Cutting Through Complexity

Working with Power, Timing, and Action

With Barbara Bash, Michael Chender & Chris Grant

In seeking to lead effectively, we are continually confronted with the challenges of properly wielding or engaging power, and of acting wisely and at the right time to achieve positive results in often unknowable and complex situations. In addition, we need to know when to collaborate and when to act unilaterally, when to forge ahead and when and how to conserve our energy.  For many of us, there is not much practical teaching on these issues outside of the School of Hard Knocks.

This workshop will present a detailed and flexible model that we can use to sharpen our leadership capabilities. It draws on the immensely practical teachings of the Buddhist and Shambhala traditions on engaging in wise action.  We will explore these in light of the study of systems, of cyclical patterns, of classic texts on strategy, and of our own experiences as organizational and corporate founders, CEOs and Board Members, social innovators, teachers and artists.

We will offer experiential exercises and ongoing practices – both ancient and modern – to enhance some of the core skills of authentic leadership in action. These include the ability to see clearly, to act decisively and effectively, to be humble and unwavering, and to let go.  We will also engage in brushwork as a particularly direct way to experience the many provocative challenges of making an appropriate mark.

This track is designed as much for experienced leaders who want to enhance their capacity to get useful things done, as it is for those newly taking up leadership roles within their organizations, networks and communities. Participants will be invited to bring cases, challenges and insights from their own practice as leaders to work on and to add to our collective understanding.