Such an audacious title! You may wonder: “Has Dana gone around the bend?” Hear me out and then decide.
Like many of you, I’ve been watching with dismay as the hate index seems to rise year by year. While hate has always been with us, three elements are accelerating the process:
- Politicians on both side of the political continuum provoke hate as a way of getting votes. They have become masters at getting elected. They have not learned the skills of leadership.
- Members of the press who sensationalize stories to get ad revenue, sacrificing the truth in their wake.
- Social media that allows people to show their worst side without showing themselves.
Regular readers of this blog know that such tactics alarm the amygdala, the part of the brain that scans the environment for threats. These three elements disseminate exaggerated threats that our amygdala is not sophisticated enough to see through. As a result, people turn disagreements into hatred and toxic divisiveness. Groups hate each other when they need to be allies.
Humans have been evolving for 50,000 generations. But we have not reached our full potential. By practicing what is described in A Little Book, humankind can enhance the ways we use the best parts of our brains, rather than descending into our worst parts.
The amygdala was essential to our survival when we lived in primitive times, when physical survival was constantly threatened. Today, the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain that integrates logic and emotion to create EQ, is as important as the amygdala was then. As we coaches help more people know how to fully use the prefrontal cortex, the best parts of humankind will grow. At the same time, humankind’s potential for engaging in primitive behaviors of hatred, war, and discrimination will shrink.
A Little Book to Save Humanity can contribute to this preferred future. While based on the science that underlies much of what we do, it is a book written for the public. I’ve taken my lifetime of professional experience, first as a psychotherapist and then as an executive coach, and accumulated much of what we all know into a resource for everyone. Everyday people can use the book as a guide. Coaches can use it as a resource for clients. Therapists can use it as a resource for patients.
Executive coaches are a diverse community. But one thing we share is a devotion to bettering mankind. Every day, we seek to help people enhance their success and the success of those who follow them. That’s why the book’s title is not as audacious as it sounds.
Decide for yourself. Click here to learn more about A Little Book, including a free excerpt and endorsements. If you find the book’s message worthwhile, please share the information with people in your circles. The more of us who are engaged in the process, the closer humankind comes to reaching its real potential.
A Little Book is available for pre-order here. Publication will be in late September.
