The Great Way in Leadership 5-day programme

The Great Way in
Leadership
5-Day Programme

A path to high performance, self-discovery
and a meaningful life.

THE GREAT WAY

Refers to the fundamental path in Zen. It leads beyond ordinary, dualistic thinking. It’s about realising the true nature of mind and reality, rather than clinging to concepts, rules, or distinctions.

In a world where expertise expires overnight and change outpaces every structure; leadership needs to be re-invented.

This programme is designed for leaders longing to navigate disruptive times steadily. To excel by unlocking soft skills, your human potential.

Fostering an environment where exploration, authenticity, purpose, and excellence can thrive.

This is about nurturing an open mind to explore opportunities and perspectives. Fostering the courage to take action before things are certain and clear. About building trust that enables teams to become unified, high-performing groups driven by collaboration and harmony.

It demands both inner strength and human mastery to confidently steer and lead during disruptive times.

The programme embeds ancient wisdom with contemporary leadership practices. Designed to support participants in developing their leadership skills, the course provides a distinctive, holistic approach.

Challenges

The programme addresses 5 very important topics that leaders face today:

uncertainty and stress

resistance and misalignment

personal issues

difficulties with decision making

the need for high performance and excellence

It is a journey

During the five days we do more than just focus on new business models, management theories, feedback loops, or psychological analyses. We embed these contemporary ways of management with ancient wisdoms. To create an inner journey, helping you connect with yourself and gain a renewed outlook on meaningful leadership.

This programme is designed to learn and unlearn. To challenge and re-evaluate established beliefs and limiting thought patterns. You will learn how to thoughtfully apply tools, methods, and theories in renewed ways that best support both the project objectives and team members. A practical approach with a renewed common sense.

It is a journey that provides an opportunity to explore alternative perspectives on high performance and excellence, emphasising the integration of body and mind. Focusing not only on individual development, but also on fostering alignment among team members and stakeholders.

This 5-day programme is designed to foster more natural and intuitive leadership. And a meaningful life:

stay grounded in uncertainty rather than reacting with fear

embrace flow and flexibility, just like agile methodologies promote adaptability

lead with openness and presence, rather that rigid top-down decision making

navigate change calmly and effectively: which is crucial in fast-moving environments

Theme per day

Day 1: Uncertainty and rapid change

Struggling with uncertainty, rapid change, AI, polarisation.

Adapting to an increasingly rapid pace of change and uncertainty is essential in today’s work environment. Developments such as artificial intelligence and the growing polarisation of opinions present new challenges. Uncertainty isn’t something to be solved or eliminated but rather to be encountered with openness and awareness.

What you learn:
Navigating these waves of life and society requires equanimity and the ability to adapt to evolving circumstances. Meeting uncertainty with curiosity rather than resistance. Embracing the “not-knowing ” mindset, from where effectively complex situations can be translated into clear, actionable strategies. To perform with ease, even under extreme pressure. Where intuition comes into play…

Day 2: Team alignment

Coping with resistance, conflicts and lack of team alignment.

Managing siloed or matrix teams often means addressing conflicting interests, managing stakeholder tensions, and bridging gaps between strategy and execution.

What you learn:
Lead with openness, address resistance early before it escalates, and use a gentle approach for effective results. True force is soft and gentle. This transformative experience will help you develop the stamina needed to stay receptive instead of becoming rigid when faced with difficulties. Such openness is essential for serving others and leading with compassion, focusing on empowering others.

Day 3: When it gets personal

Coping when your body and mind are showing stress, leadership fatigue, or signs of burnout. A step toward meaningful work.

Balancing challenges, deadlines, and motivating yourself or your team is key. Push too hard and you risk burnout. Too little, and motivation suffers. Today leaders often need personal commitment to achieve results while struggling with their work-life balance.

What you learn:
‘To study The Great Way is to study the self’. Rather than seeking answers externally, this day is bout self-exploration to understand your beliefs, motivations, and behavioural patterns (both positive and negative) in order to facilitate meaningful change. Physical and mental work can help you release stress and anxiety, restore energy and clarity, establishing a strong foundation for consistent performance. The fundament of inner excellence, to live a life with ease, joy and confidence.

Day 4: Decision making

Preventing poor decision-making under pressure.

Stress, high stakes, politics and pressure cloud judgement, often causing impulsive, reactive or fearful choices. Situations may escalate easily, creating an almost unstoppable chain of cause and effect where only losses occur.

What you learn:

You will learn the ability to decompress, tune in, remain attentive, and respond with presence. Finding and readjusting the balance between emotion and reason, utilizing both intuition and logic. It is important to address issues promptly rather than allowing them to escalate, facilitating smoother resolution. As your awareness develops, you will perceive subtler distinctions and be able to intervene earlier, preventing situations from becoming unmanageable. This refinement requires continuous self-awareness.

