The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Influential Books’

Today we present part two of Ron LeBlanc’s interview. Ron loves the concept of the hero’s journey so it’s no surprise that the one book that profoundly impacted his life is Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces. To generate great ideas, he immerses himself in art and hangs out with “great” people. This makes sense because a study by INSEAD business school revealed that networking is one of the five discovery skills for innovation.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I am a 58-year old Canadian and the Chairman of Madacana Holding Inc, a fairly major player in the gem business in Madagascar. I have a sapphire mine and land bank in Madagascar. We’ve been in Madagascar since 2004, and I took over operation and control of the mine in 2006, which is located in the south of Madagascar. Prior to 2006, I was a gem buyer.

Madagascar is a complex place, but I have experience doing business in Africa and I enjoy it. Madagascar is probably the best place in the world for gems so it was the right place and the right time. I am a low functioning polymath and I have done a lot of things: I’ve been in bars, restaurants and I have been in the aesthetics business for a long, long time. After two years of exploration, I am ready to go into serious mechanized mining in the gem business in Madagascar.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Follow your bliss, follow your passion and stay current at all times. You are always unfinished, you are always working on something you want to be and will be. Have a leading kind of curiosity that gets you access to all the information in your particular sector. You have to be passionate, and if you are not, the universe will conspire against you. You want the universe to support you. The intelligent universe will support someone who is operating within their passion and following it.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

It’s together and I think in some ways the guys who are surviving here do not separate their personal and professional life, it’s all integrated. But when I say that, there has to be sacrifices. But most powerful people don’t see it as a sacrifice.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

I don’t really have any regrets. I think I will have regrets when I finish having life. While you are in life you do not have regrets. Regret is the illumination you get by looking back when you have finished having life. I do not have regrets because I keep moving forward.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

1. Follow your bliss, follow your passion: when you follow your passion you find that the universe conspires to help you along the way
2. Notwithstanding that passion, you need an honest assessment of the possibilities within the choice which you have taken. If your passion is to move piano you know there is a limitation there. If your passion is to be a head of a company you know that’s a different thing completely so you have to have a realistic view on your ambitions
3. Once your way has been chosen, the lesson in life is that you have to be the best. Every individual is unique in some way and has unique sets of talents of experiences and that uniqueness has to be shored up by all the information possible. You have to know what you are doing and be efficient in the career that you’ve chosen.
4. You cannot expand your business without co-operating. One of the imperatives is survival of the co-operatives. Every expanding business needs a level of faith and you need trusting people around you. You need to be able to give up some of the power and co-operate.
5. You can be wrong, and you have to be able to take a bullet, be candid about it and say that you are wrong. You have to be quick about it. That’s the best way forward. Meet those challenges, meet those failures with candor.

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

I read at least 50 books each year. I am constantly reading and going to the theatre. I do this because I need the balm of escape so when I am in the theatre I just lose myself. I need that. The driving consciousness during wakefulness that I need for my business is nice, but the balm of escape allows me to get relief from that.

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

I hang out with great people, I read a lot, and I find that there is sympathy between what I’m reading and what I’m thinking, so the topics and the ambience is often found in the literature. I often go to the arts that I personally choose, or the friends that I hang around with, when I need to generate great ideas.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

“Man plans, God laughs.” Yiddish proverb

It’s difficult to make a plan. You need a vision for it moving forward and you need to place milestones and you better be ready to adapt because making plans is like trying to predict the weather.

How do you define success?

I think success really is living with your passions. If you are a busker on the street and you’re playing music, or you’re trading on the floor or you’re being a mother, if you are doing what you want to do, that’s success. Living to your talents and your passions is really the measure of success.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success?

If you are blessed with a clearly defined and delineated passion, the formula for success is to be brave and to jump into that passion of interest.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Straight and unmitigated courage and confidence in my own talent and intelligence but also I have learned more and more that I need a supporting group of professionals as I move forward, education and professional support and a great deal of courage. Go for it!

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

Collect all the information possible about the field, look at it and really be mindful of how the field moves you, and make sure that it is field that you want to be in. Look at yourself and make sure that it is the place for you. You only have one life so you want to be sure.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Barack Obama: I think he is a fascinating and interesting character

Joseph Campbell: I would like to have met Joseph Campbell and talk to him about the mythological state of  man and the power of myth

Albert Einstein: I would have liked to meet Einstein because I am interested in science and math and would have liked to talk to him about gravity

Georgia O’Keefe: She is an interesting and fascinating painter and of course I’d like to talk to all the painters. I’d like to talk to Clinton, Van Gogh and a few of the other guys. I’m also interested in the impressionists.

