The Leadership Dojo

Book excerpt: A pioneering book on a new kind of leadership—one that draws on body awareness, ancient wisdom, and real-life corporate examples to empower the modern leader to “do well and do good at the same time" (James N. Baron, Yale School of Management). History is filled with accounts of great leaders, but how did they become so? Written for emergent leaders in any endeavor, this new work from renowned consultant Richard Strozzi-Heckler offers a new approach to leadership. The first book of its kind to base business and management strength on integral body awareness, the book presents key principles such as shugyo, or self-cultivation, as crucial in developing the individual responsibility, social commitment, and moral and spiritual vision required to lead with authority and efficacy. The Leadership Dojo is based on three questions: What does a leader do? What are the character values most essential to exemplary leadership? How do you teach these values? Drawing on the wisdom of ages from Plato to the Bhagavad-Gita, from Thucydides to the Abidharma, the book asserts that understanding and answering these questions holds the key to superior leadership skills. Strozzi-Heckler teaches with real-world examples based on his wide experience training decision-makers at companies like AT&T and Microsoft. The book’s multifaceted approach helps readers establish a powerful Leadership Presence, a platform from which they can take ethical action with compassion and pragmatic wisdom. “I would not dream of leading a team without relying on the teachings of Richard Strozzi-Heckler. It would be like skiing without the snow.” —Nancy J. Hutson, Senior Vice President, Pfizer Research & Development