I am an amateur magician.  I have combined the theory of magic with my experience in business as a leader and manager to produce a paradigm changing exercise program I call "Ethical Sleight-Of-Mind." Clients and students are transformed from successful people to outstanding ethical leaders in their home, work, and community. 

Peer inside this website and see if there is a diamond waiting for you.  If you are looking for a leadership coach you will find that I offer something different from your ordinary coach--I use magic to transform my clients into ethical leaders in their home, work, and community. 

Most people are unable to listen with empathy to the most important people in their lives.  Unable to listen with empathy to their children or spouse  they develop poor relationships with them.  Also unable to listen to their supervisor or subordinates they develop weak relationships with their coworkers. 

Empathic listeners prove to their loved ones and coworkers that they are understood when they speak. As an empathic listener I experience the universe with an open mind.  I am here to learn.  Three years ago I wrote a thought piece inspired by empathic listening.  I call the writing, Your Nose Knows.  Click below to read this text.

The Nose Knows.001.pdf

Bill and Philip at Centennial Farm

This is a photograph of Teamster Philip with Bill the ox.  I am a volunteer at the Orange County Centennial Farm.  In this role I work with the oxen team to show Kindergarten children and their parents and teachers how oxen are used on a farm.  In the last five years, I have presented the oxen to more than 200,000 school children.

I have been working with Bill for seven years.  He has mellowed as our relationship developed however he is still strong in will and strong in body.   One must be careful in his presence because he is a powerful animal and very emotional.  I feel at peace when I stand with him in his paddock.  Bill seems to enjoy my attention as much as I welcome the peace that flows from him. 

Bill is kept separate from the new oxen, Patches and Freckles.  Cattle are gregarious animals and frequently trade grooming sessions with each other.   Bill is still the strongest of the three, and clearly the dominant animal.  He is kept separate from the young oxen only because he would eat all their feed if they were together.  Bill's diet has been changed to Timothy Hay and the boys are eating a mixture of about half Timothy and half Alfalfa Hay.  The Alfalfa encourages the Lineback cattle to grow.

Patches and Freckles have adapted to their life in California.  I am sure they miss Brianna Bodwell, who trained them.  However, they do an excellent job demonstrating the proper work of oxen on a farm to the thousands of school children who visit the farm every week.  We are pleased and honored to have them on our oxen team. 

These two Lineback cattle are strong, intelligent and docile.  They are well trained as oxen and safe to work around as long as you are careful.  Come visit the Centennial Farm to meet these delightful animals. 

If you subscribe to the Ethical Leaders Toolkit you will receive a monthly electronic mail newsletter.  Each issue of the Ethical Leaders Toolkit will contain this lesson with a new name, "The Wisdom of a Twenty-First Century Man."  I have also taken some of the articles written under the title, The Wisdom of Bill and Bob, and rewritten them to be used in the publication "Rural Heritage Magazine."  Rural Heritage will have a feature article in each issue titled, The Wisdom of Cattle or Oxen Tales.  Rural Heritage Magazine is written to help farmers who use cattle, draft horses, and mules to work their fields.  I am honored to have my stories about oxen wisdom contained within their pages. www.RuralHeritage.com is the website address for this publication.

The two Lineback Oxen, though only five years old, possess ancient wisdom.  When I pay attention to the lessons they are teaching their wisdom is revealed.  When I do not pay attention I have to wait until they are ready to teach me the lesson again.  Almost everyday I am with the animals they have something they want me to learn.  The wisdom they teach applies to men working with animals and to men living together on the planet.  You can subscribe to the Ethical Leaders Toolkit using my feedback page on this website.  This information is most useful for someone seeking a leadership coach.

DECEMBER 2009 Edition

available now!

You can subscribe to the monthly Ethical Leaders Toolkit by going to Feedback and enter your relevant information.  To obtain an Adobe version of the newsletter please click DECEMBER2009.001.pdf for the combined December 2009 edition of the Ethical Leaders Toolkit or click on NOVEMBER2009.005.pdf  for the November 2009 pdf edition.

Features in the

December 2009

Ethical Leaders Toolkit include:

A Leadership Essay:  Patches asks, What Time is it?

Recommended Reading: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl AND Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen

Supervisor's Success Tip: How do you give a Layoff Notice to a friend?

Empathic Listening:  Listen to Your Dreams

Integrity.  Confidentiality.  Courage.  Ethics. Keys to Excellence in Leadership Coaching.

Features in the

NOVEMBER 2009

Ethical Leaders Toolkit include:

A Leadership Essay: Patches Says, Let's Eat!

Recommended Reading: Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of MIND/BODY Medicine (c) 1989 by Deepak Chopra, MD

Supervisor's Success Tip: Are You a Role Model at Work

Empathic Listening: Listen to Your Emotions

To obtain an Adobe version of the newsletter please click NOVEMBER2009.005.pdf for the November 2009 edition of the Ethical Leaders Toolkit.