The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America

David Whyte is a poet. This book is prose but everything Whyte does is poetical. You can see/hear him on You Tube. What a treat! The gift of his books is that you can pick them up for a moment any time for his combination of lyrical language and deep wisdom. He reluctantly began speaking to groups in the corporate world, but what he says to that world as summarized in this book and in Crossing the Unknown Sea is appropriate to us all - how to preserve your soul. His spins (I think that word best defines his chapters) go from story to myth to poetry and back to story, leaving you in awe, his personal revelations initiating your own. His topics include exploring your ancestry, discovering your vocation, knowing your fear, and finding your way to leadership, all of which involve being "faithful to our own eccentric nature and bringing it out in conversation with the world." His criticism of the corporate world is that it "has too little poetry, too little humanity, and too little good business sense for the world that lies before us." He see us replacing the word "manager" with "artist." Manager "conjures images of domination, command, and ultimate control, and the taming of a potentially wild energy." Whereas the artist's sensibility "understands that our place in this world can never be measured by the Dow Jones, that our ultimate arrival on our deathbed entitles us to other perspectives than mere fiscal success or the size of our retirement account." Well, I can't do him justice here. Just read and listen for yourself.

David Whyte, poet and philosopher, is a brilliant and likeable soul. This is one of his earliest works and a good representation of David as a young man. His escapades and how he grew:) He'll teach you without your realizing it because, as a storyteller, he's one of the best.

This is a profound book. The author is deeply versed in narratives that are the common treasures of the human race and are, to us, the received wisdom of our forebears (forebearers is not considered the correct term, by the way, and that is why I am not using it). He applies psychological insights he has gleaned from these archetypal stories to the life cycle of each human person. He is very helpful in encouraging business leaders to mine these stories to lead in ways that make it more likely the other co-creators in their workplace will engage all of themselves and not check their dispirited hearts at the door when they go to work. This results in a tremendous cost in profit, efficiency and human happiness.

I originally read The Heart Aroused in its first edition (published in 1994), and when I decided to buy a copy, I was delighted to find that it was revised in 2002. Exploration and revelation of our most authentic selves is certainly risky in the traditional workplace. But in the end, this post is less about the risks of disclosure and more about the broader subject of the soul at work.Whyte helps us reconcile the world of work, or doing, with the soul, or being. He characterizes this divide as "a veritable San Andreas Fault in the American psyche: the personality's wish to have power over experience, to control all events and consequences, and the soul's wish to have power through experience, no matter what that may be." Whyte cautions that "with little understanding of the essential link between the soul life and the creative gifts of their employees, hardheaded businesses listening so carefully to their hardheaded consultants may go the way of the incredibly hardheaded dinosaurs." He holds that when we do not feel belonging, "no attempt to coerce enthusiasm or imagination from us can be sustained for long." I believe this book should be required reading for all managers and students of business management.The title of this work comes from the famous William Carlos Williams poem "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower," which poignantly reminds us that "It is difficult/to get the news from poems/yet men die miserably every day/for lack/of what is found there." Using poetry, psychology and myth, Whyte encourages us to face our fears and claim our authentic soul power in the world of work.

Very good

a surprise wow in this one. Whyte famous poetry and stories to make points that are valuable to any Executive or team leader.

I love poetry and hate corporate America . . . or at least I thought I did. David Whyte transformed my view, bringing insight, spirituality and compassion to my heart and mind. I can't think of any place that needs spiritual transformation than corporate America. And because the corporate doors have opened to me, Whyte's book is a godsend guide to my journey.

Great book, it is reach of positive reflections on the way we should think about work and personal life balance

i love it, sended to me on time