One of the biggest benefits about living in the state of Washington has to be the ability to enjoy the diverse outdoor experience. Whether it is the beauty of our majestic Mt. Rainier and the Cascade Mountains or the many miles of sandy beaches, there is plenty to see and enjoy. Other than kiting, one of the common family summer coastal past times is building sandcastles. Besides needing a bit of an artistic flare and an architectural imagination a person building a sandcastle needs good moist sand and a few basic tools. The basic steps are quite simple. With moist sand the first need is to pack the sand in small lifts to the height of their design. Once the mound is packed tightly the process is carving the castle. This is best done working from the top down and shaving away thin layers of sand so you can maintain control of the carving process. The rest is up to the builder\u2019s imagination and the rising of the tide.<\/p>\n
Dr. Simon Walker a British researcher and author[1]<\/a> specializes in the area of steering cognition, the study of how our brains gravitate toward certain stimulus and not paying attention to others. It focuses on the mental processes that help us make sense of the world around us.[2]<\/a> In his leadership trilogy The Undefended Leader<\/em>, he explores multiple aspects and applications of leadership, as well as, unfolds his theory on human ecology.[3]<\/a> In book one, Leading out of Who You Are: Discover the Secret of Undefended Leadership <\/em>he looks at the many foundation fundamentals of being a leader. In book two, Leading with Nothing to Lose: Training the Exercise of Power <\/em>he delves into the exploration of the power of leadership.[4]<\/a> Book three, Leading with Everything to Give: Lessons from the Success and Failure of Western Capitalism<\/em> he looks at the impact of a leaders action on others and how things are interrelated on a global cultural level.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n In Leading with Everything to Give<\/em> Walker states \u201cWestern Society has systematically undermined its own social, moral and economic foundations over the last century.\u201d[6]<\/a> He then unfolds the foundational importance society brings through providing stability, creating limits and allowing freedom. For him the weakening of western societies tipping point pivots around the Oxford debate between Wilberforce and Huxley over Darwin\u2019s Evolutionary theory which was viewed as an attack on the Christian views of creationism. The result of the debate was the separation of science from the foundations of religious faith. Scientific thought was viewed as a better way to understand the world than Christianity. Though Walker openly sides with Huxley he did see the results of the debate as the dismantling of the churches creditability opening the door for morality to be viewed apart from the church. Individual freedom is removed from religious moral foundations and is now limited only by the limits of technology.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n The sad part about building sandcastles is they just don\u2019t last. Everyone knows that in the end it is an act of futility that cannot be preserved. Yet we build them anyway! To Walker the undermining of society has created a form of psychological fragility. Without a solid societal foundation, we are building a sandcastle and trying to protect it from the onslaught of the oceans rising tide.[8]<\/a> Sooner or later it will collapse. If Walker is correct in his assessments where does the credibility of the church stand today? Has post-modernism and the slow deconstruction of science trumps everything opened a door for the church to become more credible? I cannot help but wonder, over the past century how has the church participated in building sandcastles? What are we doing that can be systematically be dismantling our core foundations?<\/p>\n The Matrix movie trilogy depicts humanity enslaved to a society of machines in a computer-generated reality called the Matrix. The entire plot pivots on the idea that humanity will never be truly free as long as the matrix exists. The bottom-line issue is who is in control. The problem with control is \u201cControl offers us an illusion of escape from the chaotic world we inhabit into a constructed reality in which there is order and predictability.\u201d[9]<\/a> Are we truly ever in total control of everything around us? \u00a0Walker believes the primary purpose and task of a leader is not to control but to enable people to take responsibility for their lives, helping them to mature toward \u201cresponsible personhood.\u201d Real leadership is embracing our \u201cfull humanity\u201d and participating in the world around us by leading ourselves in every level of life.[10]<\/a> In other words leadership starts at home. it starts with leading ourselves. Why is it that we try so hard to export what we ourselves have failed to import? What is it about judging someone buy a standard we ourselves don\u2019t adhere to that make us feel better about ourselves? Maybe the idea of control is just another form of building sandcastles!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Dr. Walker, DProf, MTh, MA Oxon, BTh, MBsPS, APECS has more letters behind his name than the English alphabet.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> https:\/\/steeringcognition.org\/description.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> https:\/\/simonwalker.com\/biography\/4587805186<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Simon P. Walker, The Undefended Leader: Leading with Nothing to Lose<\/em>, (Carlisle, Piquant Editions Ltd, 2007) loc 70, Kindle<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Simon P. Walker, The Undefended Leader: Leading with Everything to Give<\/em>, (Carlisle, Piquant Editions Ltd, 2009) loc 96, Kindle<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Walker, Leading with Everything to Give<\/em>, loc.183, Kindle<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Walker, Leading with Everything to Give<\/em>, loc. 261-279, Kindle<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Walker, Leading with Everything to Give, <\/em>loc 454, Kindle<\/p>\n