I tell my friends that it is the best leadership course or program I have ever been a part of. I’ve been a CEO for 13 years, went to Harvard Business School, and have taken many leadership courses during my career. The Being a Leader course approached leadership from an entirely different angle – the angle of purpose and motivation. The course looks at why we do what we do as human beings and provides leaders access to aligning our teams with deeply moving missions that are bigger than ourselves.
Being a Leader gave me a new perspective on what leadership is and how to lead. Through the deep discussions in the classes and the practices I took back into my life, I found that many things I struggled with actually lay mostly within myself. This kind of transformation in my heart takes a special moment. This is definitely a very pleasant surprise/gift to receive from this leadership program.
As a direct result of Being a Leader and Gordon’s masterful facilitation, our 25-year-old company is producing results unprecedented in our past. While accomplishment and setting the foundation for future performance are huge outcomes, I also got unstuck. I found a new level of vitality and came away with a set of “tools” that have shifted me professionally and personally. My work, to an observer, would look a lot like it had before the course, but my experience is completely different. As I reflect on our days together, I see the course was the stretch I had been waiting a lifetime for – truly life altering.
I rate Being a Leader among the top 2 or 3 most valuable courses I have ever taken. I was a skeptic when I signed up for Gordon’s course on the recommendation of a good friend. I figured, while I would not get much from the course, I would at least learn a thing or two and have an excuse to get out to San Francisco. I could not have been more wrong. Unlike other courses that teach concepts only to be later forgotten, Being a Leader fundamentally changes the way you think about the world, leaving a lasting impression on how you interact with it. This course far exceeded my expectations.
I have had the opportunity to lead multiple organizations, from small family businesses to corporate entities and non-profits, and therefore thought I had the practice of leadership mastered. After just two days of the six-day leadership program with Gordon Starr, I saw that my skill level as a leader and my exercise of leadership were woefully inadequate for what I wanted to accomplish. The insights I had by the end of the program were exactly what I needed and more than I could have hoped for to lead the next phase of my life at the level to which I aspired. Gordon is an amazing leader, coach, and teacher. I loved every minute of Being a Leader.
Paul Dolan
Dolan Family Ranches
Former President, Fetzer Vineyards
Former Chairman, California Wine Institute
Author: True to Our Roots
Healdsburg, CA
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