Bill Gates: He has an interesting view on things. Steve Jobs would also be interesting too because he has an innovative and creative mind

And I would like to say to them, “What have you learned?” I think every character has a place of pure experience and I would love to learn what they have learned over and above everybody else.

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. I see myself as being on a low grade journey and I’ve always been out in the world doing deeds,  and I guess this is a self mythology and Joseph Campbell without question has  gathered quite clearly all the pan-global myths and has articulated a pretty distinct underpinning of man’s journey, a kind of hero’s journey. He talks about Prometheus, Jason and so on. He talks about all these journeys and he really spoke to me. I have been out there on this mythological journey. I think it is very true and we are all mythological beasts and we follow the stages of mythology whether we know it or not.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth

Fall On Your Knees

1001 Arabian Nights

Don Quixote, Miguel  de Cervantes

Short stories by Alice Munroe

Bill Moyer’s Interview with Joseph Campbell, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth: He asks the pivotal questions and collates the information for us

Ann Michael’s Fall On Your Knees: I love poets who become writers. The story is about the Canadian experience, very richly articulated.

Short stories by Alice Munroe: I love Alice Munroe. She can make even the most mundane experience a kind of graceful experience. She is regarded as the best short story writer in the world.

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

Movie: The 2001 Space Odyssey

Music: The Greatest Hits of Leonard Cohen

What excites you about life?

Beauty

How do you nurture your soul?

Beauty, I am in the gems business

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

I have got most of what I want so maybe I wish to be more tolerant, less hostile,  and to be more compassionate

Complete the following, I am happy when…..

I am beginning a project, the creative first few days of a project. And after a long night of dancing

What gems of wisdom can you glean from this interview? What aspects of the interview can you apply to your situation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content.

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Did you say thank you today? Which five books, one music CD and movie would you like to have on a deserted island? What does success mean to you and how do you define it? Read Gina’s responses in Part Two of  her interview. Use this information because we are on this journey together. Let’s learn from the wisdom and experiences of others.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I’m a wife and mother who runs her own strategic marketing and communications consultancy in London, with a portfolio of very exciting clients.

All the people I work with, both clients and associates, are smart, ambitious and great at what they do. It’s a great fun being a Director of a famous restaurant and food company like Cafe Spice Namaste in London; we’ve just launched a new product in a very fashionable department store, and our Chef Patron, Cyrus Todiwala, has just been awarded an OBE by the Queen. Editing Leader, an e-zine for the global luxury hospitality market (http://www.profile-recruitment.com) is fantastic too, giving me the excuse to visit and meet some incredible places and people around the  world. I also work with a brilliant communications expert who happens to handle PR  in the UK for the world’s largest hotel brand. Everything I do is very stimulating and over the years, my work has been extremely diverse.

The fact that I work with people with similar values to mine helps. After the ‘me-first’ culture of the last decade, a sense of community and collaboration is important. Being part of peer networks, such as the Worshipful Company of Marketors, the City livery company for marketing professionals, is excellent because it has a civic and charity focus as well.  I’m also very keen to help raise the profile and economic empowerment of women, through organisations like the 50,000-strong The International Alliance for Women (TIAW), of which I’m a Board member. They do wonderful things like promote micro-credit, mentoring and entrepreneurship.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Nurture the people who give to you, always give back. Also, someone I spoke to recently said that one of his mottos was ‘you can’t have two faces’. Treat everyone with equal respect. That is so true.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

In my heart, my family – including my extended family – takes precedence, which is probably owing to my Asian roots. They know this, so their behaviours enable me to give my work precedence if that makes sense.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

That I didn’t spend enough time with my two younger sisters when I was growing up. I was too busy wanting to be ‘one of the boys’ as I’m the middle child with two older brothers!

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

Respect yourself and all people; b) never give up and that’s different from cutting your losses c) know that you can’t know everything, d) trust in Someone or something higher; e) never forget to say thank you.

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

A good book, French choral music or a Bach cantata. I also enjoy listening to Beethoven’s piano concertos, particularly when rendered by Mitsuko Uchida.

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

Reading almost everything I can get hold of, including adverts in the tube. Walking around London. Talking to people.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

In dreams begin responsibilities – Yeats. It shows that imagination and desire aren’t enough; we have to take action to make things come true.

How do you define success?

Being content with what you have, but knowing you have journeyed from here to there and not stood still.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success?

