2007 Authentic Leadership Summer Program

Circle, Brush & Sword: Joining Stillness and Decisive Action with Toke Moeller, Barbara Bash & Bob Wing

As leaders and managers we have access to many tools and strategies. As we've probably discovered, none of these, on its own, is sufficient to address the complex challenges we face. The success of our actions depends largely on our core leadership capacities — our ability to be fully and authentically present, to listen deeply to what is needed, to be flexible and resilient, and to create an environment of possibility and commitment. When this foundation is strong, we are able to pick up a tool or apply a model with greater confidence and effectiveness.

These foundational leadership capacities are especially critical in times of radical change and deep questioning. In today's work environments we are challenged to strengthen the connection between who we are and what we do, so that we can draw on all our personal and professional resources.

This module is for leaders and entrepreneurs of all levels — team or project leaders, facilitators, managers, executives, community builders, and other agents of change.

Toke Moeller has collaboratively developed an "Art of Hosting" workshop which he has co-led in various locations in North America and Europe. Toke has been pioneering in the fields of sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainable leadership, educational renewal, and social responsibility since the early 1970s. He is co-founder and CEO of InterChange, a training and process consulting company based in Denmark. He has co-led a module on convening strategic conversations at the Shambhala Institute's Summer Program for the past four years.

Barbara Bash is the author and illustrator of many books on natural history for children and adults. Her involvement with Western calligraphy led her to a successful career as a graphic artist, botanical illustrator, and teacher of book arts at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where she collaborated with dancers, musicians, and storytellers in performance. Her study of Dharma Art with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Chinese pictograms with Ed Young has contributed to her understanding of Eastern principles as applied to Western forms. Barbara's most recent book is True Nature: An Illustrated Journal of Four Seasons in Solitude. She has been a member of the creative process faculty at the Shambhala Institute's Summer Program for the past four years.

Bob Wing is an Aikido black belt, and the chief instructor at the Naropa University Aikido Club in Boulder, Colorado. He holds a master's degree in theology and is a Trager practitioner and tutor. This is his second year at the Shambhala Institute.

From participants in the Circle, Brush and Sword module at the 2005 Authentic Leadership program:
"The melding of three modalities — hosting good conversations, using my personal katana (sword) and practising contemplative brush calligraphy — was magical and enabled me to deepen my personal and professional leadership capacity." -Gabriela Ostendorfer, Consultant, Comprehensive School Health, Calgary Board of Education, Alberta

"This was all that I had hoped for and more.Toke was masterful and an impeccable model. Bob Wing playfully, but with strong intent, helped us learn how to commit to action as we put our stake in the ground. And Barbara created a safe space for us to make visible gestures from a still and quiet space inside. What I have taken away from this workshop is subtle and yet very deep. My life feels transformed even as I continue to integrate all the wisdom shared so generously in this module." -Carla Kimball, Public Speaking Coach and Trainer, President/Founder, RiverWays Enterprises, Massachussets

Back to the 2007 Summer Program page.