Hello everyone.

I hope you’ll enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed putting it together.  It’s a continuation of our Leadership through the Signs series featuring Piscean Albert Einstein.  From our past posts we’ve gleaned some essential qualities of the Piscean temperament which I’ve listed below.  For each of these Piscean qualities I’ve included a quote by or about Albert Einstein which elucidates the keywords.

Albert Einstein in 1931. (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Most of the Einstein quotes I found in Wikiquotes and are sourced there.  There are a couple of other sources I’ve cited as well.  Have fun with this look at this fascinating Piscean.

1.  Pisceans operate from an instinctual, connected space, tapped right in to the wisdom of all.

I was sitting in a chair in the patent office at Bern when all of sudden a thought occurred to me: If a person falls freely he will not feel his own weight. I was startled. This simple thought made a deep impression on me. It impelled me toward a theory of gravitation.

2.  Pisceans find freedom through spiritual orientation.

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

3.  Pisces is the most sensitive sign of the zodiac, emotional and introspective.

I was particularly won over by his sweet disposition, by his general kindness, by his simplicity, and by his friendliness. Occasionally, gaiety would gain the upper hand and he would strike a more personal note and even disclose some detail of his day-to-day life. Then again, reverting to his characteristic mood of reflection and meditation, he would launch into a profound and original discussion of a variety of scientific and other problems. I shall always remember the enchantment of all those meetings, from which I carried away an indelible impression of Einstein’s great human qualities. Louis de Broglie, New Perspectives in Physics.

Einstein in 1921. (Source:Wikipedia)

4.  Pisceans need to retreat from contact with the world in order to retain their equilibrium.

Bear in mind that those who are finer and nobler are always alone — and necessarily so — and that because of this they can enjoy the purity of their own atmosphere.

My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities.

Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has preserved me from feeling isolated.

I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

… apartness became a practical  necessity to him, in order to  protect his cherished privacy  from a world hungry for legend  and charisma. Abraham Pais, Subtle is the Lord: the Science and Life of Albert Einstein.

5.  Like all mutable signs, Pisceans display a desire to find knowledge and with their flexible and adaptable approach, they are not only able to find new knowledge but also have the ability to use it.

I want to know how God created this world. I’m not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details.

6.  Pisces can empathize and understand, blending their energy with all things.

The state of mind which enables a man to do work of this kind is akin to that of the religious worshiper or the lover; the daily effort comes from no deliberate intention or program, but straight from the heart.

7.  In their highest state, Pisceans operate without limitations, distinctions, or judgments.

I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.

People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

I have only two rules which I regard as principles of conduct. The first is: Have no rules. The second is: Be independent of the opinion of others.

Special Relativity. (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

8.  The glyph for Pisces signifies the world of duality and the Piscean constant intention to find unity.

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Even though the realms of religion and science in themselves are clearly marked off from each other, nevertheless there exist between the two strong reciprocal relationships and dependencies.

I have found no better expression than “religious” for confidence in the rational nature of reality, insofar as it is accessible to human reason. Whenever this feeling is absent, science degenerates into uninspired empiricism.

His analysis of [the] fluctuations in blackbody radiation led him to become the first to state, in 1909, long before the discovery of  quantum mechanics, that the theory of the future ought to be  based on a dual description in  terms of particles and waves. Abraham Pais, Subtle is the Lord: the Science and Life of Albert Einstein.

9.  With their ability to look in two directions, Pisceans build bridges from the past to the future.

…nearly a decade before the discovery of modern quantum mechanics, he had been the first to understand that the nineteenth century ideal of causality was about to become a grave issue in quantum physics. Abraham Pais, Subtle is the Lord: the Science and Life of Albert Einstein.

10.  Pisces are consistently humble and sometimes self-deprecating.

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.

Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore.

