Rediscovering America's Soul with Mark Gerzon

MP3 Download

Mark Gerzon invites you to join a campaign--not Republican, Democratic or Independent-- but American. Describing the different ideologies contending for the soul of America today, Gerzon provides a useful guide for leading us back to the principles upon which this country was founded. "Instead of pledging allegiance to the United States," Gerzon says we are "pledging allegiance" to whatever political party or special interest group we belong to. We forget that "democracy begins at the moment we meet people who don't think like us," and is not just about having our say, but about listening well to other's truth and finding a common ground upon which we can all stand. Gerzon advocates spiritually based political activism--stepping outside our own egos to realize that our truth is only part of the whole truth. He gives reasons to feel hopeful about America's future, and the tools to co-create the kind of America we all aspire towards. (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

Mark Gerzon is co-founder and co-director of the Global Leadership Network, an international organization whose members are leadership trainers from every region of the world. Among the Network's projects are a book on the global dimensions of leadership, and a Global Leaders program being designed in partnership with Outward Bound International. He has also served as a consultant to the United Nations Development Program and its Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery.

He is the author of:

• American Citizen, Global Citizen: How Expanding Our Identities Makes Us Safer, Stronger, Wiser - And Builds a Better World (Spirit Scope 2010)
• Leading Through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities (Harvard Business Press 2006)
• Listening to Midlife (Shambhala 1995)

To learn more about the work of Mark Gerzon go to www.markgerzon.com.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• How the media affects your ability to trust
• Six belief systems struggling for supremacy in America today and how they impact you
• Recognizing that you are a minority
• The value of listening (especially to your adversaries)
• How you can participate in the new patriotism
• Beginning your own search for common ground
• Spiritually based political activism
• The positive and negative qualities inherent in every belief system
• How cynicism has become a treasured American value
• The fallacy of expecting the "government to handle it"