Web-Laser (Feminine-Masculine) Polarity Drawing on the thinking of psychologist Carl Jung (unconscious archetypes) and psychologists Marion Woodman, Maureen Murdock, and Gareth Hill, we distinguish between masculine, or what we call “Laser capacities,” and feminine or “Web capacities.” Like a laser—a concentrated beam of light aimed at a target—laser capacities include reason, decisiveness, and control. Laser capacities enable effective, disciplined, goal-oriented action. Like a web—woven strands that gather and hold—web capacities include intuition, receptivity, flow, and patience. Web capacities accommodate ambiguity, complexity, and relatedness. We help our clients—women and men—develop and balance their web and laser capacities so as to increase their options for creative leadership.
Integral Approach Drawing on a cross-cultural comparison of most of the known forms of human inquiry, philosopher Ken Wilber has developed a comprehensive map of human capacities. Wilber’s four-quadrant map incorporates the intentional, cultural, behavioral, and social dimensions of human life, along with stages of development, types of awareness, and states of consciousness. We use Wilber’s four quadrants to help our clients explore questions such as: Who am I individually?, Who are we collectively?, How do I act individually in the world?, and How do we act collectively in the world? To deepen our understanding of the quadrants, we incorporate the work on unconscious archetypes of Jungian analyst Robert Moore and mythologist Douglas Gillette, and anthropologist Angeles Arrien (The Fourfold Way Program).
Integral Leadership Practices True transformation doesn’t happen overnight; rather, it requires consistent practice over time. Drawing on work by Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy and human potential movement pioneer George Leonard, we introduce our clients to systematic practices for developing the mind, body, heart and soul. From activities such as meditation, affirmations, aerobic conditioning, centering, journaling, yoga, Pilates, and qi gong, we encourage our clients to develop a personal set of practices to support their ongoing development as leaders.
Cultural Imperative for Transformation Never before have human beings faced the magnitude of challenges we do today. From environmental destruction to social dislocation, these challenges are urgent, global, and often far beyond what our existing models of leadership can adequately address. In exploring our current historical context and the demand for new ways of leading, we draw from futurist Paul Ray, sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, psychologists Claire Graves and Don Beck, and historian Richard Tarnas. As Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve today’s problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Intuitive and Body-Based Ways of Knowing In the cerebral frenzy of the Information Age, forgetting the body and living exclusively in the mind has become far too common. Yet integral leadership cannot be mastered solely by thinking. Effective leadership requires multiple ways of knowing, including intuitive, somatic, and emotional intelligence, and translating intention into skillful action. Our approach to teaching embodied leadership has been enriched by the somatic research of Dr. Richard Strozzi Heckler, the brain research of psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, and the research on the biology of love by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon.
Last but by no means least, we always learn from our clients, whether participants in the Women’s Integral Leadership Circle or in Kore Evolution coaching, corporate programs, or public workshops. Our clients’ probing questions, insights, and reflections as they courageously explore their deepest nature and grapple with how to offer themselves to the world in ways that are fulfilling, beneficial, and sustainable continually inspire us.