An Interview with Eric Kaufmann, President of Sagatica
Eric speaks about the importance of the heart. At the age of thirty, he realized he was living both a spiritual pursuit and a professional pursuit. Deciding to focus on one, Eric chose to pursue spiritual commitment. From there he quit his job, shaved his head, and gave away his possessions. Part of his spiritual commitment meant attending a year-long silent meditation retreat. Find out how Eric defines conscious leadership and what the virtues and essential features are of leaders.
In this episode:
- [00:50] Meet Eric Kaufmann
- [07:45] Eric’s whole life has been a devotion to discipline, self-awareness, and practice. Selling and marketing were easier than being at home in the community. However, Eric did not have a lot of access to the heart.
- [12:30] How do you define conscious leadership? A leader is someone who organizes and influences people to achieve meaningful results. Conscious is an unresisting awareness of the present moment and interconnection.
- [17:45] Other qualities of conscious leadership – wisdom, love, and courage.
- [20:00] The biggest hurdle for every executive – ego awareness and self-management. Courage is also a challenge for leaders.
- [28:30] About creating and fostering consciousness in the workplace.
- [37:40] How gender and generational differences will change leadership abilities.
- [43:00] The shapers of human society are now businesses. Business leaders have become the shapers of society.
Key Takeaways:
- Conscious leadership is moving from the ego to a life-focused service position with awareness.
- The first virtue of a leader is focus. The world is our reflection.
- Wisdom, love, and courage are essential features of leadership.
- Courage is the most absent characteristic of a leader. It is easier to walk away; we use it as a defense mechanism.
- With age, there becomes more to lose than there is to gain.
- Business leaders are now shaping our society.
Resources:
Sagatica Wisdom YouTube
Sagatica Wisdom Facebook Page
The Four Virtues of a Leader: Navigating the Hero’s Journey Through Risk to Results Book Here
Meet Eric Kaufmann
Eric has been coaching and training leaders and executives since 2000. His earliest leadership lessons were in the water, not in the office – when he was a Scuba Diving Instructor he learned to organize and influence people to learn new skills, work together, venture into the unknown, and have fun in a process that is inherently dangerous. Tom and Eric have a lively discussion on Eric being a Thought Leader at Harvard’s Institute of Coaching, the author of Four Virtues of a Leader, and a life-long Zen practitioner.
