Virtual Workshop
Wisdom in Leadership: Drawing from the Waters of Your Most Authentic Self
17 March - 28 April 2023
9:00 am - 11:00 am US Eastern Time
Delivered by
Vernice Jones and Jan Nicholson
Format
A 6-week, intensive, developmental experience that cultivates consciousness and a more integrated and holistic approach to leadership.
All sessions are held remotely via Zoom, with secure access links provided upon registration.
What is Leadership Essence?
Wisdom traditions tell us “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.” Referred to as spirit, soul, heart, and marrow, our essence is our center. It’s the core of who we are as human beings and, of course, as leaders. Our essence, our very Being is an existential mystery to us until we dive deeper and encounter our innermost Self. This is our own true nature, the space in which thoughts and feelings arise. We begin to see how our thoughts and feelings are separate from who we truly are. Many of us are so identified with our mind, this can come as a revelation. No matter the context, it is a life-changing shift to begin to live from our essence and awareness rather than from our mind alone.
If you’re already on the journey to learn more about this work of awakening awareness, we see you. We know that walking this path can be lonely, and that it can be hard to find safe spaces to practice what you’re learning. If you’re new to these concepts and want to learn more, we welcome you. Together, we’ll explore how cultivating consciousness can impact your leadership in the world.
See our bios below for more on each of our journeys in awareness.
Why This Work Matters
Consciousness expands our capacity to perceive—and navigate—the subtle, often unseen aspects of our situations that lead to greater clarity and effectiveness. Adult development theory, for instance, suggests that our tendency as leaders to “skill ourselves up” in the face of challenges is no longer enough. Instead, we must be willing to move beyond our default solutions and toward our growth edge. For many of us, this includes unlocking our consciousness.
We also know from complexity theory that our work as leaders goes beyond the obvious; beyond cause and effect. As we evolve, we must also experiment with what we’re learning and how we turn inside to access our inner knowing. To do that, we need ways to explore our subtle bodies and see what’s present—inside ourselves as well as in evolving external systems.
In a world where complexity reigns, we must cultivate a capacity to see beyond the obvious and adapt to rapid change, all the while maintaining our equanimity. We can then meet every facet of our lives from a creative state of mind rather than a stressed, limited mindset. We are then able to show others by example and inspire them to do the same, enabling our whole, integrated system to evolve.
The Program
The Drawing from the Waters of Your Most Authentic Self program is a six-week cohort program that offers wisdom teachings for those interested in accessing their inner knowing with greater ease and consistency. You will be shown a path to integrate your alchemy of leadership. Underpinned in phenomenology, adult development, meditative concepts and practices, and wisdom tradition, our program aims to support the growth and development of leaders, coaches, and HR practitioners who are ready to embrace a more holistic approach to leadership.
The group will meet weekly to learn, connect and explore in community. At each meeting, we’ll use everything from poetry, parables, meditations, and story to tap into our consciousness, cultivating deeper awareness of ourselves, others, and the energetic field. In between sessions, you’ll have optional reading to support your practice. Throughout the program, we’ll explore our masculine and feminine energies, our being and doing, our inner and outer—all in service of being our authentic selves more and more.
Program Goals
This program is designed to help you:
● Deepen your connection to self by cultivating your consciousness and awareness
● Discover ways to calm your nervous system and shift your mindset whenever you choose
● Learn tactical and practical ways to cultivate wisdom and meditative practices in your life
● Learn when to speak from context, when to speak from wisdom, and how to know the difference
● Further develop your leadership in the world from a place of essential wisdom
Dates & Times
Display the dates and times for:
| Session 1 | 17th March, 2023 | 9:00 am |
| Session 2 | 24th March, 2023 | 9:00 am |
| Session 3 | 31st March, 2023 | 9:00 am |
| Session 4 | 14th April, 2023 | 9:00 am |
| Session 5 | 21st April, 2023 | 9:00 am |
| Session 6 | 28th April, 2023 | 9:00 am |
Accessibility - Fees
We hope to keep this workshop accessible for all that wish to attend.
The standard workshop fee is US $1,299.00.
We offer two pricing tier discounts, depending on your ability to pay: $250 off or $500 off the standard fee .
We also offer a self-selected reduced fee of US $250.00 for participants who belong to historically underrepresented groups, e.g., people of colour, indigenous people, those outside the western business paradigm.
If cost is still an issue, please reach out to Vernice Jones.
Faculty Bios
About Vernice
I began envisioning capacity-building Circles in the early days of the global pandemic as I witnessed clients struggling to lead and take care of the many others in their lives. My goal was to give leaders a place to be in community and hold space for one another, network and leverage their collective intelligence and power. What I learned was that the collective intelligence, resourcefulness, compassion and awareness shared by these leaders was precious and relationships formed were long lasting.
Since then, I have led a number of Circles and small groups. This program will focus on meditation and awareness.
I began my own exploration of meditative practices in high school when my father insisted that the entire family attend meditation instruction, separately, in order for each of us to have a unique experience. It was a radical move at the time. I recall it feeling like an exhilarating, adventurous experiment, and quickly integrated a regular although perfunctory meditation practice into my daily schedule. That practice turned out to be life altering in a way I couldn’t have predicted. The next five years brought a series of serious family health issues. Meditation as a doorway to awareness gave me an invitation to stand on the balcony of my experience and was the one thing that sustained me during that difficult time.
More recently, while teaching and guiding leaders through transformation—and doing my own work—I have noticed cognitive behavioral challenge and support to be an important part of transformation, but only partial to the multidimensional transformational experience. I have become even more focused on awareness (and awareness of awareness) in working with clients and groups. In our work together, it is not uncommon for clients to recognize in themselves a sense of connection, wisdom, and intimacy, and then ask to learn more. This program is an answer to that call.
About Jan
As is so often the case with people who grow up to be therapists and coaches, I had challenges to overcome at home that gave me a determination to help people overcome adversity and reach their potential.
I completed my doctorate at Harvard in Counseling and Consulting Psychology but most of what informs my unique approach to work as a coach and a therapist has been what I have learned since then. Thanks to having a chronically ill father, my passion has been to study and integrate mind-body-spirit approaches fully into my work in order to facilitate healing and wholeness.
Of all the things I’ve learned over the years, the most life-changing and practical knowledge I love to share with others is how to live in the ever-expansive field of awareness rather than being caught up in self-limiting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
My own story with awareness began when I had a near-drowning experience at the age of 5. Unable to swim and out in a lake over my head after slipping out of my inner tube, I shifted from being terrified to being filled with a deep sense of peacefulness. I felt immersed in radiant light, and was in a state of
blissful joy. Trying to revisit and sense this bliss again became my quest for years.
I had moments when bliss again visited me unexpectedly like at my wedding, and when my daughter was born. What changed everything for me, though, is when I met my mentor and he taught me how to consciously enter and hold the field of awareness. Blissfulness arises naturally in such moments and permeates us. This is the most personally empowering thing I have learned along the way, shifting my own life the most.
Drawing from the Waters of our Most Authentic Self is created to provide you with a map to live from an awakened perspective more and more of the time, all the while remaining embodied and fully present.
Cancellation & Terms
Payment is fully refundable up to 28 days before the start of the event, less a 13% processing fee; it is not refundable thereafter. If the event is under-enrolled, we reserve the right to cancel 28 days prior to the event start date, and refund your registration fee in full.