The same as luck – the marriage of preparation and opportunity.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Generally, I was never afraid to try something new and see where it would lead.  I didn’t have fixed ideas and notions about myself. When I did, I knocked on the right doors. But I was lucky always to have an orbit of good and wise people around me for support.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Audrey Hepburn – ‘How did you do it?’ – Her elegance and style are almost cliche, but she is after all an icon. She was apparently a very decent person, and she took her UN charity work extremely seriously. She had an aura of quiet dignity.

Virginia Woolf – ‘Why did you do it?’ – She was the subject of my Masters dissertation years back at Newcastle University, and I focused on her voluminous diaries.  Her death was abrupt and premature, although not surprising given her history of illness, and it deprived literature of a razor sharp pen. I like the way she to an extent turned her back on stifling upper-class Victorian tradition and was unashamed to use her brains, talent and art to make a living. To me, she’s part of the tradition of great women adventurers and innovators — she introduced us to a whole new landscape of writing.

Siri Hustvedt – ‘How did you learn to think and write like that?’ – Her books, specifically What I Loved and The Sorrows of An American are deep and unusual character studies and she offers not so much plots as enquiries. They’re quite unnerving, and always beautifully written.

Hillary Clinton – ‘What keeps you going?’ – She is a marvel to watch, because she never stops pushing boundaries.  I was trying to choose between her and Nancy Pelosi, but running for President, being a Senator and now Secretary of State nudges her a couple of feet forward. Few make the mistake now of referencing her as the wife of Bill Clinton.

F Scott Fitzgerald – ‘Who was Jay Gatsby?’ – Another writer, I’m afraid, but the truth of The Great Gatsby and the fascinating circus that was the jazz age revisited us in the last three decades, imploding less than two years ago. So much been written about them, but I don’t think we’ll ever unlock the mysteries lurking behind our modern day Jay Gatsbys.

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I read it every year for four consecutive years in my teens. It was about honouring land, tradition and a way of life, but also about rebuilding things that had been destroyed and accepting change.

The noblest characters weren’t always the main ones, which has some universal truth  about it.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

The Bible – Timeless wisdom and, depending on the edition, arguably the best written novel in history – and every word rings true.

Gone with the Wind –Margaret Mitchell.  The American Civil War signals the end of an era.  One woman decides she must not only survive the change, but thrive in it.

A Summons to Memphis – Peter Taylor – Pulitzer Prize novel about a  son who discovers the meaning of forgiveness when summoned home to help his sisters keep an elderly father from remarrying.

New Hart’s Rules – The handbook of Style for Writers and Editors – All the guidance you need to get the technicalities right.

Letters Between Six Sisters – edited by Charlotte Moseley – the glamorous and scandalous Mitford girls, in their own words

Have you read any books that inspired you to start a business, service or invent “something”? If yes, which book?

No book in particular, but I have always read business journals and magazines – Fortune, Business Week, the Economist.  As it happens, as much for the style as the content.

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

French Choral Music by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge directed by Timothy Brown.

Shoot the Moon, a film directed by Alan Parker. Ostensibly sad, but ultimately life affirming…especially for women with ‘Faith’

What excites you about life?

People, and the endless possibilities for innovation and reinvention.

How do you nurture your soul?

Good music and good books. The Zoroastrians – and I have met many to admire — have a good mantra: good thoughts, good words, good deeds, which seems to be a recipe for peace of mind.

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

That my son grows up to be decent and successful, in that order.

Complete the following, I am happy when…

I am working, and when surrounded by family and friends.

What aspects of Gina’s story can you apply to your situation? What would be your five great ideas and takeaways from this interview? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

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About Gina McAdam

Before founding Stratemarco, a successful London-based marketing and communications consultancy, in 2003, Gina was Head of Marketing and later Head of Policy Development & Public Affairs for the National Training Organisation for the UK hospitality and tourism sector. Today, she is a highly-regarded communications expert whose work brings her into regular contact with leaders of some of the best known brands in the UK and global hospitality and tourism industry. Highly versatile, she also undertakes assignments for key public,private and voluntary organisations beyond the sector.

Gina was raised near Washington DC and Manila. Moving away from the family traditions of law, banking, agriculture and medicine, she started her career in advertising for Ace-Compton/Saatchi & Saatchi in Manila where she handled various Proctor & Gamble accounts, and at J Walter Thompson Advertising Company, handling the Anne Klein, Cacharel and SC Johnson brands. After that, she travelled extensively, writing and teaching in Madrid and working in publishing in New York. Today, she is regularly invited to contribute pieces to publications in the Far East – it is her way of keeping in touch with her Asian roots.

