Silicon Valley founders and their investors are recognizing the value of having leaders gather monthly in forums with their peers to learn with and from each other.
Joe Greenstein, co-founder of InnerSpace, had a vision to create a forum made up of his community of friends and colleagues to support one another in practicing conscious leadership both in and outside of work. Because these leaders share many of the same challenges, one person’s work is everyone's work, which makes group learning very efficient.
Forum member Premal Shah says, “I can learn a bunch of concepts, but to actually have nine other stories of people, of characters I know well, of people I love, and to see the struggle and see attempts at resolution,..it's just an incredibly rich and, frankly, efficient way to learn. It's surprising to me. It's been wonderful.”
The group met for a year; each of the 10 members created significant shifts both in their professional and personal lives. Below you can hear and read about the experience and benefits from three of the members we interviewed.
Nine of the ten members signed up for a second year. They’re excited to deepen their practice as conscious leaders and create even more exquisite lives.
Introduction Why did you join this forum?
What surprised you the most? Can you share a vulnerable moment?
What are you excited about for year 2? Closing and invitation to you...
Appreciation for CLG's Impact
During the persona party at our retreat I experienced a profound shift; it turned the hardest thing I've ever dealt with in my adult life into an incredible learning opportunity. I now know I can choose to look at every situation in life as an opportunity rather than a struggle...[In general] I think of Forum as fun. I see it on my calendar and I look forward to it.
Joe Greenstein
InnerSpace, Co-Founder; Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes, Former CEO
I found [Forum] to be edgy but not scary. I got as much challenge out of it as I wanted and as much vulnerability as I was comfortable with. There was a really nice allowance to meet me where I was. The retreat also was exceptionally fun. Seriously, the retreat was one of the most fun two days I've ever had in my whole life. And I've had a lot of fun, like a lot. So that's saying something.
Caneel Joyce
Executive Coach, Culture Builder, Movement Maker
I’lI admit, I think taking time to meet with a group every month for a period of time when you already feel like you're dropping balls, can feel like a bit too much. I've been surprised at how leveraged that time is actually in a group setting. I now experience a higher degree of trust, despite the outcomes of the day to day. And the goodness of it all is that it’s liberated me to apply myself without unhelpful anxiety.
