This live online program will take place on Sundays, November 17 – December 22, 2024, from 11:00am -12:30pm Eastern US time.
“In today’s high-speed, interconnected world, the most effective leaders distinguish themselves not just by their skills, intelligence and strategic insights, but also by their ability to remain present, adaptable, focused and connected. ‘Cultivating Awareness for Leaders and Life’ is a specialized course designed to deepen your leadership through the practice of awareness.”
Session 1 – Intro to Awareness
The first class will focus on what awareness is, the power of awareness, benefits for leaders, and essential aspects of practice. We will also discuss awareness practice as a support for meeting the challenges and suffering of the world.
Session 2 – Being Fully Human: Working with the Body
The second class will focus on how awareness of the body fundamentally supports your practice, what it reveals about change, how practicing awareness of the body deepens your compassion and wisdom, and how being present in your body for all of life (the highs, lows, and in-betweens) can lead to a more grounded and sustainable approach to leadership.
Session 3 – Being Fully Human: Working with Emotions
The third class will focus on awareness of emotions, the importance for leaders to be able to work skillfully with the highs and lows of emotion, learning one’s window of tolerance, and strategies for tolerating and navigating difficult emotions.
Session 4 – Being Fully Human: Working with Thoughts and Beliefs
The fourth class will explore how awareness is not about getting rid of thoughts, but rather shifts how we relate to them. We will look at the changing nature of thoughts, how thoughts feed emotions, and how understanding your thought patterns and belief systems allows for greater recognition of biases, assumptions, and habitual reactions that may impair effective leadership.
Session 5 – The Wise Heart of a Leader
The fifth class will develop a focus on the qualities of a leader’s heart (e.g., lovingkindness, compassion, joy, equanimity) and practices to confidently bring these qualities into your life and work: to turn suffering into compassion, allow sympathetic joy to build stronger, more empathetic relationships, and to remain steady and clear-headed in challenging situations so as to support effective problem-solving and foster a resilient organizational culture.
Session 6 -Bringing Your Practice into the World
The final class will focus on bringing your awareness practice more fully into the world, with practical tips for sustaining the enriching application of awareness in daily life and leadership. We will also discuss bringing awareness to your particular choices so they are in alignment with your personal and organizational values, and so you may hold your practice with intention and vision for the benefit of all.