Fifteen years ago, I set out to design a course that would take our very popular and very effective Women Leading Change program one giant step further, especially for women with BIG jobs.

ELSC is a transformative approach to leadership
excellence that enables senior executive women
to create extraordinary, sustainable
leadership success

I envisioned that the participants in this program would be women in key enterprise roles who had a deep hunger and appreciation for lifelong learning. They would be ready and willing to expand their leadership and invest time in themselves. They would also be hungry to join a community of practice, support, and encouragement with female peers from other companies.

And so, in 2002, we held our first offering of Executives Leading Sustainable Change, which we now refer to as ELSC. Because I think being modest is highly overrated, I will tell you frankly that IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!

Lead With Your Whole Self

In the Executive Leading Sustainable Change program we teach the whole human being to lead – because great leadership doesn’t just happen from the neck up. It utilizes  100% of the body’s intelligence. By putting your whole-body intelligence to work,  we empower leaders to produce results that are significant, desirable, and sustainable.

For example, what most people call intuition or “gut feel” is not happening in their head per se. It is  happening – and being felt – in their tissues, organs, and muscles. These feelings trigger an unconscious “conversation” in the mind about what those sensations mean and what we should do about them.

But the actions we take based on our unexamined assumptions and conclusions are not actions at all. They are REACTIONS. Reactions are automatic. They are the default setting we operate from when we experience stress or uncertainty.

Unless and until a leader develops a powerful relationship to and integration with her mind, body, and spirit, she is limited as to how she can respond to the challenging daily circumstances that arise in her organization.

Our female version of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man speaks to the power we can
embody when all parts of us unite to form a perfect whole

Disrupt Your Default

Imagine this scenario. You are running between meetings and you decide to duck into your office for a few minutes to check your email. As you scroll down, your eyes stop on a particular name, “John Smith.”

Your jaw tightens, your heart immediately increases its pace, and you think, Oh no! NOW what is he going to complain about?

This is a classic example of a normal human reaction. Because it is reactive, it only allows for certain options: prepare to fire off a defensive response, delete the email, avoid responding at all,
or find yourself paralyzed, with no clear path forward.

In contrast, a conscious response begins with you pausing to notice your bodily sensations (tight jaw, increased heart rate) and your knee-jerk conclusion that John’s email is going to be a problem.

This moment of conscious awareness allows you to calm your state of being and choose a different course of action, one that is well thought out and consistent with what you are committed to.

We sincerely hope this type of mind-body-spirit training speaks to you and moves you to join us at our upcoming Executives Leading Sustainable Change !

2015 Schedule for Executives Leading Sustainable Change
June 8 (eve), 9,10, 11  and  Sept 14, 15, 16
More information and to register

Working toward a common goal of extraordinary and sustainable leadership success, you will learn and practice Leading by Context™. You will practice strategies for renewal and resilience in the face of stressful and demanding responsibilities at work and at home. You’ll share your challenges in a safe and affirming environment while learning how to use the mind-body-spirit connection to tackle complex business issues without shortchanging work-life integration.

I remember how proud I was of that very first cohort ELSC grads! In fact, I have been proud of every single woman who has taken this course since then. Without exception, they have gone on to create transformational change in the organizations they lead and in their personal lives. (See some of their stories below.)

Now I’m looking for my next group of really, really good women executives to whom this kind of education speaks!

“This program provided me with the motivation to take on a project…that helped our institution justify an investment in cutting-edge employee development. What’s more, it helped me land a huge promotion and the opportunity to double my staff. The return on investment from this class is undeniable.”

–Regional President, Wells Fargo Bank

“One of the results has been a much tighter alignment with my team of 900 people. This alignment has enabled us to accomplish projects in record time and build the trust that has enabled us to reduce our in-person meetings and, in turn, significantly cut our operating expenses.”

–Senior Vice President, People & Organizational Effectiveness, Yahoo

“The nature of my work is to lead large teams of people in making critical decisions and resolving problems. This program gave me a set of relevant, applicable tools that I can leverage repeatedly to ensure the best decisions are made in the fastest, least expensive manner. My involvement with ELSC has netted savings across the board ranging from cost cutting measures to simple things—like cutting meeting durations down by an average of 50 percent.”

–Senior Vice President, Information Management, I.R.S

What might YOU accomplish with this kind of training, commitment, and community support under your belt?

I hope you’ll join us for our 2015 offering of Executives Leading Sustainable Change. It is truly a life-changing opportunity. For more information, go to our website or download our program brochure. See you in June!