The Wounded Leader

The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network

Ten years ago, Laura Tucker participated in the now infamous Spiritual Warrior retreat in which three people died. These deaths lead to the conviction of the retreat’s leader, James Arthur Ray, of three counts of negligent homicide, and became a case study of the excesses of charismatic leadership. The story of that infamous event is chronicled in the CNN documentary, “Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray.”

A leadership coach, Tucker here talks about what she learned from the incident, how to recognize authentic forms of leadership, and the forces that might cause well-intentioned charismatic individuals to veer to the dark side.

Although it's easy to ghettoize the Ray's behavior as specific to New Age or self-help communities, Tucker reminds us that inappropriate leadership exists everywhere, and is endemic in political, religious and corporate life. "We all have the capacity to slide down the continuum from authentic leadership to the egotistic, hubristic kind," she says.

In addition to sharing her beliefs about leadership, Tucker here talks about how her practice of self-care helped ease her passage back to post-retreat life, how encouraging others to practice self-care is central to her coaching practice, and her newest project, "The Summer of Self Care."

Links:

• Laura's site
• Laura's Free Your Inner Guru podcast
• Diversity and Spirituality Network's site
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