I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

11.  Pisceans understand that power is not personal, and it comes from the seat given by the public.

Einstein’s company was comfortable and comforting to those who knew him. Of course, he well knew that he was a legendary figure in the eyes of the world. He accepted this as a fact of life. There was nothing in his personality to promote his mythical stature; nor did he relish it. Abraham Pais, Subtle is the Lord: the Science and Life of Albert Einstein.

Einstein in 1904. (Source:Wikipedia)

12.  Pisces has a reputation as the dreamer, the artist, someone who hears distant chimes from the ethereal world.

I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.

When I examine myself and my methods of thought I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.

There comes a time when the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap.

The supreme task of the physicist is to arrive at those universal elementary laws from which the cosmos can be built up by pure deduction. There is no logical path to these laws; only intuition, resting on sympathetic understanding of experience, can reach them.

If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music… I do know that I get most joy in life out of my violin.

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

13.  Pisces, the synthesizer:   In the words of Piscean Steve Jobs, “Creativity is just connecting things.”

A new idea comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way. But intuition is nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience.

14.  Many Pisceans exhibit an intoxicating charisma.

Genius.  Absent-minded professor.  The father of relativity.  The mythical figure of Albert Einstein – hair flaming in the wind, sockless, wearing an oversized sweatshirt, puffing on his pipe, oblivious to his surroundings – is etched indelibly on our minds. Michio Kaku, Einstein’s Cosmos, How Albert Einstein’s Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time.

15.  Pisceans have a natural aversion to hierarchies.

Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. …Mistrust of every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude toward the convictions that were alive in any specific social environment — an attitude that has never again left me, even though, later on, it has been tempered by a better insight into the causal connections.

However, in his personal and scientific conduct, he was not a rebel, one who resists authority, nor … a revolutionary, one who aims to overthrow authority. Rather, he was so free that any form of authority but the one of reason seemed irresistibly funny to him. Abraham Pais, Subtle is the Lord: the Science and Life of Albert Einstein.

16.  Pisceans have the gift of recognizing the simplicity which undergirds the apparent complexity in the world.  They can often see right into the heart of a matter.

It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.

When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.

17.  Pisceans have faith in human ingenuity.

The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when contemplating the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of the mystery every day. The important thing is not to stop questioning; never lose a holy curiosity.

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

Beautiful, right?  He exemplifies these Piscean qualities so well.  And that last quote puts into words the reason for this series – finding the authentic qualities of each sign so each of us can bring our best to leadership.

So now it’s your turn.  What would you tell a Pisces just stepping into a position of leadership?  And remember, leadership can be from the team captain on the softball field to the CEO.  What do you think is the one essential point a Pisces needs to remember to be true to their most authentic leadership style?

If you missed the prior posts for Pisces leadership, here are the links:

Pisces Leadership – Dipping our Toes in the Water

Pisces Leadership – George Washington

Pisces Leadership – Steve Jobs

*******************************************************
For an Intro to Sun Signs and Leadership see this link to my other blog!

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

For an overview of the month, see Astro4Business Month Ahead – March 2011

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

Tags: astrology, business, Pisces

Hello, everyone.

Steve Jobs with iPhone, 2010. (Source:Wikipedia)

Part savvy businessman, part artist, Steve Jobs is an excellent example of the Pisces attributes in a leadership role.  An iconic figure, we’ll look at his leadership style in our evolving study of the zodiac signs for leadership.

In this series, as we progress through each month’s zodiac sign, we’re exploring the essential leadership qualities for that sign.  We’re doing this by looking at real life examples of established leaders whose birthdays fall into each particular sign.  We’re testing the principles of textbook astrology and adding a few guidelines of our own as we discover them.  The purpose of the project is to recognize the leadership qualities we naturally possess and to recognize those qualities in other leaders.

This month we’re exploring Pisces.  If you missed the earlier entries on Pisces Leadership, view them here: Pisces Leadership – Dipping our Toes in the Water;   Pisces Leadership – George Washington. These posts outline the essential qualities of Pisces and what we’ve learned so far.  And don’t miss the comments.  Readers have made astute observations of the Pisces style at work.

