ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes to a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the East and West psyches by exploring leadership styles in Japan (East Asia) and Latvia (on the boundary between East and West). It suggests that both the Japanese and Latvian psyches are characterized by a permeability between the conscious and unconscious layers, expressed in a heightened sense of embeddedness with their surroundings and the multiplicity of perspectives held by their leaders. Using the language of myths, these leaders dance with the dragons rather than slaying them. They form a relationship with the surrounding natural environment and human-made worlds rather than striving to separate and cut away one from the other. While, from a Western perspective, this permeability may be viewed as lacking a healthy ego, the sense of interconnectedness is arguably beneficial in a world of expanding global interdependencies. Rather than placing the psyches of East and West in opposition, the chapter presents an opportunity to reimagine the maturation of consciousness as an organic process toward a state of individual well-being, not at others’ costs but as a mutually beneficial endeavor necessary for a sustainable world.
