U.N.I.Q.U.E. - Growing The Leader Within
Debra Slover

December 31, 2007 by Don McCauley

Leaders are born, not made.
Leaders are made, not born.

These two statements, diametrically opposed in every way, lie at the heart of a debate that has raged within the human community for a very long time. Now, which it true?

The answer is that both statements are correct.

There are some born who simply will fall into a leadership role by virtue of personality. These people become leaders because the skills necessary for leadership are simply innate to that particular personality. These people cannot BE swayed from treading that lonely path, for their own personality naturally leads them time and again into the role.

 Others, through circumstance or happenstance, fall into the role and are literally forced to the front of the line. These people, by virtue of rank, standing or seniority, have the yolk sometimes literally forced upon them. They are given a quick slap on the back or a congratulatory handshake and are expected to somehow magically and instantly develop the skill set necessary for the successful accomplishment of the particular goal at hand. 

 However leaders, whether born or made, have no guarantee of achieving success in the role. Becoming a leader is one thing; becoming an effective leader is quite another story indeed. It goes without say that there have been many who have taken on the leadership role only to fail miserably. This begs the question: What makes for an effective leader?

 I propose that to be an effective leader, there is a singular, necessary ‘skill’ that must be developed. That ‘skill’, if we can refer to it as such, is that one must learn to lose one’s ego. This is very easy to say, but is extremely difficult to accomplish. The effective leader, in nearly every case, does not build followers. The effective leader builds more leaders. This is the common thread, the trait that all successful leaders throughout our collective history have shared. For only by losing one’s ego will one’s mind open up to gladly accept all the other ideas one must embrace and utilize to build more leaders. What are those other skills?

 Debra Slover, the author of ‘U.N.I.Q.U.E. Growing The Leader Within’ understands intimately the theories underlying the building of effective leadership. Certainly theoretical understanding is necessary, however it is but the first step. If someone is to teach and teach effectively, the student must have faith that the teacher has been there and done that. Debra Slover has been there. And she certainly has done that.

 ‘U.N.I.Q.U.E. Growing The Leader Within’ is sweeping in range yet stunning in its simplicity. For here Debra employs one of the oldest and most effective teaching techniques ever devised by man: the fable.

 Our greatest teachers have, to a person, fallen back upon the simple parable to communicate to us the most complex of ideas in a manner that is easily understood. The method she employs here, the story of a Leadership Farm, accomplishes the goal perfectly.

 The fable begins when Hugh, a lost sheep who represents the heart, mind, and spirit in each of us, wanders onto the Leadership Farm. Here he meets a host of characters, all of which have very specific lessons to teach. Each character he meets represents an aspect of the journey towards learning to become that effective leader.

 This story not only teaches, it also enlivens and entertains. We have the opportunity to meet Leda, a compassionate gardener and her husband Aristotle. At the outset Annabelle, a graceful Border collie, takes the ever-innocent Hugh under her wing and the journey begins.

 I am trying very hard not to give the story away though I greatly wish to do so. It is simply delightful. Around every corner on the journey a fresh, new and enlightening lesson awaits Hugh. And it awaits you.

 Each of the lessons presented here is clearly reinforced, both within and outside of the fable. Hugh is asked what he has learned as the result of a particular experience. The reader is then given an exercise that will allow the reader to see how this lesson relates to the readers ‘real life’ situation. Each and every lesson it presented in such a way as to be perfectly clear and extremely concise.

 What is so unique here is the acronym itself. U.N.I.Q.U.E. is defined here as the Understanding, Nurturing, Inventive, Quality, Unstoppable, Expression of leadership. Debra is a real fan of acronyms and she employs them very effectively here.

 Though the words are simple, the lessons are not. However, Debra’s simple use of simple words reveals an uncanny knack for making the most complex of ideas easily understandable.

 We believe that leadership is a special quality. It is not. The spirit of the leader does not lie solely within the leader; it lies within each and every one of us. It matters not at all what role you might play, be it parent, teacher, grandparent, coach, counselor, minister, civic leader, employer or employee. The central message found here in this wonderful story is that you, specifically you, have within you the power to have a positive impact upon those you meet, be it standing at a podium or standing in line at the local grocery store.

