POETIC LEADERSHIP: A TERRITORY OF AESTHETIC CONSCIOUSNESS AND CHANGE R. Amrit Kasten-Daryanani A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership & Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October, 2007 This is to certify that the dissertation entitled: POETIC LEADERSHIP: A TERRITORY OF AESTHETIC CONSCIOUSNESS AND CHANGE A DISSERTATION THAT INTRODUCES A NEW THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT OF LEADERSHIP BASED ON AESTHETIC MORALITY AND VALUES GROUNDED WITHIN CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH. Prepared by: R. Amrit Kasten-Daryanani is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: Carolyn Kenny, PhD, Chair Date Laurien Alexandre, PhD, Committee Member Date Jon Wergin, PhD, Committee Member Date Perie Longo, PhD, External Reader Date Copyright 2007 R. Amrit Kasten-Daryanani All rights reserved Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation has been an act of love that has known the support of many extraordinary people. It has first and foremost been made possible by the members of the Core Faculty at Antioch University, who have labored long to bring this magnificent program into being. To Elizabeth Holloway, Al Guskin, Peter Vaill, and Dick Couto you have encouraged my academic and personal growth through your wisdom, support and insight. Dick, your nod to pursue the secrets of the sacred texts was a surprising gift that I deeply appreciate. To Laurien Alexandre I offer deepest thanks for years of gracious advising and continuous enthusiasm for work which sometimes must have seemed overwhelmingly dense. To JonWergin I extend sincerest gratitude for allowing me to write a terribly funny but not very appropriate research redesign learning product. I will always remember your question, “You just want to have fun with this, don’t you?” Your laughter and humor have always brightened my way. And to Carolyn Kenny, guide and mentor, I offer profound thanks for the grace and gift of your being. You have surely tarried on the journey for the sake of us who come behind. I will strive to honor this gift, always. And to dear Deb Baldwin and Vickie Nighswander, who have poured heart and soul into making sure that every imaginable piece of scholarship is available to us and into keeping things running, I pay special tribute. You gift all of us in the program with i your passion and care. Finally, I must say a special “thank you” to Perie Longo, who has joined our program in agreeing to be the outside reader of this dissertation. Your encouragement to carry on through the darkness has been a great gift from a deeply poetic soul. The poem you sent rightly begins chapter nine. The presence and fellowship of all the members of Cohort 3 has been an enduring blessing. The comradeship that I experienced with this exceptional group of individuals has been an amazing experience. Please know, each of you, that I have treasured our time together. I wish to extend special thanks to the membership of dear Dialogue Group Two, Michael Shoop, Wendy Stack (and Mary, of course!), Sarah Hippensteel, Stan Vinson, and Raquel Gutierrez (who will always be a part of Group Two). We were always a quirky little group, and, somehow, we complimented each other well. I also wish to acknowledge Carole Bergeron and thank her for the warmth and kindness of her spirit. My participation in this program has long been supported by Peter Quinn, Headmaster of Wakefield School, who always saw to it that I could attend the required residencies. Peter, your unwavering enthusiasm for my academic pursuits has been an abiding gift through these many years. I also wish to thank Dr. Robert Root, Amanda Gonczi, Nancy Martin, Pat Tucker, Kelly Mihalyov, Dr. Dorothy Fontaine, Andrew Clubb, Evan Jones, Rhonda Clem, Jeannine McKee, Imogen Slade, Warren Shumate, Judy Lawrence, Matt Zontine, Jeff Nanni and Georgiana Watt for ii their friendship and for being such extraordinary colleagues. This journey would not have been possible without the support of my dearest Friends, Teresa Zutter and Roz Anderson. I remain humbled by the strength and depth of your regard and love. Your companionship has been especially important during this past year, and I will always remember your many acts of kindness, both great and small. Family members are particularly called on for support during a doctoral journey, and, I would like to thank my husband, Sikander, for years of financial support and an unwavering faith that I make a good investment. Your banker’s mind has truly been a blessing! I remain grateful for finding you, and for our remarkable journey together. Thank you for your love and for walking this road with me. And for my son, Nange, who has given me the nickname “Humphrey” during this journey, your laughter and love has meant the world to me. I promise never to make you call me “Dr.!” Finally, I must acknowledge Sylvie Bear, for her boundless affection and dear fuzzy face. She has been present for the writing of