Mieke Jacobs, author of A Poet Assassin, talks about leadership that balances doing and being, strategy and poetry. She explores how words and silence shape how we work, and why organizations need both productivity and space to flourish.
Productivity comes from attuning rather than forcing and pushing myself through this and getting a lot of work done. If leaders can let the solutions come to them or let the help come to them instead of pushing through, it's so magical.
What if strategy and poetry aren't opposites, but twins? What if leadership needs tuning into not just what we know, but what we feel, sense, and cannot yet explain? In this episode, I sit down with Mickey Jacobs, author of A Poet Assassin, Global Transformation Facilitator, Energy Mastery Guide, and the Systemic Intelligence Pioneer. Mickey's work lives at the intersection of logic and mystery, strategy and soul. Through poetry, polarities and powerful questions, she invites leaders and organizations to return to wholeness, to remember that healing and high performance are not at odds. We talked about the cycles of life and leadership, the difference between doing and being, and why silence, spaciousness and energy are essential ingredients for true work that helps you flourish and unlock your full potential. If you've ever wondered how to lead from your deepest wisdom, not just your job description, this conversation is your call to stillness and action. Let's dive in. Hi, Mika, it's so lovely to. To be here with you and to record and share your beautiful poems that you've written in your latest book, but frankly, your rich set of work in the field of leadership and flourishing with our listeners. So thank you for being here.
Yeah, it's such a pleasure. And I can't wait to weave our fields of work together, so. Yeah. Because that leads to unexpected exploration. So thank you for having me.
Absolutely. And you know, art is such a beautiful vehicle, you know, as a way to kind of really awaken the soul, whether it is painting or poetry or dance. You shared some of your poems from your new book, the Poet Assassin, and I can't wait for our listeners to experience some of that magic. But before we go there, I just wanted to ask, what does the title Poet Assassin mean to you? You know, share with us this juxtaposition behind it and these polarities that you have navigated your whole life and now you've brought it to. Brought it into this field, this work.
Yeah, and I think you caught that very well. Of course, many different people read something different in that title. And of course, the interesting thing with poetry is that you don't necessarily think up front what it's going to be about, because. And I also described that in the prologue of the book, like how poetry comes to me and comes through me. So I can only talk about the title in hindsight, knowing that at that point in time, it is what had to be expressed. But I would say a few things. First of all, yes, that juxtaposition, I think you captured that very well, because in that there's. It comes back in the book two times, once in the poem Laroderma, and there indeed, I infuse the more disruptive and the more, I would say, aggressive archetypes, like marauder, like burglary, like assassin, with then very healing qualities. And in that exploration, I was just exploring what that would be like. And somehow it feels like some of the healing qualities need also the more intrusive archetypes to just get things done and to get some of that movement in the world. So it's exactly that. That I'm exploring in that poem. But it means so much more, right? It also means, as you saw, the photo on the COVID of my book is quite, you know, determined and powerful. And I also wanted to show up with that. So it also has a lot to do with finding these polarities in me. And I'm. And am I allowed to do that? So am I allowed to show up with a strong voice? Am I allowed to speak up for things that I stand for, et cetera? So that whole exploration of that polarity in me is also a part of that. And then there's one haiku, and I truly don't remember whether I wrote the haiku first or the poem first. You know, sometimes that gets very blurry. And the haiku talks about the power of words, but also the power of silence because it says poet assassin. He can kill you with words or silence you to death. And there's an aspect of playing with words, but also sometimes withholding words and the impact of that. So, yeah, there's. I mean, there's many dimensions. Yeah.
Can you repeat that a bit slowly? I mean, that's so beautiful.
Yeah. It says poet assassin. She can kill you with words or silence you to death.
Mm. So beautiful. You know, and it's so interesting, right, these polarities, these somewhat two very different qualities ways of being actors and characters. And I was on a walk yesterday. And I'm gonna create a LinkedIn post on this. Mikael, I'll tag you. And I was walking through the woods just 30 minutes away from where we live, which with. With Lizzie. And there were two polarities that were so present in any nature, in any forest, and it is life and death in any forest. There are trees that are dying or are dead, that are feeding life that is emerging. They are becoming food for others to grow. Right? And I was very keenly aware of. Just before that, in the morning, I was reading some of Thich Nhat Thanh's work where he talks about the nature of interbeing and how each has the other and has this beautiful story where he was talking about. It's like a biblical story.
Reducing Regrettable Attrition in Organizations by Fixing the System, Not the People Reducing Regret
