Rise of the Benevolent Octopus: A Meditation on the Conditions and Practices of Leadership Development through the Study of the Humanities

Rise of the Benevolent Octopus is a meditation on fundamental questions of leadership in conversation with spirits from the ancient and modern world. Trapped in an anxiety dream that takes the reader through an imposter book signing, a great ideas conference, lunch at an elite club, a talk show with a tragic poet, and a walk in the woods with idealistic students, the narrator discovers a type of leadership that is playful, versatile, creative, curious, and ultimately committed the flourishing of others, a constellation of traits contained within the metaphor of the benevolent octopus. The book is an invitation to the reader to tell their own story of becoming a benevolent octopus, whether that story is already or yet to be written.