each and every page of this dissertation, usually close by my side, and has remained enthusiastic throughout. Rescued dogs rule! iii This dissertation is respectfully and lovingly dedicated to my parents, Duane Frank Kasten, Ph.D (1932-1969) and Mary Lou Sophia Kasten (1931-2007) Look well unto this day, For it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course Lie all the verities and realities of your existence: The bliss of growth The glory of action The splendor of beauty For yesterday is but a dream And tomorrow only a vision But today well lived makes yesterday a dream of happiness And tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore to this day. Such is the salutation to the dawn. - Kalidasa Written sometime between 170BC and 634AD. iv Abstract Poetic leadership is a new theoretical construct that views leadership as an activity that unites a lyrical intellect with keenly felt emotion for the purpose of producing changes in the consciousness of self and others. This change begins within the interiority of self, moving surely to broader realms of one’s surroundings and society, provoking movement that impacts the developing potential of the individual and the cultural milieu in which they exist. Emotion is the primary trace into consciousness used in this dissertation, which serves to unite experiences of the heart with experiences of the mind. The unification of theses disparate parts of self provides the foundation for the aesthetic experience, which transcends temporal and cultural boundaries, and, when consciously produced within the self, produces a poetic consciousness which in turn allows for the experience of poetic leadership. As activity that is situated within the experience of individual consciousness, yet is directed to external concerns, poetic leadership moves deeply into the territory of the group. Group consciousness thus becomes a concern, and so is defined as a scholarly construct unique to the field of leadership and change. Influence. ethical conduct, and cultural responsibility are all examined as key considerations impacting group processes, and are situated as primary concerns of poetic leadership processes. : “The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.” v Table of Contents Approval Copyright Acknowledgements i Dedication iv Abstract v Table of Contents vi Table of Diagrams ix Prologue x CHAPTER ONE 1 The journey begins 1 The need for a new construct of leadership 2 Considerations of consciousness 4 A place of poetic consciousness 7 The deep regions of poetic spirit and cognition 10 Considerations of ethics, aesthetics and power 16 Conceptualizing group consciousness 18 Activity of selfhood and poetic leadership 22 CHAPTER TWO 24 Background 24 Early Western theorists 24 Perspectives from behaviorism 26 Soviet Influences - Vygotsky 27 Western challenges to behaviorist perspectives – Miller & Chomsky 28 The troubled years – Timothy Leary & the US Government 29 The new era of scientific legitimacy – Koch, Crick & Damasio 32 Artificial Intelligence & Human Computer Interaction 36 An explosion of research – multidimensional perspectives 37 A Mysterian Perspective 44 Qualia and Lived Experience - Varela & Shear, Vermersch, Petitmengin-Peugeot 46 The meeting of East and West – Wallace, Wilber and the Mind Life Institute 52 vi CHAPTER THREE 59 Trends and Troubles in Consciousness Research 59 The Hard Problem of Consciousness 59 Second person perspectives 62 Interspecies perspectives 64 Linguistic perspectives 65 New domains and Eastern views 67 Reshaping our World - Neuroplasticity 68 Consciousness & Leadership Theory 74 CHAPTER FOUR 80 The Substance of Poetic Thought 80 Poetic imagination 80 Strains of a Music Long Past 83 Far-Eastern contributions 99 An aesthetic tradition 107 CHAPTER FIVE 108 On Linguistics and Limbic Systems 108 Story, myth, & emotional complexity 108 Linguistics, “felt change”, & aesthetic awareness 111 The power of metaphor 113 Metaphor & group process 117 Reflections of spirit 119 Metaphor universals 121 Poetic cognition & poetic consciousness 125 CHAPTER SIX 127 Light and Shadows 127 Luminosity 127 Myths of light 130 Power of the poetic voice 132 Chiaroscuro 136 CHAPTER SEVEN 140 Group Consciousness 140 Setting the Stage 140 Historical and Current Antecedents 141 An Introductory Definition 155 Group Consciousness and Emotion 165 vii CHAPTER EIGHT 168 An Aesthetic Ethic 168 Poetic Consciousness and Ethical Conduct 169 Power and the Group – Influence and Manipulation 169 Neurological Underpinnings of Ethical Reasoning 173 An Aesthetic Ethic 178 CHAPTER NINE 185 Poetic Leadership and the Aesthetic Ethic 185 The Eight Elements of Poetic Leadership 185 Purpose of Poetic Leadership 195 CHAPTER TEN 196 Future Directions 196 REFERENCES 200 viii Table of Diagrams Poetic Leadership Diagram 201 ix Prologue The impulse to bring a theoretical dissertation to life begs the question, “why?” The answers, of course, lie within the interiority of one’s own being.