Program
Dive a little deeper and let us take you through the CORE leadership program based on the four themes of self-awareness, agility, ambition and love. It starts with a visit to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
Be present
In 2010 at MoMA, performance artist Marina Abramović looked visitors in the eye for 1 minute, six days a week, three months in a row. 'The artist is present' was the title of the performance. She had her eyes closed until the next visitor sat across from her. Then she opened her eyes and for a minute she looked into the eyes of the other. For more than 750 hours, she looked thousands of people in the eye, connecting with them, heart to heart. Many had tears in their eyes.
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Abramović felt inspired by our shared humanity and our shared need for contact. Although being alone sometimes seems easier, we ultimately find more reward in being together. Abramović said, "No one could imagine... that anyone would take the time to sit there opposite me and look at each other." It turned out to be an unfounded fear. The chair was occupied non-stop and there was a constant line of people, waiting their turn. "It was a complete surprise…this huge need of people for real contact," she said afterwards. In the book "Into the Wild," the author Jon Krakauer has his protagonist Chris McCandles put it this way:Happiness is only real when shared'.
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Self awareness - day 1
What does this have to do with CORE leadership? Everything begins and ends with connection. Connection with yourself, your history, each other, your team, your organization, the world in which you live and work. Without real contact there is no love and without love there is no authentic leadership. That is why we bring you into contact with your own beginning, with the name your parents gave you at birth, and with your development or lifeline from then until now. Through a number of exercises we take you along your own development and you gain insight into how you developed into who you are today. How your history, the important people in your life, the beautiful and the painful moments, and your own choices have brought you to where you are today as a person and leader.
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In addition, you will learn from experts in the field of leadership development. We give you a brief overview of the history of leadership development to date, and help you identify your own strategy and qualities as a leader. There is no unambiguous picture of what leadership is and what is not, and therefore encourage you to develop your own leadership. One thing is clear: leadership development is a matter of lifelong learning. That is why the training days and the exercises you get to do are spread over time. You therefore work on building new habits and on integrating your leadership development into your daily life.
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We do not believe in a one size fits all approach to successful leadership, but help you to develop your own voice and style. This is what we call self-awareness: the awareness you need to lead authentically and credibly.
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Because not everything has to be serious... but still... Your story is your capital. Don't leave it to the Olafs of the world to tell you who you are. Tell yourself where you come from, your nest, your culture. Because who you are, that's where your credibility lies.
Agility - day 2
Hand in hand with self-awareness goes agility, the ability to move with a changing world. When we talk about liminal times, those times in our lives when we move from one stage to another and feel disoriented, there are always people who jump up and say, "That's where I am now!" Logical. After all, life is liminal, constantly changing and evolving, until we naturally come to our own natural end. If that last one sounds a bit too dark to you, think of the metaphor of a river. A river has one end goal, and that is to end up in the ocean. That is where the river finally ceases to exist. But that ending doesn't stop the river from being beautiful along the way and of great value to the country through which it flows. What originated from a spring, then became a stream and then grew into a majestic wide-flowing river, finally reaching the ocean. Growing is moving with the twists and turns of your own river, floating on your core values and with the bumps and scrapes that come with it.
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Agility means daring to change. It's looking around the next corner with confidence because you know what your values are. Not always easy, but achievable. Agility is learning to deal with discomfort.
Ambition - day 2
Healthy agility gives a lot of room for focus and ambition. Our third theme is about that ambition. Not the go-get-it-you-can-have-anything-you-set-your-mind-to way, or get rich and famous fast. But in the way of stillness, those moments of tranquility in which dreams, desires and plans come to mind. When your imagination and creative energy lead you to your own vision. A vision that is about what you want to change in your part of the world, in your living and working world. About who you want to be for the people around you. You look at the personal and professional roles you have or would like to have and what leadership is required of you. So that your qualities and the questions in your living and working world come together, and you work completely from the possibilities that have been given to you.
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In this video about the Spanish human towers and 7-year-old Carla you can see the many layers of ambition. The idea, the courage, the climbing, the touching of the sky and most of all the many shoulders she stands on, the huge structure of support and the encouragement of loved ones. You don't build a tower on your own.
ps not for those who are afraid of heights.
Love - day 3
And to complete the circle again we end with forward looking love and connection. We cannot talk about leadership without also talking about power and impotence, about the ability to change something but also the ability to damage. Love and power, how do they relate to each other? With a focus on the future, you make a practical plan and develop a path that is within reach. You go into the world with a healthy dose of self-confidence, and with confidence in your potential to lead, and you see and develop that same potential in others. Please pass on to others what you have learned here. Share your newfound wisdom at home, at work, and in your community. Lead others with an open and generous heart and make this world a little more beautiful.
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The change that comes when people dare to lead and connect with self-awareness, agility, ambition and love is powerful and bubbling with life.Change that matters, like happiness, is only real when shared.
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Loving leadership is seeing everyone's dignity, talent and potential. It's the loyalty and mutual support to the people you hang out with in life and work.
Soft? No. Loving leadership is hard work. It's fragile. It is value full.
Go ahead.