1. No organization can evolve beyond the level of consciousness of its leader.

The intention of this course is not to solve a problem that exists “out there,” but to evolve our own consciousness so that choices that lead to thriving are natural, effortless, and beyond doubt. With this first principle, I identify your state of being as the single most high-impact focus point for organizational transformation. Together, we approach this potent area of self-transformation through a lens of deep understanding, acceptance, compassion, and forgiveness. With this course, you will come away with new perspectives and a much deeper understanding of self, which will serve you no matter what you choose or where you go in life.

2. The art of asking the right question.

The right question is unmistakable. It feels like something coming to rest within you. The right question will bring you clarity, peace, and a sense of empowerment. Part of this course is learning to hone your questions until you can recognize the one that will lead you forward. This art of discernment will serve you as a leader in all aspects of your life.

3. Trust you already have all of the answers within you.

Once you have the right question, we work with you to trust yourself enough to believe you have the answers already. Often the questions that arise bring us into territory that feels vulnerable and unexplored, and our impulse can be to “outsource” the answers to experts. In this course, we work in the realm of true thriving, which is not a thought-form, but a state of being. Your heart and body are part of this process, and will be integral in leading you to the answers that lie already within you.

4. Allow the answers to surprise you, and let them move you.

Once we begin the process of exploring the deepest answers to our questions on how to thrive - both as an individual and as an interdependent community of leaders- be prepared for your perspectives to shift. This is the process of transformation. It will require some letting go and some embracing of new things. This course provides a safe and supported container for allowing all of this to arise, be witnessed, and create irreversible change from the inside out. Real truth is always empowering, even if it is at first unexpected or disruptive. Then, once the truth emerges from within to be seen and accepted, the right action becomes clear. In this way, there is no need to force action or pre-empt the answers. This process allows clarity first so all action is deeply intentional.

5. Compromise is unnecessary.

There is a big difference between compromise and flexibility. Flexibility is staying open and adaptable within the bounds of your integrity, whereas compromise is going against what you know to be deeply true. People-pleasing, enduring untenable situations, and sacrificing yourself for “the greater good” are all forms of compromise that have no place in a thriving organization. In this course, we also draw a distinction between “reliability” and “integrity,” two terms that are often conflated. I define “reliability” as doing what you’ll say you’ll do, and “integrity” as taking action from the deep knowing of the heart and soul. With these distinctions, someone can be reliable but still be out of integrity with their deeper truth if they agree to something that is not right for them. Sometimes in this work we must learn to disappoint people with grace. Therefore, honest self-reflection and kind-but-firm boundary setting is a powerful emphasis of this course.

6. Transformation versus Change.

All that you connect with is a living, breathing reflection of you. Therefore, as a leader, you will find recurring patterns in your life that seem to follow you in your organization as well as in other parts of your life. In this way, there’s no such thing as “leaving it at the door,” because any aspect of yourself you try to ignore will pop up to be witnessed. For example, I once worked with a leader who could never scale his business beyond a certain point because the entire operation required him to be present for every decision. If he wasn’t present, all other aspects of the business were stalled. He was exhausted, burned out, and frustrated, but what he didn’t see was that this entire mode of operation was a reflection of his need to be needed. This conditioned, unconscious pattern was preventing himself and everyone involved in the business from true trust, interdependence, and ultimately thriving. Change, in this case, would look like trying other methods without addressing the deeper underlying issue. It would be like moving furniture around in the same room- ultimately, the sabotaging patterns would emerge again, just in a different configuration.

In this course, we are interested in transformation, which means releasing, transcending, and upgrading the patterns that gave rise to the recurring issues in the first place. We are interested in bringing the light of compassionate awareness to these types of sabotaging patterns so that they can be fully acknowledged and released, with love. As all of you is present in all that you do, this work will benefit you in all relationships and all spheres of your life.