Yesterday I was reading some material as preparation for a meeting and I found this thought on leadership

You’ve got to be constructive and you’ve got to be paranoid; you can’t be paralysed, because paralysed is one stage away from being dead.

The paranoid thought really struck me. There really is strong element of paranoia within corporate culture. And these same people parrot that you can’t win a race by looking over your shoulder. Is there even a race? It seems obvious thast competition has the instinct for survival at its root. Yet we live from another perspective. Zen Meditation in Plain English has this to say

To sit is to be at home, to be upright; it is to be intimate, relaxed and yet alert. Without day-dreaming, thinking or blanking out, we count or watch our breath and allow experiences to pass unpursued and unavoided. Gradually in sitting a deeper and clearer awareness of who we are, of what our life is, becomes possible. The illusory gap between inner and outer worlds is (gradually or suddenly) seen for what it is, and in this way, we can become more fully in touch with our world and relate to it more compassionately and productively.

I like the thought about productivity coming from a spiritual base. I think though that the writer should have added “creatively” as well.

To live life more compassionately, more productively, more creatively. Is this the outcome of developing skillful means? I think so. It sure beats paranoia.