The course is based on an ontological and phenomenological model of leadership. This approach is uniquely effective in providing accessible ways to be a leader and to exercise leadership effectively.
Ontology, as a broad subject, explores the nature of being in general. However, our focus here is on the ontology of human beings, specifically examining what it means to be a leader and the essence of effective leadership. The way a leader perceives themselves influences their emotions, creativity, thinking, planning, and ultimately, their actions in the practice of leadership.
In leadership situations, we have a significant choice regarding the positions we adopt. Changing these positions affects how people and events appear to us, which in turn influences our actions. Positions can be limiting and distorting or liberating and empowering. Throughout this course, we will create a leadership environment that encourages you to embrace your role as a leader and to act in alignment with your true self. Additionally, we will provide opportunities for you to identify and confront personal barriers (ontological constraints) that hinder your leadership potential. By doing so, you will be able to overcome these obstacles and tap into your natural capacity for leadership.
We are not suggesting that you change or become different from who you are now, nor that you need to better explain or understand why you are the way you are. This is not a psychological exercise; it is an ontological one. This course focuses on transforming you “as you are born,” which means expanding the potential opportunities for different ways of being and doing. In other words, it is about providing yourself with a broader and more diverse range of ways to exist and act.
Gaining access to leadership and effectively exercising it as an authentic expression of oneself requires addressing the factors that constrain everyone’s freedom to be and act. These factors also shape our perceptions, emotions, creative imagination, thinking, and planning. When individuals are not limited or influenced by these “ontological constraints,” their way of being and acting aligns naturally with their personal best in any leadership situation. We support students in achieving this for themselves