Tag: Leadership Development
-
The Mastery Fork in the Leadership Road: Part 1
by Dennis Adsit In the introduction to this series on Leadership mastery, I asked the question, Why Isn’t It You? Why aren’t you your favorite leader? I talked about an approach a music teacher friend uses to nudge his students away from fixating on their guitar heroes and stealing their licks towards finding and mastering…
-
PRESS RELEASE
The (un)Summit: Wisdom In Action FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE San Francisco, CA ā July 23, 2025 ā New Ventures West, a global leader in Integral Coaching and professional development, announces the (un)Summit: Wisdom in Action, a groundbreaking five-day virtual gathering featuring renowned thought leaders Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, John J. Prendergast, Diana Chapman, Minna Salami, and Jessica…
-
Why Isn’t It You
by Dennis Adsit Many clients have come to me and said they want to be Partner or a VP or a C-suite leader. And I love it when they do. Drive like that can be harnessedā¦for all sorts of things. After trying to understand why a promotion is important to them and expressing my willingness…
-
Who – How – What
Hitting Ceilings of Change “I am the bottleneck. Everyone comes to me with their key decisions. In order for us to mature as an organization, I know this needs to change. I am trying different techniques and they have helped and I recognize the need for something more. I really need a significant shift to…
-
What Lies Within Us
āYou understand so little of what is around you because you do not use what is within you.ā – Hildegard von Bingen, c. 1151 AD I write because I am curious about the destiny and righteousness of women who have been successful and celebrated widely, but also because I am curious about those who have…
-
“It” vs. “You”: A Field Experiment
How many times have you heard this: “kids, don’t try this at home”? But here’s one you might want to try. Zero cost and an ROI that might surprise you. I got the idea from my son. On occasions, after I had done something for him, he would say, “I appreciate you.” Ā I would not…
-
Courage v. Bravery
Bravery and courage are cousins often confused as twins. While they share DNA of context containing an element of fear, upon examination they are quite different. Bravery is observed and measured from the outside. We see someone perform admirably in the face of dangerāwhether physical, social or relationalāand we comment upon their bravery. They managed…
-
Changing and Staying the Same are the Exact Same Process
Cyd is the person in the office who is always fixing everything: the broken printer, the scheduling snafu, the delivery gone awry. They see things that are invisible to most: the bump in the ceiling that could become a leak; the fact that youāre halfway through the second-to-last jug of water and havenāt placed the…
-
Ten Seconds of Spaciousness
10 seconds. That was all my client needed to hear to start shifting her mindset and easing her doubts and worries. Her social conditioning did not allow her to take time for herself or do something that was not obviously attached to an accomplishment or for the benefit of others. Just 10 seconds gave her…
-
Coyote Trickster: Embracing the Unexpected
While catching up recently with two of my wonderful colleagues, one of them asked the other what kinds of new connectionsĀ she was making since having chosen her fetish. Wow, I thought, what a juicy conversation this was going to be!Ā Yet quickly I was told that this wasnāt about the kind of fetish I was…
-
Schƶpfung: Why Creativity is Key in Next-Level Leadership
A while back, I attended a workshop on process and transformation. At one point, I was struggling to explain why I believe creativity is so fundamental to leadership. And then I heard someone use the word āSchƶpfung,ā (the workshop was taught in German), which loosely translates to ācreationā or āinvention.ā As soon as I heard…
-
Body-Centered Speaking and Listening
This article was original published on the Mindful Leader Blog in June 2021. In Integral Coaching we often talk about the three centers of intelligence: head, heart, and body.Ā Useful across all areas of coaching, they are particularly interesting to explore in the realm of speaking and listening. Recently, I had the opportunity to spend…
-
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome by Normalizing Hardship
Michelle Obama was asked what hurt her most during her tenure as First Lady. She responded by saying, āThe shards that cut me the deepest were the ones that intended to cut,ā referring to the negative comments on social media. Among such comments include āshe is an ape in heels,ā āher daughters donāt like her,ā…
-
The Medicine of Walking
How Walking Makes Us Human In his incredible book, In Praise of Walking, author Shane OāMara writes that walking separates humans from other animals. Walking upright āfrees our hands for other tasks…makes our minds mobile…and changes our relationship to the world.ā OāMara even concludes that a baby who grows up in a non-human environment will…
-
Renegotiating When Circumstances Shift
I recently got together with some friends for the first time since March. This event was a big deal for the whole group. To ensure everyone would feel comfortable, we agreed to get Covid tests and self-quarantine in the week leading up to our get-together. And yet, I still felt very wobbly about the whole…
-
Shaping Our Presence to Be More Supportive
This article was originally published on the Mindful Leader Blog in JuneĀ of 2020. In these days of heightened anxiety and insecurity, many of us are drawn to be a safe and reassuring space for those who are in crisis and afraid. And, when weāre in that often unavoidable place ourselves, weāre grateful to the…
-
Balancing Ourselves Using the Six Streams of Competence
This post was originally published on the Mindful Leader blog in April 2020. In these times of massive change and disruption, many of us are looking inward to see how we can be of greater support to our communities and the world. Integral Coaching, which is a sustainable, self-generating framework for developing ourselves and others,…
-
Our Commitment to Anti-Racism
Dear friends, We live in a society plagued by injustice. The past several days have shone a bright spotlight on just how insidious, systemic, historical, evil and dehumanizing many of these injustices are for the black community. As an organization whose purpose is the flourishing of life, we stand for the flourishing of black lives.…
-
Self-Leadership in Unprecedented Times
In the last months, our worlds as we knew them have shifted and changed, and we are all making sense in our own way. To quote a friend: āThe challenge is to find a balance between being pollyanna-ish and alarmistā. As I participate in conversations with different groups ā coaching community, executives, leaders, global and…
-
Designing Your Life