This month’s column was prompted by an especially thoughtful commencement address by Michael Ward, reproduced in the May/June 2015 issue of Imprimis (Hillsdale College). Ward, of course, encouraged the students to strive for success, but interestingly predicted that failure is inevitable and is to be engaged in with courage and reflection.

Ward’s encouragement to be reflective took me to the story of our friend Tom Inui and other observations in the last chapter in our recently released book, The Transformative Workplace (Transformations Press, 2015).

We first met Tom when he served as a senior scholar at the Fetzer Institute, where my wife, Carole, and I acted as learning advisors for the Institute’s Fellows and Scholars Program. The intention of the program was to engage emerging and established leaders in a long-term circle of transformation aimed at connecting the inner life of spirit with their outer action in the world.

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