Reflection of President Cabrera Lead Dialogues 11/12/2012
On Monday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the Lead Dialogues with George Mason University’s President Angel Cabrera. The event took place in the Mason Hall where a select chosen few were able to discuss two readings, ‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’ and ‘A Zen Parable: The Stawberry,’ the President himself selected. During the Lead Dialogues, the students and President Cabrera were able to read and dissect the climatic points of each reading selection and how they pertained to an overall theme or deeper meaning to life. The President facilitated the discussion by posing questions to the student group and asking their perception about the readings and each passage in correlation with leadership. It was interesting to see each student become more comfortable in front of the President and unwind their past and current leadership or cultural life experiences as to how the student answered the question or provided insight. At the end of the discussion, President Cabrera provided an explanation as to why each reading selection was chosen. He also used statistics from research conducted by the great Nobel Peace Prize winner Daniel Kahneman in relation to each reading, and how these statistics impacted the way we should we thinking about leadership and our daily lives. Overall, I took away a “mindful” meaning from the conversation with President Cabrera which enhances my opinion and future insight about leadership. President Cabrera expressed great concern about how we should all look at life with a deeper appreciation and consider the true meaning of our goals and life objectives for the present and future.
What is your “mindful” thought about life? Do you think all we do in life is work for certain goals that pertain to our age range for nothing? Or, do you think there is a deeper meaning in life- Do we constantly work to improve society, or do we constantly work to gain self-fulfillment?