Here are some podcasts that add dimension to the conversation  about The Merlin Advantage and Integral Process Leadership.

1) A return trip to GroundWork Leadership Institute for another in depth and enriching conversation with Chris Pineda.

2) A great visit with Chris Pineda from Groundwork Leadership Institute - an epicenter for transformative leadership development and community action.

3) One from way back with my brother Zach who runs VUVIVO, a faith-based, non-profit with a uniquely aligned mission to re-enchant reality and elevate human flourishing.  

The IPL wizard icon honors the imaginative roots of the IPL system described in the book The Merlin Advantage: Re-Discovering the Power of Collaborative Leadership.  Throughout human history, shamans, priests, and wizards worked alongside chiefs, kings, CEO's, and presidents to navigate complexity, chaos, and risk.  But, because no one really knew what these "lanes" were about, there were lots of problems - and there still are.  This is where IPL comes in.  With a new lens on neuroscience, psychology, personality theory, and leadership best practices, IPL rebalances- or even re-enchants - modern systems of work and governance.

Using wizard imagery can feel a bit unserious to people who operate with a left brain preference (which is most people in business or organizational leadership today).   In reality, though, the symbolism of the The Merlin Advantage  and Integral Process Leadership is grounded in neuropsychological truths behind centuries, if not millennia, of organizational  behavior.  These insights are often portrayed in literary and movie character juxtapositions like Merlin and King Arthur or Gandalf and Aragorn.  While these portrayals can feel like fantasy, they are actually reflections of very surprising and powerful realities. 

Perhaps most intriguing, these wizards are not extinct or irrelevant.  They don't dress like Gandalf, usually don't have long white beards, and are not always men.  But, they are out there and they are the secret sauce behind high performance and human flourishing.

The Master and His Emissary.  2009.  Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist illuminates a neuropsychological imbalance underpinning centuries - if not millennia - of organizational dysfunction, institutional corruption, environmental destruction, and societal damage.  Integral Process Leadership operationalizes a path toward a life giving rebalance of the pillars of high performance and human flourishing.

The Neuroscience of Personality - 2011.  Dario Nardi connects the 16 Myers-Briggs types, four temperaments, and eight Jungian cognitive processes to compelling neuroscience insights drawn from his brain research lab.  IPL emphasizes introverted intuition as both a key factor and missing link in healthy organizational culture and sustainability.

The Fearless Organization - 2018.  Amy C. Edmonson explores the vital concept of psychological safety where it’s “safe” to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes.  Psychological safety is one of the most meaningful outcomes  of Integral Process Leadership.  

Against the Machine - 2025.  With more focus on history, social psychology, and anthropology than than neuroscience, Paul Kingsnorth captures how centuries of cultural evolution have us careening toward a Matrix-like end game.  IPL maps out a happier, alternative ending where nature and human flourishing take precedence over infinite financial gain.  

The Tears of Things - 2025.  Not since A.J. Hechel's excellent 1967 book The Prophets, has anyone captured the lives and vital impact of the prophets as well as Richard Rohr.  The Tears of Things details the fabric from which Integral Process Leaders are cut.  

Both hemispheres are needed at full expression for high performance and human flourishing.

New research proposes individualizing psychological assessment using the Five Factor Model of personality