Like a good referee in sports, good leadership creates a container of freedom while also establishing clear boundaries. Then, they stay out of the affairs of those involved and are all but invisible. The wisest leaders understand that trust begets trust, and thus entrust their constituents with freedom and a hands-off style of governance. This is not as simple as not governing at all, but rather allowing the Universal current to govern without intervening. Thus, as the Taoist expression goes: Wei wu Wei - or 'act, non-action'. This theme can be found in the Tao te Ching : 'The supreme rulers are hardly known by their subjects. The lesser are loved and praised. The even lesser are feared....

“During a meditation retreat, I asked my teacher: What does it mean to serve? He replied, ‘You’re always serving. The question is, what do you mean when you serve.’ His message resonated deeply – that I had a fixed idea in my head that one moment could be service and another could not be. How delusional that view all of a sudden became! ‘You’re always serving’, he said. ‘You’re always serving.’ Now, whenever consciously aware, I ask myself what I am in service to in THIS moment. In THIS moment….”
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"Taking responsibility for what you're responsible for. Watch out for excuse-makers (and watch yourself to see if you're one) — they make bad employees and bad friends. Listening more than talking. Heed the adage that we have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak. Those you speak with will felt "heard" and look forward to your next encounter. Being humble. Under-promising and over-delivering. Putting yourself in other people's shoes when you disagree with them. Surrounding yourself with people smarter than you. Knowing how and when to delegate — and when not to. Recognizing that we all descended from the same single-celled organism and are made from the same...

"Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, a great Zen master, said: 'Even though you try to put people under control, it is impossible. You cannot do it. The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let them do what they want, and watch them. This is the best policy. To ignore them is not good. That is the worst policy. The second worst is trying to control them. The best one is to watch them, just to watch them, without trying to control them.” In my understanding, this means that the less one impedes the natural freedom of those...