BOOK PROJECT 1

Unit 2: Inspiration

Waukera Taylor

Spring B OGL482: Org Leadership Pro-Seminar II

Professor Dr. Brent Scholar

March 30, 2023

ASU
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“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

In the world that we live in racism, prejudice, and hate have always been an issue.

However, there is simplicity in life if we allow it. The fact that we are all the same, we are all

human; we each are given a heart and a soul. In Paulo Coelho’s book “The Alchemist” he talks

about love, life, and having a soul. The main character of the book is a young boy named

Santiago, he is a dreamer and an explorer. Santiago doesn’t know what lies ahead of him, but he

has a desire to journey. Journeying is his destination to the unknown, learning about courage,

trust, taking risks, and leadership.

The story of Santiago begins when he is a young boy, who is curious and unafraid. As I

read the story, I could see the world he was living in and understand his feelings, it was a lot like

my own story. He was a shepherd and his friends were his sheep. Along his journey he traveled

alone and encountered many tests of life. I believe tests are made to either make you or break

you. Either way, we have options in life to give up or to thrive. In the story, fear is often

mentioned, including the fear of “losing what we have” (Coelho, 2014). As I read through the

book, this reminded me of my grandmother. She talked about life often and had a knack for

making sense of everything. Some of the things she mentioned about life is not to become

attached to “valuables”. She said our home, our vehicles, our jewelry are temporary. That we are

on earth only for a short time. That our life is already planned out by the Creator, and that we

were born with a lifespan, a paved life that we have no control of and when it is our time to leave

earth, we will leave earth. The Alchemist brough many memories of my beloved grandmother

and her teachings. She had a reason for everything she said and did.

The book reminded me of me, like Santiago, I am a wanderer and very curious. I like

taking the unknown path. I remember my daughter being five years old and drew our house with
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about 7 roads leading out from the small community we lived in. She had noticed that we didn’t

use only one road to leave, I had traveled every road that left the community we lived in just to

see where they led to. When I decided something, I stuck to it.

Another interesting fact of the book is understanding the universe. If I were to ask my

younger self what the universe is, I would look up to the sky and say it’s filled with the sun,

stars, moon and asteroids. Today, I am a believer in the universe and rather than looking up to

the sky, I would look into the sky and say it’s what dreams are made of and the magic that if you

ask the universe for anything, it would give it to you. That dream is the same magic that Santiago

raved about throughout his journey. My grandmother used to tell me that when we pray, we pray

to Diyin (the Holy People, the Universe). That we had to be hard working for our prayers to be

answered. I was intrigued when Santiago asked, “what is the principle of favorability?” is it

luck? Because I don’t believe in luck, I believe the principle of favorability is the good work

ethic of one. It is the one who rises early with good intentions and works hard, those are the

favored. Today, the principle of favorability to others might mean they were born privileged.

In the book, the author talks about how “life attracts life” and that “before a dream is

realized, the soul of the world tests everything that was learned along the way”, (Coelho, 2014).

He also discussed how the world has a soul. As Natives, this our belief. We believe that the

earth, sky, water, fire, and air are all living. There is an unspoken language with the unknown.

I am currently taking a class that I have been very excited about called OGL365 Reinventing

Organizations. After 30 years of being in the workforce, I have seen many leadership qualities

and how they lead their organizations. What is missing in these organizations are the lack of

“soul”. Now that I have read The Alchemist and Laloux’s book on reinventing with a “soulful”

purpose, I find that the universe has a sweet way of fluttering into my life now and then.
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Conclusion

The lessons I have learned is that having a soul is lacked in organizations today. My

purpose is to try to breathe the soul back into organizations. Like Santiago, life is unplanned,

having trust and following your heart and path can be the best part of life. Enduring everything

that comes in life is about learning who we are. Who we want to become. Living with gratitude

and not take anything for granted. Overcoming every obstacle. Never giving up on your dreams,

nor forcing dreams either. Living life can be living with hardship nothing comes easy. When I

though about becoming the leader I wanted to be, I felt afraid. Afraid to re-invent myself afraid

to create, or to follow my heart.

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References

“Alchemy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/alchemy.

Coelho, Paulo., et al. The Alchemist. 25th anniversary edition. New York, NY, HarperOne, 2014

Laloux, F. (2014). Reinventing organizations: A guide to creating organizations inspired by the

next stage of human consciousness. Nelson Parker.