There are so many signs and signals of Pisces in Steve Jobs’ career, it’s hard to narrow them down to just a few.  We’ll focus on these:

1. Pisces, the artisan
2. Pisces, the synthesizer
3. Pisces, the collaborator
4. Pisces, from complexity to simplicity

Note:  Many of the points in this piece I have gleaned from the excellent Inside Steve’s Brain, by Leander Kahney.  Other sources will be noted at the end.

Pisces, the artisan

Pisces has a reputation as the dreamer, the artist, someone who hears distant chimes from the ethereal world.  Jobs, born “in San Francisco, California, USA, planet Earth, February 24, 1955” (1) puts his artistic qualities to work with an obsessive love for design, keen attention to advertising, and an unparalleled focus on the customer experience.  Yet obviously, his deep artistic nature is balanced by his ability to capitalize on his creative inspiration.

He brings his artistic touch to each product Apple produces.  He is minutely involved in every aspect of the product, paying attention to all of the details such as the color, the feel, and the function. (2)

And yet it is not the product which is the primary focus, it is the user’s experience of the product.  Jobs is uncannily perceptive about the needs of the customer.  He doesn’t sell a product; he sells a fantasy lifestyle, augmented by a cool technological gadget.  He even involves himself with the design of the packaging materials, believing that the feeling a customer has as he opens the box to set up the new machine is a vital part of the overall experience.

The Piscean love for theater and drama show up in Jobs product introductions:  savvy, much awaited theatrical events, full of fever, anticipation, and Jobs’ stage presence which easily eclipses any of his competitors’ product introductions.

Pisces: two fish swimming in opposite directions. (Source: Wikipedia)

Pisces, the Synthesizer

Along with the other mutable signs, Pisces has the reputation for being scattered and far-flung, lacking focus, accountability, and direction.  Jobs’ leadership style demonstrates the advantages which come from this variety of experience.

“Creativity is just connecting things,” Jobs told Wired magazine. “When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. . . . Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.” (3)

Like the Pisces symbol of two fish forever connected, Jobs thinks technological creativity and artistic creativity are two sides of the same coin.  When asked by Time magazine about the difference between art and technology, Jobs said, “I’ve never believed that they’re separate.  Leonardo da Vinci was a great artist and a great scientist.  Michelangelo knew a tremendous amount about how to cut stone at the quarry. The finest dozen computer scientists I know are all musicians.” (4)

Pisces the Collaborator

Jobs’ business processes are highly collaborative.  At Pixar, which Jobs bought from George Lucas in 1986 and served as CEO until 2006 when it was sold to Disney, there are no cubicles or offices.  The studio is a large open space with communal design areas.  Adverse to hierarchies, if a script isn’t working, the whole team works together to fix it.  In fact, the Latin inscription of the crest of Pixar University says, Alienus Non Diutius, Alone No Longer.  Could there be a better statement to reflect the unity awareness so common with Pisces?

One of Jobs’ most outstanding traits as a leader is his ability to pick the best people to work with him. The dean of Pixar University says, “[With Jobs leadership] we’ve made the leap from an idea-centered business to a people-centered business.  Instead of developing ideas, we develop people.  Instead of investing in ideas, we invest in people.”  Jobs has an uncanny ability to recognize who are the primary contributors in an organization, no matter what their place is on the hierarchical ladder.

His legendary charisma has allowed him to collaborate with Disney, the record labels, and AT&T to push inventive solutions out to the public domain.  John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple Computer, says Jobs is capable of persuading people to do almost anything.  Jobs sounds like Pisces’ ruling planet, Neptune, when people say that he emits a “reality distortion field,” a ring of charisma so strong it bends reality for anyone under its influence.

