Larry Kiehl

Education

M.A. in Human Communication Studies, University of Denver -- the focus of this work was developmental communication, including interpersonal lab work, the ways and means of engaging self development and interpersonal development dynamics.

B.A. (double majors) in Psychology and Communication, Cleveland State University (tons of communication lab work).

I've had some thousand hours, probably more, of group "lab" work since early '72, sensitivity training, encounter training, couples groups, marathon groups (no sleep), weekly groups, weekend retreats, spiritual retreats, communication labs, and such.  Since I'm not into name dropping (as if attending any "name" program therefor means I learned more or better than if not) I won't mention particular organizations or companies.  In fact one of my favorite ways to conduct groups is for the participants to remain anonymous throughout, just first names.  Our egos (sense of self) (especially with executive's) have a bit of a struggle with that.  But most soon find it quite liberating and rewarding.

Career

I've been self-employed since '78 when I started as a self-development trainer/coach in the middle of grad school.  After a spiritual awakening in '83 and nine months of "recovering", I began taking a consulting approach to clients in '84, doing a combination of organizational development along with personal/professional development/transformation work in companies with up to 300 employees.  My focus was consciousness work (including theta-brainwave dynamics), as feasible, laced with communication and mediation work with executives (yes, there's lots of conflict in the world, certainly including business).

To read more about what I'm up to professionally (and personally), my website is www.EvolutionalConsciousness.com.  My business interest and concentration the last few years has been in identifying a "presence" state of consciousness that would integrally enact the nature of meditation yet be suitable to the rigors and demands of business environments.  This would be a state that isn't what is typically thought of as "passive" and "non-active" (i.e., traditional meditation like sitting on a pillow with eyes closed) since business is about assertiveness and action (judgments about that aside).  I've come to call a state of presencing that I have identified as "innascence" (elaborated on my site), of concurrently being in our essence, our innocence (an open-awareness adult version, without the naivete of childhood), in nascence (becoming), and being in-a-sensing state of awareness (an internally-sourced "non-dual" perspective) from that place/perspective in regards to whatever we're looking upon or dealing with in our day.  In Integral parlance I'd say it's a form of non-dual state, having a particular focus on/in business while focusing from a "relatively" non-dual perspective.  Not unlike being "in the world but not of it", but also "of it" as well, so to speak (language fails for this).  Business gets accomplished more quickly, but at a slower pace.  A sweet paradox to play in.  I look at it as an aspect of a dynamic that I call my "evolutional sweet spot", that I play in within "the game of constant-change business".  Anyhow, what I'm terming "innascence" is that "dynamic zone" I've tried to describe...a presence that is open to emergence/evolving at the same time, not static.   EvolutionalConsciousness.com

Hobbies and Interests

Not a "hobbies" kind of guy really.  I like emerging my own and other's consciousness development, and opening into revelational awarenesses, as readiness presents itself.  My personal interests are not separate from my business interests, ultimately, as mentioned above; particularly that of being in intimacy, supra-presence, with others as feasible depending on how much the other person is comfortable with it in themselves, and on how my capacity for such is that day.  That is, I've found that authentic presence can be beautifully disarming and opening (but not always, of course, since many people prefer "hiding").  (I'm not sure this is the place for this kind of elaboration, but it's what I'm interested in, so...).  Even though authentic intimacy is very impersonal it can feel tremendously personal, elegantly and sublimely raw and vulnerable (in a good way) yet an intimacy that transcends sexual interests and orientations to relating, being with others.  And, if I may add, if the other person, especially males, aren't sufficiently familiar with feeling this kind of intimacy opening within them, especially while in public, it's not uncommon for them to contract at some point and even get guarded.  Experienced it many times.  I'm still learning to walk this line about not being "inappropriately present", socially speaking.  For example, to give you an idea of how this might play out (hopefully this is perceived correctly), my experience is that men who have any degree of homophobia (in case it can use saying, I'm not gay, nor homophobic) can begin to feel uncomfortable with this degree of "presence" and connecting.  It seems that it starts to open us males up in ways that we are not always ready to know about in ourselves with other men, based on misidentifying it as "gay".  On the other hand, I've had women interpret it as me "courting" them, to find them later being upset with me to find I wasn't.  Just being authentically open, present and engaging.  In any case, it's become revelational to me how much we want, in the higher reaches of Integral consciousness, to be not only authentically engaged with and listened to, but felt, received, gotten and understood as Beings and not just as "men" or "women".  Hopefully I communicated this clearly enough.

More conventionally, I also like to sail, cafe hop, chat (yes, I can find delight in the "seemingly frivolous"), smile alot, have an occasional cigar with a glass of port or cognac, sit and just watch and feel Life, or engage others openly when opportunity presents itself, not necessarily listed in order of preference. 

Perspectives

Inquiry Responses and Comments