At 44, Tom Eddington's life came to a screeching halt. Bacterial meningitis attacked his brain and spinal fluid, leaving him bedridden for 18 months and housebound for four years. He lost his health, income, identity, and eventually his wife. Everything he had built seemed to disappear.
Then he made a choice: look for another way.
That decision took Tom from Zen meditation in California to private meetings with the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis, and eventually to a sacred mountain in Colombia, where he experienced what he describes as extrasensory perception and the ability to move objects with his thoughts.
On this episode of Spirituality in Leadership, Andrew Cohn sits down with Tom, a former global management consultant, filmmaker, executive coach, and co-host of the State of the World Forum. Tom traces the 22-year cycles that have shaped his life, from growing up in a tent without electricity to becoming a partner at a leading consulting firm, then surviving an illness that changed how he understood being human.
Tom explains why he stopped thinking of the brain as the center of everything and began working with what he calls five bodies: physical, energetic, psychological, social, and spiritual. He also shares what he experienced with the Tairona people in Colombia, what Bhutan taught him about Gross National Happiness, and how these experiences changed the way he works with CEOs.
Listen to the full episode to hear Tom's story and explore what his experiences might reveal about leadership, consciousness, and the possibilities of being human.
Key Takeaways
- A life-changing crisis can force us to question the identities and assumptions we take for granted.
- Being human involves physical, emotional, social, energetic, and spiritual dimensions.
- Spirituality can begin with curiosity about what it means to be fully human, regardless of religion.
- Purpose can guide career, relationship, and life decisions.
- Nature can deepen our sense of connection and challenge how we understand the world.
- Leaders should examine what they believe and why.
- Wealth can mean more than money and material possessions.
- Conscious leadership begins by honestly examining how we live and what we value.
- A fulfilling life requires looking beyond consumption, acquisition, and conventional measures of success.
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