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 five 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, but they share a short fence.  If you don't stare at them you will see that from time to time Bill will reach his head over the fence and lick one of the other oxen's face.  The grooming is similar to what you might see a cat doing to himself.  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 has featured a lesson called "The Wisdom of Bill and Bob."  In that feature story I let you know what I learned from working with these wonderful animals.  Soon the Ethical Leaders Toolkit will contain this lesson with a new name, "The Wisdom of a Twenty-First Century Man."

Though only four years old, these cattle 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.

April and May 2008 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 AprilMAY2008.pdffor the combined April and May 2008 edition of the Ethical Leaders Toolkit.

Features in the

April / May 2008

Ethical Leaders Toolkit include:

An Essay about our Leader:  Did President George W. Bush earn an "A" in History?

Recommended Reading: The United States Constitution and its 23 amendments

Supervisor's Success Tip: Earn the right to Supervise by Listening with your Heart

Empathic Listening:  Listen empathically instead of sympathetically

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