Self-Discovery (Knowing Who You Are)

WisdomWorkers is about helping leaders discover themselves honestly, and use their personal discoveries to lead authentically and creatively in the world.

Does WisdomWorkers subscribe to a particular school of thought in its work? The simple answer is "not just one, but many working together." Many different theories and ideas exist in the world about self-discovery and self-leadership, what they mean, and how to develop each. Wisdom schools and traditions rooted in philosophy, religion, psychology, management, consciousness studies, and other fields offer their views on the nature and meaning of "self," how self can be discovered, and how people can successfully lead their own lives.

How important is self-leadership to leading others? In our view, it is of the utmost importance. The political and spiritual leader Mohandas Gandhi said we should "be the change we wish to see in the world." WisdomWorkers embodies this idea in everything it does. We believe leaders on all levels should practice what they preach or teach. They lack authenticity when they don't.

More attention is being given to self-discovery and self-leadership in the leadership development field, with the realization that leaders must do their "inner leadership work" to succeed at their "outer leadership work." In short, leaders must be self-aware, and exhibit a high level of self-mastery (the ability to remain in alignment with one's true self) to give genuine and effective leadership to other people in organizations and communities.

Depending upon your worldview and life experiences, you may be attracted to particular wisdom schools. For example, Christianity is the chosen path to self-discovery and leadership for many people, while Buddhism, Jungian Psychology, Gestalt Psychology, and Existentialism are the chosen paths for many others. Increasingly, leaders have become eclectic in their beliefs and approaches, drawing ideas from several wisdom schools and other sources to answer their deepest questions and provide a foundation for personal growth.

Wisdom means different things to different people. The WisdomWorkers team respects each person's right to explore and choose their own wisdom sources. For most of us, wisdom is personal knowledge that is good for us and helps us to live authentically and creatively. WisdomWorkers is most concerned about supporting its clients as they search for the truth about themselves, improve how they lead their lives, and how they give leadership to others. 

Self-discovery happens each day of our lives. Some days our discoveries are small and other days they are large and transformational. Self-discovery is not just something we do in a monthly session with our psychotherapist or executive coach or in an intensive weekend spiritual growth retreat. These "organized" personal growth opportunities can be very benefical in terms of self-learning, but they work best when they lead us back into our everyday lives, where we actually live. That is where change and transformation take place.

What tools do we use in our work?

• Personality and leadership surveys and inventories
• Individual counseling, coaching, and teaching
• Creativity training
• Journaling and creative writing
• Group work/team-building
• Intuitive counseling
• Guided imagery
• Poetry and photography therapy
• Meditation and yoga
• Vision quests

These are just some of the modalities used by the WisdomWorker team. In each case, these tools are used in a way to help clients function more successfully as leaders in everyday life. Successful daily application of newly acquired knowledge and skills is most important.