A few years back I would have looked at you in surprise when you asked me to design a program around Love and Forgiveness for top leaders in the world. I still do. But I take on the challenge and am interviewing leaders from Palestine, India, Brazil, South Africa to increase my understanding what we are actually looking for.
The preparations are already wonderful. Inspiring Skype conversations that make me think: “Yes Hein, I can see that many of your top business men are struggling with self-acceptance and feel lonely. My clients hope to survive the boat trip fleeing from Africa.” And: “I would love to share my life story Hein of becoming a minister. It takes a lot of resilience and I met some hard times while being imprisoned.” or: “Leaders have difficulty to connect to their purpose and it’s even harder for them to support others to connect to their purpose. But that is now their task.” “Life is hell for many people I am working with. No, I expect hell is better than the lives they are living.”
We want to do something radically different, to stay away from downloading the programs we have done already for many years. We like the idea to design the meeting as if it’s a flow. No clear beginning or end but more like an evolutionary process in which people can contribute when they arrive and leave when they want or need to. It would be great to combine the latest scientific insights around neural networks with the loving kindness of the Far East. We have to come up with a curriculum that can be given all over the world.
The first week of April we will design the curriculum at a place close to Rio de Janeiro. Still some time to make it practical.
Picture is taken at Amsterdam City of Lights last January. Do these images love themselves?
To my surprise Harvard is publishing about love: https://hbr.org/2012/02/why-love-matters-more-and-less
Are we on to something?