One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership

ONE is about the journey we have traveled from oneness to separateness. It is the journey from a conscious awareness that we are all part of one story, one planet, and one cosmic system, to our current belief that everything and all of us are separate. Now, more than any other time in our history, we are in need of inspired leadership. This new vision of life and leadership can be ours when we return to oneness.

In Part 1, "Myth, Mystery and Magic", Dr. Lance Secretan presents an incisive history of our journey, describing how we came to think in compartmentalized ways--and how we can think again as one, and find a new meaning in work and leadership. Secretan describes the reality of oneness by pointing out whenever we suffer pain or sadness it is because we have separated from what or whom we love. All our human trials can be explained and resolved through this awareness.

Secretan uses many inspiring examples to advance his theory that there are never actions without consequences, because we are one. If I throw my pop can out of my car window, I may think that this is no longer part of my world because I have moved on--but I would be wrong. If millions of others do the same, rivers will become polluted and my drinking water will be at risk. If we bull-doze suppliers to provide more services and higher quality at lower prices and, by doing so, eventually drive them out of business, we will both lose because suppliers and customers are one. However, realizing that we must think, feel and act with oneness is the easy part.

Part 2, "The CASTLE Principles," explains how to accomplish living in oneness. CASTLE is an acronym formed of the first letters of six concepts--Courage, Authenticity, Service, Truthfulness, Love and Effectiveness--The CASTLE® Principles. Like all fundamental concepts, these are simple ideas--well known to us all. The new part is living them more than talking about them.

When fully lived, these principles are profoundly transformative and inspiring. There is nothing new to learn here--no great theory, breakthrough or equation. The CASTLE® Principles are concepts that at some stage in our lives have been fully lived at least once. But, for many, have been lost, and now we yearn to reclaim them. It is through living the CASTLE® Principles that we inspire others and therefore make the world more inspiring and whole--the return to oneness for which we all yearn. This is how greatness is achieved.