Eric Kaufmann - Beyond Ego Myopia: Shifting Culture through Conscious Business
Feb 13, 2024
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Renowned executive coach, Eric Kaufmann, shares his journey from college dropout to meditation and psychedelics. He emphasizes the need to bring humanity and spirituality to business. The podcast explores integrating psychedelics into coaching to transcend 'ego myopia' and discusses the transformative power of psychedelics in breaking through barriers to change.
Psychedelics have the potential to facilitate a sense of connection and community within organizations.
Businesses that prioritize both results and human connection create a culture that attracts passionate individuals.
Conscious leaders should cultivate wisdom, love, and power to move beyond ego myopia and create positive change.
Deep dives
The Importance of Balancing Individuality and Community in Workplaces
Creating a balance between individuality and community in workplaces is a challenge. The US, being an individualistic society, prioritizes personal achievements and often neglects the importance of community. However, there is a growing demand from employees for a sense of meaning and connection in the workplace. Executives and leaders are realizing the need to create a work culture that fosters community and allows individuals to bring their whole selves to work. Psychedelics, with their ability to open hearts and break down barriers, have the potential to facilitate this cultivation of connection and community within organizations.
How the Way of Doing Business Matters
It's not just about what businesses create, but also about how they do it. A company's approach, values, and treatment of employees, customers, and the environment greatly impact its success. Businesses that demonstrate an unyielding commitment to results, while also prioritizing spirit and human connection, stand out in the market. By aligning strategy, processes, and people with these values, companies can create a culture that honors compassion, integrity, and meaning. This way of doing business sets them apart and attracts talented individuals who are passionate about the company's mission.
The Four Virtues of a Leader: Focus, Courage, Grit, and Faith
In the book 'The Four Virtues of a Leader', the author highlights key disciplines for effective leadership. These disciplines include focus, which involves being intentional and aligned with values; courage, which entails facing challenges and walking towards what one would rather avoid; grit, which involves persevering even when motivation is low; and faith, which focuses on surrendering attachments and embracing emergence. These virtues empower leaders to bring their best selves to their work, positively impacting their environment and inspiring others.
Cultivating Wisdom, Love, and Power in Conscious Leadership
Eric Kaufman, a leadership coach, discusses the importance of cultivating wisdom, love, and power in conscious leadership. He highlights how senior leaders often struggle with ego myopia, where they become rigid and unable to see beyond their own needs to be right, liked, and have control. Kaufman emphasizes the need to open up the field of possibility for leaders, allowing them to access their wisdom, connect with their love, and activate their power. By doing so, leaders can tap into a deeper sense of purpose, make better decisions, and create positive change within their organizations and communities.
Navigating the Nuances: Embracing Dimensionality in Leadership
Eric Kaufman highlights the importance of embracing nuance and dimensionality in leadership. He emphasizes that leaders should move away from a binary worldview and instead cultivate a more nuanced understanding of life. By letting go of ego myopia and embracing shades of gray, leaders can develop tolerance, compassion, and a deeper connection to themselves and others. Kaufman believes that by becoming more dimensional in their approach, leaders can embody both masculine and feminine qualities, tap into their full potential, and create a more harmonious and inclusive environment in which both personal and organizational growth can flourish.
This intimate conversation was recorded live from Eric’s “meditation temple” built beside his house in Southern California. Eric shares his journey from being kicked out of college to finding meditation and his early adventures integrating psychedelics into his meditation practice.
He reveals his insights from a year-long meditation retreat and emphasizes the growing need to bring humanity and spirituality to business. Eric lays out his two books and their roadmaps to conscious leadership. Finally, the two explore how psychedelics can be integrated into coaching to help leaders transcend “ego myopia,” which Eric sees as the biggest barrier to executive effectiveness and conscious leadership.
Eric Kaufmann:
Eric Kaufmann combines an unrelenting commitment to results with an unyielding regard for spirit. He is the product of forty years of Zen practice seamlessly woven into three decades of business leadership, both as a corporate leader and advisor to leaders.
Eric is an appointed Thought Leader at Harvard’s Institute of Coaching. He designed and taught the Coaching for Professionals program at San Diego State University, and has presented at TEDx. Author of The Four Virtues of a Leader and Leadership Breakdown, Eric is laser focused on teaching executives and leaders how to raise their game as human-centered leaders with bottom line accountability.
Eric’s teaching and guidance to clients such as Dr. Bronner’s, Verizon, ASML, Sunpower, Circle, SDG&E, Alcon, and Facebook, weaves in tried-and-true wisdom gleaned from more than 15,000 hours as an executive guide.
Eric has lived and worked on three continents, and managed and led at Fortune 100 firms. In addition to his degree in business, he is a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master Scuba diving Instructor. In his previous life, he lived off the grid in a mountain cabin he built by himself. Eric is married for 25 years and is the blessed father of two remarkable young women who know how to navigate the Matrix.
Highlights:
Finding spiritual communion through meditation
From being kicked out of college to finding meditation
Eric’s early adventures integrating psychedelics into his meditation practice
Revelations from a year-long meditation retreat
Turning home and work life into spiritual practices
The growing need to bring humanity and spirituality to business
Cultivating community outside the workplace
How conscious business practices can shape culture
Unpacking the four virtues of a leader
Transcending ‘Ego Myopia’ to conscious leadership
Integrating psychedelic experiences through coaching
