Teacher. Continue reading →

I came across the book The Lotus: a practice guide for authentic leadership toward sustainability on blurb.com yesterday.

Research by Baan, Long and Pearlman shows that successful sustainability leaders embody these nine personal capacities:

1. Being Present

Being Present means being fully aware and awake in the present moment – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This includes connecting to otheres, the environment around you and current reality.

2. Suspension & Letting Go

Suspension and Letting Go is the ability to actively experience and observe a thought, assumption, judgment, habitual pattern, emotion or sensation like fear, confusion, conflict or desire, and then refraining from immediately reacting or responding to the situation.

3. Intention Aligned with Higher Purpose

Intention Aligned with Higher Purpose is the alignment of one’s authentic nature with one’s internal resonance with manifested actions in the world. This alignment trickles down to all facets of life including one’s personal, professional and spiritual dimensions. “Where your deepest personal passion and the world’s greatest needs align, there is opportunity” (Peter Senge).

4. Whole System Awareness

Whole System Awareness is the capacity to quickly switch between different perspectives, scales and worldviews to see the big picture, interconnections within the system, and being able to scale down to small details. Whole System Awareness is not just cognitive – you ‘sense’ the system. It is the understanding that everything is interconnected within a system.

5. Compassion

Compassion is having unconditional acceptance and kindness toward all the dimensions of oneself and others, regardless of circumstance. Compassion involves the ability to reflect upon oneself and others without judgment, but with recognition and trust that others are doing the best they can in any given situation.

6. Whole Self-Awareness

Whole Self-Awareness is the continual, lifelong process of paying attention to knowing one’s self; it involves consciously and intentionally observing various dimensions of the self (including the physical, mental, shadow, emotional and spiritual realms). It is the capacity to observe how one is thinking, relating, feeling, sensing, and judging. Whole Self-Awareness includes perceptions beyond the rational mind, such as intuition.

7. Personal Power

Personal Power is the ability to use energy and drive to manifest wise actions in the world for the greater good, while being aware of one’s influences on a situation.

8. Dealing with Dualities & Paradox

Dealing with Dualities and Paradoxes is the capacity to sit with ambiguity in a facilitation session, manage polarities, and hold multiple perspectives.

9. Sense of Humor

A Sense of Humor, or ‘light-heartedness’, is the universal experience of simultaneous amusement, laughter and joy culminating from an experience, thought or sensation.

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originally found: Facilitating Transformational Change toward Sustainability

main site: The Lotus: Authentic Leadership for a Just, Resilient and Thriving World