Highly committed to diversity in the workplace, Gina has been on the board of City Women’s Network (CWN) and is now on the board of The International Alliance of Women (TIAW). She is a member of the European Professional Women’s Network and a Changemaker for the UK charity Working Families.

Gina is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors, and a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), for whom she was a guest speaker at the 2008 IABC Eurocomm Conference in Barcelona. She is a member of the Institute of Director, and holds an MA in English & American Literature from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and is an alumnus of De La Salle University, Manila and Henley Management College, Windsor.

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I know there is a lot of information, but go through it slowly and think about it. At some point I will have a PDF of the interviews for download. While reading, jot down the information that applies to your unique situation. How would you answer the interview questions. After you have read the interview extract what you perceive as five great ideas.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I am a 48-year old woman, married to a Danish man. We have four children together ages 9-23. Our daughter is the oldest and only the two youngest live at home. I am from Houston, Texas, and moved to Denmark (to a small town north of Copenhagen) in 1985.

Since 1988 we have lived in an old house, built in 1922, which we have refurbished and continue to change and maintain. We also have a fairly big lot, by Danish standards, and one rooster and 11 hens. I spend a lot of money on organic vegetables and fruit as well as milk. I have cut down on the amount of frequency of our meat consumption. I also whole-heartedly support Obama and am very concerned about the environment.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

I have had domestic help for years. We just got an au pair and that has really helped. Housework is important but boring, time consuming, and perpetual. (Note from Avil: au pairs share responsibility for the family and some of the housework)

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

That I haven’t travelled more. Still so many places I haven’t seen.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

1. Learn to listen.
2. It is better to give than receive, especially when it’s unexpected.
3. The golden rule still applies.
4. Love is infinite—your children teach you this.
5. Good health, physical and mental, really is priceless.

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

Food, friends, family, films

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

Swimming laps, jogging, and listening to great talk radio.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

There’s a better way to do it. Find it! Thomas Edison

How do you define success?

I think it has something to do with being honest, realistic, and altruistic to an extent.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success?

Devoting time to focus on the right things

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Not so sure that I have but I do keep up and change the content of a course to be as relevant as possible.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

If you don’t love it, leave it. Do something else. There are a lot of options.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Nelson Mandela, Obama, Bruce Springsteen, Albert Einstein, Peter Drucker. I wouldn’t say much, just listen and feel

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

Maybe Robert Pirsig’s Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance because it is so brutally honest and goes into such depth about quality.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

Books I haven’t read yet. Comprehensive books about philosophy, literature, history, art and science/technology

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

That’s really tough. It would have to be something that didn’t make me feel lonely.

What excites you about life?

Having choices, freedom and happiness

How do you nurture your soul?

Eclectic choices in reading, music and food

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

That the natural aging process on my body wasn’t so overt

Complete the following, I am happy when…..

I feel loved

What are three takeaway from Lynn’s interview? How can you apply Linda’s interview? Which aspects resonated with you? What are your five great ideas? Here are 10 great ideas that I pulled from the complete interview.

10 Great Ideas

1. Simplify difficult to understand information
2. Understand the different learning styles so that you can improve communication (Three learning styles are visual, auditory and kinesthetic)
3. People have different perspectives on what they perceive as being important
4. Read, read, read
5. Travel and see the world
6. Keep improving the way you do things. Thomas Edison said, “There’s a better way to do it.”
7. Focus on the things that will take you where you need to go
8. Change to remain relevant
9. You always have options
10. “If you don’t love it, leave it. Do something else.”

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

About Lynn Kahle

Originally from Houston, Texas, Lynn has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark since 1985. She holds a degree in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University and worked in industrial sales (pipe, valves and fittings) in Texas and joined Brüel & Kjaer in Denmark in the electro-acoustics department, heading up sales and marketing of studio microphones.

Since 1989, Lynn has been an associate professor of international marketing at Copenhagen University College of Engineering, global business engineering department, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Copenhagen Business School’s marketing department. Her topic is Experience Innovation, which is what led her to the GEL (Good Experience Live) conference and Creative Good. She produced euroGel2006 in Copenhagen and is the moderator for Executive Council 9.

Lynn is married to a Dane and they have four children, an old house, and lots of Wyandot hens and one rooster.

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Today is Part Two of the Brian Johnson interview. I’m sure that once again you’ll glean information that you can act on. I have found Brian to be a very happy person and his interview will inspire you to be the best that you can be.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I love wisdom, and that makes me a philosopher. I also love creating cool businesses that allow me to do what I love in service to the world and that’s why I’m currently focusing my energy on PhilosophersNotes where I’m sharing the Big Ideas from the world’s greatest teachers that I hope will inspire and empower people to live their greatest lives.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

That presupposes they are separate.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

There are a number of relationships it would be nice to go back and handle more gracefully and wisely, but it’s clear that all the experiences I’ve had were exactly what needed to happen when they happened (as evidenced by the fact that they happened), so I prefer to celebrate and embody the lessons learned.