Effective decision-making should be guided by minimising the influence of ego and fear. Focus beyond urgency through ‘management by wei-wu-wei’.

Day 5: High performance and Excellence

Disruptions affect performance in many ways, unable to keep the spirit(s) high.

Your surroundings influence your mental and physical health. Probably you have experienced it yourself through office interior design, a familiar concept. The effects of your surroundings reach far beyond aesthetics. Your workplace shapes your routines, language choices, and how teams function together. It also affects your personal beliefs, behavioural patterns, and both mental and physical limitations.

What you learn:
Achieving excellence involves aligning body, mind, and spirit. This means balancing intuition, feelings and emotions with rational thought. You will discover how to navigate this delicate balance.

You will gain an understanding of how your environments influence both mental and physical well-being. As well as how to identify necessary changes to foster a safe, stable, and energising atmosphere. Both inside yourself and outside. To be able to perform the unthinkable with ease, without struggle, fear and stress.

What a day looks like

Theory

We’ll explore various theories, models, and methods related to leadership, integrating perspectives drawn from Zen and Taoism. These ancient philosophies share notable parallels with nowadays needed leadership and offer practical value in today’s business world.

Leadership involves more than intellectual skills: intuition e.g. The body plays a vital role. Your body’s wisdom, shaped by millions of years of evolution and encoded in your genes, often surpasses that of the mind. Qi Gong and Zen meditation can help you to connect to that wisdom.

Physical work

Through a series of simple (not always easy) exercises, movements, and postures, you learn how to relax and release tension. And to improve your focus and concentration.

This is based on the ancient wisdom of Qi Gong. It enables you to develop greater awareness of both your body and mind. Fostering the connection between the two. It is beneficial for promoting grounding and emotional balance.

Over time, you may experience enhanced flexibility and resilience, both physically and mentally. Like bamboo that bends with the wind, adaptable yet strong.

Qi Gong can boost your vitality and increases awareness of energy. Practicing in a group helps you to understand the nonverbal aspects of your connection with others.

Mental work

Through Zen meditation you learn to release stress and to improve concentration. And more.

It involves experiencing what is. Your way into stillness, contemplation and introspection. Through this practice, you may gain valuable insights or experience unanticipated revelations. Or maybe not, and that is in itself already a valuable insight.

It fosters a meaningful engagement with your self and supports an ongoing inner journey amidst daily responsibilities.

Integration

A vital part of this programme is the integration of everything you’ve learned, along with what you are unlearning.

Breath is central to Zen, Qi Gong, and to life itself. During dedicated sessions, you will practise Taoist breathing techniques that support both your physical and mental wellbeing. This cultivation of breath becomes the foundation for a sustainable and holistic integration of all aspects of the programme.

Details

Dates: March 18 and 25, April 1, 8 and 15

Time: 09:30 – 17:00

Location: Zentrum, Oudegracht 84, Utrecht

Language: Dutch (English upon request)

Fee: EUR 3.900,- (excl. VAT)

Including:
- 1 hour intake
- 1 hour one-on-one coaching
- handbook
- certificate
- special lunch, coffee and tea

Programme audience

This programme is designed for leaders who are actively engaged in, or responsible for, driving change within programmes, projects, or transformation-oriented environments.

It is equally valuable for leaders and senior team members seeking to enhance their well-being at work, recognising that achieving this goal demands more than routine effort.

Additionally, the programme aims to support professionals who experience constraints within corporate structures.

Certification

All participants will be rewarded with a 'The Great Way in Leadership' certificate.

About your guide

With more than three decades of hands-on change and transformation experience in organisations, I bring a wealth of expertise to this programme. My professional journey spans a wide range of roles, including manager, program manager, mentor, transformation consultant, and project owner.

During my time as head of the e-Marketing department at KPMG, I quickly understood how essential leadership soft skills were. It was at the height of the internet bubble, a period characterised by substantial budgets, high stakes, and significant uncertainty. In such an environment, sound judgment and expertise were frequently overshadowed by persuasive talk and power dynamics.

Through my extensive experience at the Zuid-As and with other organisations, I have come to understand that effective leadership extends beyond conventional thinking. It requires deeper insight and a different perspective. One that encourages innovative thinking.

Additionally, I hold authorisation from several Grandmasters to instruct in Zen and Taoist disciplines. By blending these insights with my expertise in business, I am convinced that this programme becomes a truly distinctive experience.

Feng Shui for Business

Zen Sesshin of 6 days with Qi Gong