 Debra hits us squarely between the eyes with this message. She has faith in every one of us and she has the ability to communicate that faith to us clearly. She empowers us and exhorts us. She steadfastly refuses to draw that hard line in the sand we so easily draw. You are a leader, though you may know it not. And, much like Hugh, you will get that message here in this book.

The failure of a particular task does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that the individual person attempting that task is a failure as a person. We have a marked tendency to believe otherwise.

Everyone is a leader. All leaders fail at times. If we can learn to accept this simple idea, we have learned one of the primary lessons Debra Slover attempts to teach.

The Ghosts Of Turtle Nest
Edith Edwards

Every now and then we encounter a writer with an extraordinary gift. We have found such a writer in Edith Edwards.

These rare souls are more than simple run-of-the-mill, everyday storytellers. They have an ability that many of us sorely and sadly lack. Some writers have the ability to put us in a place. Some authors have the ability to put us in another’s shoes. Most wielders of the pen can do that, albeit some better than others. But the writers who truly stand apart from the crowd are the writers who have the ability to put us squarely inside another’s head. 

Edith Edwards has that singular, uncanny talent.

The Ghosts of Turtle Nest is the story of bright, ambitious Connie Edmonds. Thirty years ago, Connie failed to help prevent the suicide of a fellow WAC, then lied at the investigation. The WAC’s father, a prominent senator, vows to make Connie’s life miserable.

In spite of this, Connie has built the most successful real estate development company in eastern North Carolina. But guilt from her earlier actions, added to the pressure of dealing with the malicious senator, push Connie to the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Suzanne Marshburn, a ghost of the Civil War era, warns Connie through a spiritual medium about the dangers of blaming herself. Suzanne has her own secrets to hide—secrets of betrayal, murder, and mental illness. Connie learns of the murder of a cruel slave owner and the story of the death of a Confederate spy. Additionally, she must challenge the spirit that appears whenever she becomes close to a man.

Father Robin Benson, priest of the local Episcopal Church, has fallen in love with Connie. Robin also wrestles demons that threaten his relationships. Set in coastal North Carolina, local history and beauty interweave in this unforgettable story, with characters becoming forces of their own.

All of that, in and of itself, promises to be a wonderfully good read, based on just the plot alone. But this book is so much more than that. Edith Edwards takes us from the coasts of North Carolina to the jungles of Vietnam with equal ease. One moment we can feel the warm, salty water lapping at our ankles while the blazingly hot sun and cool breezes wash simultaneously over the rest of our body. The next moment we experience a person being gruesomely blown to smithereens right in front of our face, torn apart by a surprise landmine. 

In both cases we feel as though we are right there, in that scene. One minute we are speaking with a decided Southern accent and the next we are swearing like the proverbial drill sergeant. In both cases we can feel it. We can hear it. We live it. Truly she is a master of the descriptive phrase.

Edith’s ability to deftly turn a phrase is outshone only by her ability to allow us to overhear the internal dialogue that her characters experience. Describing a feeling is one thing; experiencing a feeling is quite another. Edith does not describe her character’s feelings. No indeed. She allows us to experience these feelings in such depth that it is at times excruciating. This is the mark of true talent. This is a skill that cannot be taught, nor can it be learned. It is innate. It is natural. It is a gift. And she has it.

Edwards takes us on a journey that is at once physical, mental and spiritual. It is almost as though we walk with her through the minds of these delightful characters. This is what great writing is all about. This is why we read; no not for the words but for the experience. It is the ability to create this experience in another that the mediocre writer lacks.

When we think back on those stories we have enjoyed the most in the past, I would hazard a guess that we fell in love with these tales because we fell out of our own bodies for a time and into the body of another – the character’s body. These books were not just a collection of pages we leafed through to pass an hour or two. These stories sucked us in and we were deaf and blind to the real world for a time. Like Dorothy in the tornado we were slammed down hard into an alternate reality – a fairy tale that, though not real, certainly seemed so.

This is the hallmark of the great piece of fiction. Edith Edwards has created such a piece here in The Ghosts of Turtle Nest.

The Calling: A Journey Within Your Own Being
Steven S. Sadlier

I know just a little about things spiritual.

