Leaders need aha moments alongside their how-to manuals. Imaginative literature does just that. It’s the tradition of the bard in the 21st century, and it's what I do. I equip leaders with creative tales and poetry as a fresh lens for seeing what’s before them.
My Western background blends with an Eastern career. Afghanistan, Persia, Arabia, and experiences in Asia and Africa mingle to produce a flavor of literature that is the fruit of these roots.
I’ve watched simple but deep stories bypass fossilized mindsets and open up new possibilities. Is this not what leaders often crave? For the authentic, courageous leader, is there not the same longing to see those they lead become “unstuck”? Good literature can serve that longing.
I have taught in a Western classical education context, in an Eastern context, and in a civil war. Parallel to my role as an English instructor has been my role in leadership development. Both of these elements directly contribute to both the quality and intentionality of my writing.
As an enneagram 4 with Signature Strengths of strategy, input, intellection, individuation, and woo, what comes to me naturally is to feel the drama in the data, be that the one in front of me or be that an epoch in history. I pour this into what I write with the hope that the leader doesn’t get an explanation, but an impartation.
Along with traditional education, I have cultivated a life of independent scholarship that includes learning from the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Milton, Dante Alighieri, George MacDonald, A.D. Sertillanges, and the wealth of Eastern Orthodox spirituality. I am an explorer of languages. I pour the influence of these things into everything I write.
Leaders are a mystery to others as much as they are a mystery to themselves. Every leader who is worth their salt knows that, for all they know there is a lot they don’t yet know. I try to crack the door on what they don’t yet know (and what I don’t yet know) by keeping the bard tradition within their reach.
What does the bard do? He tells the tale, he speaks the poem — and eyes light up with new possibilities. Courage and clarity are near. And if these are near, cheering us on like friends attending our marathon, the hope rises that we will “break the tape” of the race set before us. We will finish what we started. We will become who we were fully meant to be.
Contact info/social media links:
https://kurtmahler.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kurtfrederickmahler/
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtfrederickmahler/
Oct 18 202437 mins
Oct 15 20241 hr and 2 mins
7 mins
Oct 12 202440 mins
35 mins