COUNSELLING
Stoicism helps us to learn how to live a good and fulfilling life. Most often, what stands in the way of us living this life are existential challenges and our own inner baggage, in the form of psychological difficulties and detrimental conditionings (of heart and mind). Through the Stoic counselling process, we learn to transform, to heal and to free ourselves of our specific psychological difficulties, such that we live with much greater well-being.
At the same time, we also cultivate the various Stoic practices and Virtues, until we become adept at facing all of life’s obstacles and learn how to live really well. Finally, in our approach,in addition to Stoic wisdom, we also integrate tools from modern psychotherapy – a field especially adept at transforming inner difficulties - thereby blending the best of the old with the best of the new.
For those who may want to learn more, we invite you to read a deeper treatment of The Stoic Counselling Process and The Stages, and Process, of Stoicism.
LEADERSHIP ADVISING
Leaders are by definition generalists, who develop cross-sectional skills and embody various roles. Leadership requires professional excellence of course, but also inner competence, interpersonal intelligence, strategic foresight and worldly know-how.
Our approach to leadership advising is therefore integrative, in that it encompasses both the inner and outer dimensions necessary for leadership excellence. In our leadership advising, we look to the client’s specific needs and help them in the following key areas: personal excellence, inter-personal excellence, and organizational intelligence.
The ability to grow our personal and inter-personal excellence depends to a great extent on self-observation, self-development and the overall practice of the qualities leading to human excellence - what the ancient Stoics referred to as the Virtues and Arête (excellence), both of which combine to form the leader’s character. The more we practice the attributes of human excellence, the better we become, of course. Other than the mastery of our specific professional field, all excellence in leadership rests on this necessary foundation, since there is no superior leadership without superior human qualities – such as integrity, courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom.
Our approach to leadership advising therefore rests on the on-going development of overall excellence, in the personal, interpersonal and organizational realms. We begin by doing a thorough assessment of where a leader is presently at – in terms of abilities and challenges - and a specific inventory of which areas of competence are in need of further development in the three core leadership realms (personal, interpersonal and organizational).
At the same time, as is the case for most people, there are often psychological areas where leaders are in difficulty, and we integrate counselling and philosophical work, where helpful, to assist the leader in effectively transforming these challenges.
For those who may want to learn more, we invite you to read a selection of our short essays on the Art of Leadership.