For many long years I have engaged in the study of Christian mysticism combined with Buddhist philosophy, Hindu spiritual practices and Western psychology. I have devoured philosophy for breakfast, munched on quantum physics for lunch, had snacks of metaphysics in the afternoon and have then dined on fine cuts of new-age meditation techniques for dinner. For over three decades I have read everything I could get my hands on. During these 30+ years, not only have I read, I have practiced, sitting for endless hours in varying forms of prayer and meditation. I can quote scripture and philosophy with equal ease, I can chant and recite from memory with the best of them.

I have pushed my curious nose through what seems like every self-help and self-improvement book ever written in Western society, have explored Eastern philosophy to the point of being able to read Sanskrit and have spent years being enthralled by grandiose language detailing “mysteries”. Towards the latter part of my journey through the written word I found that many of the writings I leaned toward were wrapped up in ancient leather with some type of semi-secret symbol on the front, giving the impression that within could be found some mind-blowing, secret information that was quite out of the ordinary, reserved for just the few advanced souls made blissfully ready for the dropping of the Cosmic Bomb. Through the process I became ordained. I started several spiritual organizations. I wrote and published three books.

I know just a little about things spiritual.

At the very least, I recognize the truth when I encounter it. I encountered the truth this past weekend when I sat down and read ‘The Calling; A Journey Within Your Own Being’, written by Steven S. Sadleir.

At the base of all systems is one solitary, very simple truth. It takes many of us a very long time to find this simple truth. This is because as a rule, those who write about the truth are simply . . . well . . . not good writers. This is not the case here.

I remember years back, when I realized that I had at last achieved the goal, sitting at my desk and yelling to no one in particular, ‘Why didn’t someone just write this out for us in simple, easy to understand language?”

Now, at last, someone has.

Mr. Sadleir has written what I consider to be a masterpiece, stunning in its simplicity. Yes, it is a book, but it is so much more. It is a meditation. It is a transmission. Had he written this book 30 years ago, he would have saved me many years of wasted effort. For the truth is right here, right now, in this book.

Mr. Sadleir has studied with literally dozens of masters from all over the globe, including eight years spent apprenticing with Vethathiri Maharishi and has also undergone yoga tapas with Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj. He teaches both kundalini and Shaktipat meditation. He is the founder of the Self Awareness Institute and has tens of thousands of students all over the world. This, of course, is very impressive. However there is more here than one might expect.

He is a communicator par excellence. He has a rare and unique gift. He has the ability to say, in a single sentence, what might take other teachers volumes to explain.
All of our great teachers have had this gift; the ability to teach the most complex spiritual truths by telling a story about birds, or seeds planted in a field. The primary role of the teacher is to teach certainly, but to do so in a language that even a child can understand. Fancy language and grandiose terms serve only to confuse. Mr. Sadleir understands this and so provides the reader with an experience unlike any other I have ever encountered.

I was taken quite aback by the style. It could not be more perfect. Mr Sadleir speaks to the reader directly, as though sitting right in the room. I hesitate to use the word yet again but it is not so much a book as it is a direct transmission of knowledge, using paper and ink as the medium. His experience as a master and as a teacher is flawlessly transferred though these beautifully written words.

Every few paragraphs we are asked to stop. To breathe. To close our eyes. To consider. To think. This is not reading. This is experiencing.

His Spirit speaks directly to the Spirit in us, for his Spirit IS the Spirit in us. He cajoles. He leads. He gently pulls us forward. He lovingly takes our hand and walks with us into the Light.

He pauses now and again, from beginning to end, to allow our own Spirit room to speak to us in a language we already understand. This book is a tour of the province of the Soul. He stops now and again and allows us to gaze upon that which we have longed to see. Then he moves us on to the next landmark. Like a Zen master pointing at the moon, he points us directly to that which is but our Self. He does not just show us the way; he treads the path with us.

It has been said that ‘those who know little, speak much; those who know much speak little.’ Mr. Sadleir understands this. This book is a mere 100 pages. The knowledge imparted here though could, indeed already has, filled entire libraries.

As a reviewer, I seldom give such high praise. I will in this case. Any seeker of any age desiring to slip into the gently flowing stream of spiritual enlightenment could benefit greatly from reading this work. It should be on the required reading list for those who wish to reach out and not only touch, but also to directly experience the Source of All That Is.

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