I saw this quote this morning:

“He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin!” — Horace

Frankly, it’s amazing how, with appropriate intention, the right things show up in service!

Don’t know what to say?

Well, not knowing what to say doesn’t stop some of us… perhaps it should?

Since 1988, when I made the decision to pursue leadership rather than being led, I’ve been working on what to say.

When in doubt, inquire.

On Oct 3, 2024, which would have been my mother’s 90th birthday, I’m going to launch a new platform at LeadU.com/news.

I’ve been busy figuring out what to say. That process led me down a ‘path of paths’ into codifying helping skills and models… finally realizing it’s not what I say but what I hear that really matters.

In the posts that follow, I’ll choreograph the convoluted nature of listening and hearing and how the way you talk can change what you hear.

I’m still finalizing all the stuff that goes into all the rigmarole of launching a platform, so if you are an early adopter, there will be opportunities to play along.

Opportunities abound (you haven’t seen anything yet!) in helping, leading, coaching, and training as a start, so come jump on the wagon early and watch it unfold.

My plan is to unpack it all right here in front of you along the way.

**Our team at Living & Loving Inquiry**

I wrote this to my partner as we are moving to the next stage of our relationship from old to new, so to speak — mainly as a show of my own frustration as the adaptive process has accelerated under the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) culture, conditions and requirements facing leadership… ironically moving now through the half-way point of 2024 (a Dragon Year).

I figured this might be the best way to restart the blog process that will lead from ‘old to new.’

Here’s the note and as they say… off we go, like a herd of turtles.

——

Hi,

Just letting you know that the creative process is not easy.

I’ve been struggling with terminology as the nature of the world is describable only if you stop it long enough to say — oh that’s what it is.

All to be more confusing… using the metaphor of a duck gliding effortlessly on the top of the water — I’m paddling like hell!

Although, it’s the continuous revision of ideas to make it all representative of a reality, in large part, is continuously changing position

If I change one thing, it’s a train car phenomenon at work and I just came up for air to say +#*?!

I reached out to commiserate as I realize from your side, it probably doesn’t describe the situation

No request made

——

As cryptic as that may sound, the affect or feeling points to the frustration most are dealing with in VUCA culture, conditions and requirements is accelerating as we move quickly from old to new.

In reference to change, I remember the exchange between Bill and Mike in Hemingway’s THE SUN ALSO RISES:

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.

“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

We are experiencing the same feeling having been ‘out there’ sorting through it all.

Welcome to the new LeadU blog and our journey together.

As the author and founder of Leadership University before there was one, I have decided with the new book about to come out of the oven to utilize my spacetime and beyond to unpack the idea emergent from the quote by Ariel Durant from THE LESSONS OF HISTORY:

‘The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding.”

She doesn’t talk about the future and its relationship to the past and present.

My focus in the blog will be about the ‘developing’ LeadU Way or LUW as I’ll refer to it. It’s important to me to write about the way I see helping and leaderwork contributing to leadership over time as a future.

In this process, I’ll be wary of Mayor Koch’s comment to a reporter being asked about something he said:

“I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you.”

Thanks for reading,

Mike R Jay & Gary Gile 

Founders @ The NEW LeadU

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PS: clarification

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