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

I’ve been deeply inspired by so many books and talk about how each of them have inspired me throughout the PhilosophersNotes!

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

Current mood says I’d bring:

The PhilosophersNotes Workbook – Imagine 1,000 of the best “Big Ideas” from 100 of the world’s greatest self-development books neatly organized into 100 separate 6-page mini-books put into a sexy workbook—turn to any page and get inspired with a Big Idea that can literally change your life. If I could only take one book, it’d be this one.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s collected essays – Emerson is my hero. He’s pretty much the great-great-grandfather of the self-development movement and his integration of eastern and western philosophy is amazing.

“The How of Happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky – This is, in my opinion, the best, most comprehensive yet totally readable look at what we know scientifically works to boost our happiness (and why we should care). I didn’t have a “what one book would you recommend book” before this one.

“A Joseph Campbell Companion” – I love Campbell. Gotta have some of his mojo with me on the island and if I could somehow bind everything he’s written in a big collected works book, I’d take that.

“The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” by Deepak Chopra. This is one of the books that catalyzed a big change in my life so I’d bring it, too. Another asterisk here that if there was some way to put everything he’s written into a big book, I’d want that.

Have you read any books that inspired you to start a business, service or invent “something”? If yes, which book?

I’d say “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” by Michael Gelb inspired me to create my ideal life when I read it in 2001, so let’s go with that.

Complete the following, I am happy when…

I am most happy when I am being true to my Highest self and living the ideals in which I believe.

Now that you have read the entire interview, what are your thoughts? How can you apply some of Brian’s wisdom? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. If you got to this post via search engine, please consider subscribing.

I created the presentation below for a Slideshare competition, but while I was creating it I had my blog readers in mind because I thought it would be beneficial to you. Please let others know about it if you find it useful. In the presentation there are influential book lists that can help you decide what to read.

There are clickable links within the presentation to make it easy to download the reading lists as well as visit the websites mentioned.

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Invisible Mentors are asked which one book had a profound impact on their life, and if you were stranded on a deserted which five books would you like to have with you. The one influential book is often among desert island books, but in this instance, Invisible Mentor David Gray’s influential book was different from his desert island books.

David Gray’s Influential & Desert Island Books

1. Hero of a Thousand Faces [Influential Book]  – Joseph Campbell (He taught me to ‘follow my bliss)
2. Don Quixote – Miguel De Cervantes (The first modern novel, this book revolutionized the imaginative approach to the then core myth of Chivalry, itself a central concept in most European’s self-construct. This book reminds us never to take at face value the assumptions of the society in which we happen to live because of vagaries of our birth in a particular geographical space, social context and time)
3. The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History – Philip Bobbitt (An erudite and sweeping review of European history until the 19th century and then an analysis of world history in the 20th and early 21st centuries viewed from the dual perspectives of Law and War. This book provides a context within which to grasp the complex geopolitics of the world we currently live in)
4. The Poetry of Robert Frost – edited by Edward Connery Lathem (This book reminds one that the only life worth living is one including a degree of reflection)
5. The Measure of a Man: a Spiritual Autobiography – Sidney Poitier (This book teaches a man how to live as a man. In a day and age when men are increasingly out of touch with their essential masculinity, Poitier’s story of his personal challenges, triumphs and philosophy of life reads like a melodic breath of very fresh air)
6. Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fuelled His Greatness – Joshua Wolf Shenk (A biography that reads like a detective novel. The real Lincoln is far more fascinating and inspiring than the manufactured American myth of the man. Like Poitier’s book, this one provides insights into what is possible to achieve and, far more importantly, what it means to live life as a man who is true to his own vision, come hell or high water. Interestingly, in Lincoln’s case it was the hellfire of a bullet, whereas for Poitier it was a near-death experience with high water)

April 2009 Book List

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Hero of a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell

Don Quixote, Miguel De Cervantes

The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History, Philip Bobbitt

The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem

The Measure of a Man: a Spiritual Autobiography , Sidney Poitier

Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fuelled His Greatness , Joshua Wolf Shenk

While reading any of the books on the list, identify concepts that you can apply to work and life. Can you also identify any compelling reasons why anyone would want to take these books on a desrted island? What are five books that you would like to have with you on a deserted island?

Photo Credits: Avil Beckford

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