Name: Mario Sikora
Lives in: I live in the US in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
From: I was born and grew up in the suburbs southwest of Philadelphia. If you saw the series “Mare of Easttown,” you know my area. I moved into the city of Philadelphia at 18 years old and lived there for nearly three decades before moving my family back to the northwestern suburbs.
Occupation: For over 25 years, I have been an executive coach and leadership-development consultant, working with leaders in organizations of all kinds around the world. My specialty is in the application of the Enneagram.
Over the years, I have developed a unique approach to the Enneagram, which I call “The Awareness to Action (ATA) Enneagram,” in response to what I have encountered when using the Enneagram in the rigorous environment of the business world. While the ATA approach was developed because of the demands of the business world, it is an approach that appeals to anyone who is interested in simplicity and practicality in their self-development path.
In addition to working directly with clients, we have a training program to teach the ATA Enneagram to other coaches, consultants, and professional users of the system.
Tell us your first three jobs (ever!): In junior high school I was a paperboy, delivering the “Philadelphia Evening Bulletin” in my neighborhood. In high school, I spent my summers working at a dairy farm in the mountains of upstate Pennsylvania. During my first year in college I worked in the kitchen of a nursing home.
Zodiac sign: Leo
Enneagram type: Type Eight, the Leader
What do you love about Greece? I have not yet been to Greece!
Tell us something most people don’t know about you: I have been collecting books for over 40 years and have a personal library of 5,000-6,000 books. I’m eclectic in my taste–a lot of books on business and the sciences (particularly evolutionary and cognitive science), but my joy is found in the literature, philosophy, essays, history, and poetry sections. I’m fond of Polish poetry (I’m of Polish descent). I have all of Raymond Carver’s books in first editions (because I bought them all as soon as they were published.) I collect various editions of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and have over 25 copies in at least a dozen languages (ranging from Swedish to Korean) that I have picked up on my travels. The prize of my book collection is the two movie tie-in editions of W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Razor’s Edge,” a book I read annually throughout my 20s. The book was made into a movie twice–once in the 1940s with Tyrone Power and once in the 1980s with Bill Murray–and I have the related editions for both films with the respective actors on the covers. I smile every time I look at them.
First time you tried Kundalini Yoga? I do not practice Kundalini Yoga though, for what it’s worth, I studied various martial arts extensively for about 15 years in my early life.
Tell us your top tip to combat climate change:
Walk.
Anything else you’d like us to know?:
Anyone interested in our work with the Enneagram can find out more at EnneagramOnDemand.com or reach me at MarioSikoraLinks.com.