Steve Jobs holding a MacBook Air, 2008. (Source:Wikipedia)

Pisces, from Complexity to Simplicity

The interests and abilities of a Pisces spread far and wide but in the best case scenario Pisceans have the gift of recognizing the simplicity which undergirds the apparent complexity in the world.  They can often see right into the heart of a matter.  Jobs begins each new product exploration with many, many brainstorming sessions, gathering reams of ideas and inspiration.  Then the winnowing process begins, basically reaching a more and more simplified state as an idea evolves.  He pares the products down to the essential so they are as simple and easy to use as possible.  They are designed to please the customer rather than to impress with technology, bells, or whistles.

Jobs is not an engineer or a programmer himself, nor does he have a business degree or any college degree.  His talent is to truly understand and think like an average customer.  He guides the company to create products which are instantly usable by anyone, which he achieves by meticulous attention to design.

When Jobs was a child he would take complex pieces of machinery, like televisions, and break them down into their simplest components.  He says, “These things were not mysteries anymore.  It became much more clear that they were the results of human creation, not these magical things.” (1)  Jobs has the knack for turning mysteries and magic into beautiful, simple, and overwhelmingly popular products.

What do you see?

As I said, this is a brief overview of the Piscean qualities Steve Jobs brings to the business world.  I think he’s an excellent example to anyone who thinks that the Pisces emotional and spiritual nature precludes business accomplishment.  Like each sign, authentic leadership seems to spring from adhering to the essence of the Sun sign:  to imbibe the qualities more and more rather than reach for those which are more natural to other signs.

Have you seen these qualities in Pisces leaders around your workplace?  If you’re a Pisces, do you identify with these traits of Steve Jobs?  Share your experiences and comments with all of us in the comments section.  You’ll help us gather a complete profile of the Pisces style of leadership.

To see the other posts in this series, see:

Pisces Leadership – Dipping our Toes in the Water

Pisces Leadership – George Washington

Aquarius Leadership – Yoko Ono

Aquarius Leadership – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Aquarius Leadership – Sarah Palin

Sources:

(1)Smithsonian Institution Oral and Video Histories:  “Steve Jobs,” by David Morrow.

(2) Inside Steve’s Brain, by Leander Kahney.

(3) “The Wired Interview:  Steve Jobs,” by Gary Wolf, Wired Magazine.

(4) “Steve Jobs at 44,” by Michael Krantz, Time Magazine.

*******************************************************

For an Intro to Sun Signs and Leadership see this link to my other blog!

To get an overview of the year, check out these posts:

Pluto’s Journey through 2011

Neptune Swimming through 2011

Uranus Flashes through 2011

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

For an overview of the month, see the Neptune

Tags: astrology, business, Pisces

Hello, everyone.

Pisces: two fish swimming in opposite directions. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Sun has moved into Pisces and we move on in our Leadership through the Signs series.  In this series, as we progress through each month’s zodiac sign, we’ll explore and uncover the essential leadership qualities for each sign.  We’ll do this by looking at real life examples of established leaders whose birthdays fall into each particular sign.  We’ll test the principles of textbook astrology and add a few guidelines of our own as we discover them.  The purpose of the project is to recognize the leadership qualities we naturally possess and to recognize those qualities in other leaders.

First let’s define what we mean by a leader.  The American Heritage Dictionary defines a leader as 1) a person who leads others along a way; a guide, and 2) one in charge of or in command of others.  For our purposes, we’ll take both definitions and apply them to business life.  In this series we’ll look at thought leaders, political leaders, business leaders, sports figures, and a few of us regular people too.

This month:  Pisces

I had an interesting experience searching for leaders born under the sign of the fish, Pisces.  Don’t worry; I found plenty.  But it wasn’t easy.  First I looked in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list.  Out of all the birthdays I could find, only one was a Pisces, Michael Dell.  Then I checked The New York Times website for their Corner Office series, in which they interview CEOs and other business leaders each week.  Out of all the interviews there, I found 25 birthdates.  Not one was a Pisces.  I searched my astrology program, Solar Fire, for famous people with Piscean birthdays.  I found lots of politicians, very few business people.

