"With gratitude for those who've walked before us, beside us, and with us."
GRATITUDES
Because honestly, any good idea we've had probably came from somewhere else first.
Every insight we share, every practice we explore, every question we hold has roots that extend far beyond us. We stand in a long lineage of people devoted to understanding leadership, human development, and the long arc of growth. We're also aware that our influences come mostly from particular cultural and intellectual traditions—and we're committed to learning from approaches we don't yet carry ourselves.
Wisdom Through Connection
This page honors those whose thinking has shaped our work—not to name-drop or display credentials, but to acknowledge that everything good we've created has grown in conversation with others. Gratitude, for us, isn't a footnote. It's a foundation.
These pioneering minds helped shape how we see leadership, learning, and development. We name them here with appreciation and humility:
Embodied Wisdom
- David Whyte — For teaching us that "leadership is the art of conversation" and that the conversations we're not having often hold the keys to transformation
- Thomas Hübl—For weaving trauma healing into systems transformation; for bringing somatic awareness to collective change.
- Amy Elizabeth Fox — For teaching us that the body holds wisdom the mind alone cannot access
- Richard Rohr --- For anchoring us in what is always here; for teaching presence as the foundation of wise action.
Adult Development & Transformation
- Robert Kegan & Lisa Lahey — For uncovering our hidden "immunities to change"; for showing us why our competing commitments keep us stuck despite our best intentions.
- Jennifer Garvey Berger & Carolyn Coughlin — For revealing how to lead when you can't know what's next; for teaching us that complexity is a superpower, not a problem.
- Susanne Cook-Greuter & Beena Sharma — For mapping the territory of how consciousness evolves; for illuminating the deeper structures that shape how we make meaning.
- Otto Scharmer — For teaching us to "presence" the future as it emerges; for pioneering the shift from ego-system to eco-system consciousness in our planetary crisis.
Leadership & Systems
- Bob Anderson & Bill Adams — For proving that how we lead flows from who we are; for measuring the inner game of leadership development.
- Barry Johnson & Brian Emerson — For showing us that some tensions—like innovation and stability—aren't problems to solve but polarities to navigate wisely
- Bob Dunham — For revealing how leadership happens in the quality of our conversations; for teaching language as the technology of coordination.
Various mindfulness teachers — For anchoring us in what is always here; for teaching presence as the foundation of wise action.
This work continues to evolve because you—our participants, readers, and fellow travelers—keep teaching us. Together, we're writing a new story about leadership, wisdom, and what's possible when humans gather with genuine intention. Sometimes the most profound teacher is the person sitting across from you in a circle, sharing their confusion with vulnerable honesty.
"New teachers appear all the time: a client's insight, a conversation that rearranges your understanding, a circle where the honesty of one voice shifts the whole room. Often these moments teach us more than any formal framework—including how the most powerful questions tend to emerge from the most unexpected sources."
Gratitude isn't just about looking back. It's a way of meeting what's here—and what's ahead.
The Continuing Story
