See the Series Introduction for Just Tao It, Part I: HERE
See the Just Tao It Series Introduction Tao/It on-ramp, PART II: HERE
See Just Tao It, Chapter 1: HERE

From my interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 36 (Unpublished):

Reduction,
relies on expansion.

Illumination,
depends on hidden.

Risen,
comes from ruin.

Taken,
returns as given.

What shows,
is shaped by what is not.

To hold the light,
let go of the fight.

To quickly go,
let in the slow.

To be mighty,
be gently.

—

Every once in a while, something happens that makes you stop, smile, and say, “Well…that’s interesting.”

I had one of those moments recently while revisiting this chapter. It finally dawned on me—after writing the thing—that Chapter 36 of the Tao Te Ching lines up with Chapter 36 of And: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox, or Dilemma – Volume 2. Same number. Same topic.

I wish I could claim this was brilliant planning. It wasn’t. It was coincidence. Or maybe what the Tao might politely call things aligning.

Because the themes match almost perfectly.

The Tao Te Ching, Chapter 36, speaks in paradoxes that reveal how systems actually behave:

If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand. If you want to weaken something, you must first allow it to grow strong. If you want to take something, you must first allow it to be given.

This is called subtle clarity. The soft overcomes the hard. The slow overcomes the fast.

Chapter 36 of the Tao is describing the paradoxical nature of power. It reminds us that what appears strong depends on what appears weak, what rises depends on what has fallen, and what becomes visible is shaped by forces that remain unseen. Systems move through interdependent relationships whether leaders recognize them or not.

That insight sits directly underneath the work I wrote with support from Barry Oshry in Chapter 36 of And: Volume 2, where we explored Oshry’s Organic Systems Framework and its connection to Polarity Thinking. Oshry spent decades helping leaders see something most systems hide in plain sight: every human system expresses Power through differentiation and Love through integration. Power separates so things can become distinct, while Love connects so things can become whole. Healthy systems require both.

When Power runs ahead without Love, differentiation becomes division. Competition becomes polarization. People stop seeing themselves as part of a shared system and begin acting like opposing camps protecting territory. When Love runs without Power, integration becomes conformity. Alignment becomes quiet obedience. The system appears peaceful on the surface while initiative slowly drains away underneath.

Martin Luther King Jr. captured this polarity in a sentence that should probably be framed somewhere near every leadership desk: power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.

The Tao arrives at the same insight through a different door. It watches how systems behave over time and notices something leaders often forget: attempts to dominate the system rarely end the way we imagine. What rises eventually meets gravity. What expands eventually contracts. Forces pushed too far in one direction create pressure for movement in the other. Push either far enough and the system will respond, not once, but repeatedly.

The Tao doesn’t argue with this pattern. It simply describes it.

Which is why the closing lines of the chapter read almost like a leadership coaching note written twenty-five centuries in advance:

To hold the light, let go of the fight. To quickly go, let in the slow. To be mighty, be gently.

None of that sounds particularly impressive in a world that prefers leaders who project certainty and strength at full volume.

But it turns out the environment leaders face today has a way of humbling that style.

We describe our leadership conditions with the acronym VUCA—volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The phrase is usually delivered with a tone that suggests the world has suddenly become chaotic and unpredictable. The Tao might gently point out that the world has always behaved this way. What has changed is the scale of our systems and the speed with which consequences ripple through them. Some leaders respond with their own version of VUCA—vision, understanding, clarity, and agility—not as a formula, but as a shift in posture shaped by the realities they are facing.

Each of those capacities depends on a leader who understands how to work with the tensions this chapter is quietly describing. Power AND Love, Speed AND Patience, Strength AND Gentleness do not resolve. They require different expressions at different moments. When leaders try to eliminate one in favor of the other, systems do not become simpler. They become weaker. Division increases. Trust erodes. People begin protecting their part of the system instead of contributing to the whole.

Which brings us back to the curious alignment that started this reflection.

Chapter 36 of the Tao Te Ching describes the paradoxical nature of power in living systems. Chapter 36 of And: Volume 2 explores how leaders can leverage the polarity of Power AND Love so those systems remain empowering rather than disempowering. Different language, different centuries, same lesson.

If anything, that alignment is a reminder that leadership wisdom is rarely missing. More often, it is ignored, rediscovered, and occasionally remembered at the moment it is most needed.

The Tao ends this chapter with advice that feels surprisingly relevant in a time when power often gets confused with volume.

To be mighty, be gently.

Leaders who learn to live inside these tensions develop something less visible than strength but far more durable: the capacity to make wiser decisions over time.

Not a bad leadership practice for turbulent times.

For the Polarity Map for Chapter 36, see my Chapter written with the support of Barry Oshry in And, Volume 2. And_V2_PEEK_C36_OSHRY

See also:
Chapter 29 (Power And Stewardship; Part And Whole, Head And Heart)
Chapter 10 (Power And Love)

INVITATIONS:
How is Power And Love showing-up for you in these challenging times? If you want, try the “AI-trained Chat w/Cliff for Step 1, Seeing, CLICK HERE.

Want to go deeper into Polarity Thinking? See our online self-directed Credentialing and Introduction to Polarity Practice, CLICK HERE.