What is this saying?  Stereotypically, Pisces are supposed to be more interested in the realm of spirit and vision than mundane achievement and business.  But I’m sure there are many, many people in leadership positions born under the sign, Pisces.  Perhaps they don’t aspire to the upper echelons of power that would position them for a New York Times or Time Magazine article.  Or perhaps their leadership style doesn’t make them good candidates for interviews.  I’m not sure.

But there are still plenty of examples to work with.  Here are a few Pisces leaders:  Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Edward Kennedy, Andrew Jackson, Albert Einstein, Michelangelo, Alexander Graham Bell.  I’m sure we can mine some gold from this cast.  I’m sorry they are all white males so far, but I will keep looking.  If you know of anyone who would be a good candidate, let me know.

We’ll start with George Washington, the first president of the United States.   But first, let’s list some primary traits of the Pisces nature.  (*See the excerpt at the bottom of this post for more discussion of the sign Pisces.)

What the experts tell us

• Each sign has its keyword, a phrase which captures the essence of the sign.  The keyword for Pisces is “I believe.”    At the highest level, Pisceans operate from an instinctual, connected space, tapped right in to the wisdom of all.


(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

• “The only true freedom for Pisces comes through spiritual orientation.  When they are true to their real nature Pisceans have a high and holy destiny and are the true saviors and servants of mankind.” (Isabel Hickey, Astrology A Cosmic Science)
• “Pisces is the most sensitive sign of the zodiac and emotions are strong and deep in this sign.  They are moody and introspective and hard to understand.” (Ibid.)
• “Pisceans need to be alone and …retreat from contact with the world in order to retain their equilibrium.” (Ibid.)
• “[Pisceans] never feel that they do enough so they often overwork, putting stress and strain on the physical body.” (Ibid.)
• “The mutable signs (Pisces is the mutable water sign) express themselves as a desire to find knowledge; and with their flexible and adaptable approach, they are not only able to find new knowledge but also have the ability to use it. They bring new ideas, new facts and new ways of seeing things into the world view of the tribe.” (Bernadette Brady, The Zodiac:  Urban Tribes)
• “Pisces is a water sign, thus [they are] empathic, [they feel] the emotions of others or of patterns. They can empathize and understand, blending their energy with all things. To them the world and its events are a feast of omens and signs.” (Ibid.)
• Mutable water indicates the quality of…nourishment – flowing everywhere, without limitations, distinctions, or judgments. (Eric Meyers, Elements and Evolution)

Before we get into specific examples of Piscean leadership, think about the list above and look at the symbols.  What would you say is authentic leadership for a Pisces?  Have you known leaders who embodied these attributes?  What was their management style?  How did they accomplish their goals?

Are you a Pisces?  How well do the above traits represent your essence?  Do you overwork?  Are you sensitive to patterns around you?  Do you bring new ways of looking at the world to your team?

This will be a really interesting sign to explore for business, don’t you think?  Remember to leave your comments as we start our discussion of Pisces Leadership.

For the posts on Aquarius Leadership see:

Aquarius Leadership – Yoko Ono

Aquarius Leadership – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Aquarius Leadership – Sarah Palin

*******************************************************
For an Intro to Sun Signs and Leadership see this link to my other blog!

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

For an overview of the month, see the Astro4Business Month Ahead – February 2011

*More on Pisces

Pisces is a water sign, concerned with emotional connection. The glyph for Pisces is two fish swimming in opposite directions but tied together, signifying the dual worlds we all inhabit: our interior reality and our external experience.

Pisces is the stage of development in which we have become completely immersed in and identified with others. Our individual spark of ego has become swallowed by the collective whole. In the life cycle of a business, this is a key transition phase when the business either declines or finds a way to begin a new cycle of innovation. The business may retreat from the public eye to retrench, restructure, or terminate.

Pisces is constantly trying to unify; to merge the inner with the outer world. Pisces oversees mysticism and art, as well as humanitarian pursuits. Retreat experiences, such as a cruise or spiritual retreat, are favored by Pisces as well as hospitals, prisons, and other institutions in which individuals withdraw from daily life.

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

Tags: astrology, business, Pisces