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Throughout history, the great questions have been asked, and great research has been undertaken, always expanding the territory of the known by shining a light into the unknown. Where is that cutting edge today? And can a community of people from all over the world, each carrying their own unique journey of discovery, come together to inquire at the edge of purposeful evolution, through dialogue and interaction? We think it is possible, and we hope that you will choose to be a part of this exploration.
As we consider the many ways that global events have changed our lives – how we work, how we educate our children, how we gather and form communities – it’s important not to miss the transformation underway in how we think about and what we expect from leadership.
Physical boundaries and defined spaces, such as at work or with a community, can disappear overnight and be replaced by a freely shifting virtual experience. With each new space, new configuration of people and talents, new tribe or community, also comes the opportunity for new intelligence, new insights and new consciousness to emerge. Leadership can make a difference in bringing new possibilities to life.
Our conversation weaves together some of the key threads in the transforming tapestry of leadership:
- A true leader creates the ecologies where each person can discover and liberate their own natural intelligence, inner strength and universal possibility.
- A critical transformation of the past 60 years is the ascendance of women in leadership. It reveals the power and potential made possible when feminine and masculine universal energies are partners in greater harmony and balance.
- Some of the world’s spiritual thinkers believe “high souls” are among us who appear as simple yet extraordinary people. They make the higher, better choices and try to leave every situation better than they found it.
- A risk for many leaders’ physical and mental health is their competitive nature and the ‘shortfall syndrome’, or feeling they are never enough. New ideas and practices are emerging that help maintain inner balance.
- The biggest decision a leader may face is the choice to take responsibility for their life and circumstances, and not place blame for everything wrong on the world around them.
Leadership enables new possibilities by creating the vision for new ways of being, new ways of doing, new ways of creating, and new ways of producing. And being able to embrace the vulnerability of not being certain, of stepping into the unknown, as an expression of courage.
I'm completely convinced humanity is full of extraordinary people. They show up as nurses and as doctors and as engineers and as workers on the factory floor, in all walks of life, in all backgrounds. Some are very sophisticated mentally, some are not. They will express the quality of their character in a different way. If I am present to see that quality, it comes shining in front of me. That’s part of the function of leadership, part of what leaders are here to do, to recognize the unpolished gem, the unpolished brilliance, in people they work with. The job of the leader is to allow that brilliance, that creativity, to come to the foreground and to give it space, to encourage it, to coach it, to nudge it, to help liberate that brilliance.
Kyriaki Nikandrou
When I was a child, staring at the starry night skies, I was filled with awe and wonder, about the mysteries of the Universe, Life, Time, the Human and its place in the Cosmos, trying to connect the dots that link everything with everything…
Some years down the line, I still do. I am seeking to be in conversation with others in search for keys, for tools of understanding and application and for the real questions, the ones that become portals to contemplative journeys, leading to uncharted territories that feel like home.
I believe we are on a trajectory of multiple and unpredictable changes; it is up to each one of us to rise to the challenge of our times. Now, more than ever before, is the time to be true to ourselves and fulfill our potential.
Aviv Shahar
Aviv is the Founder of Aviv Consulting, helping leaders unleash strategic innovation, and is the author of Create New Futures: How Leaders Produce Breakthroughs and Transform the World Through Conversation.
