In this episode of Stepping In, host Adam Klein of New Ventures West speaks with Mo, founder of Mindful Leader, exploring how integral coaching principles shape authentic leadership and personal transformation. Key themes include:

• Mo's transformative journey from tech CEO to mindfulness leader, sparked by his company's collapse and subsequent period of profound questioning
• The value of staying attuned to life's guidance, even when it comes through challenging experiences
• The influential role of integral coaching in
•  - Embracing discomfort as a catalyst for growth
•   - Integrating diverse perspectives, even critics
•   - Balancing action with reflection
• How Mo's immigrant background shaped his desire to understand and be understood, influencing his inclusive approach to mindful leadership
• The importance of engaging with divergent voices and critics in the mindfulness community, finding value in discord rather than seeking only harmony
•  Key elements of New Ventures West's approach to
•   - Creating inclusive dialogue in the mindfulness community
•   - "Pulling the rug out" when things get too comfortable
•   - Finding aliveness in challenge and growth

The conversation illustrates how integral coaching provides a framework for both personal transformation and organizational leadership, while remaining responsive to life's deeper invitations for growth and understanding.

How do you navigate the challenging journey of finding your authentic vocation amid the pressures of success and expectations? In this intimate conversation, Adam Klein & Amiel Handelsman discuss Amiel's evolving path from leadership development coach to podcaster and writer, exploring the internal tensions between pragmatism and spirituality that shaped his work. Through candid discussion of his practices, fears, and transformations, Amiel reveals how listening deeply to life's calling requires both fierce dedication and humble surrender. This episode offers profound insights for anyone grappling with their own vocational evolution, highlighting how true purpose emerges through patient attention to what wants to be expressed through us.

In this episode of Stepping In, Adam speaks with Christy McClendon, a New Ventures West graduate and President/CEO of New Pathways for Youth (NPFY), an organization serving youth living in extreme adversity. NPFY programs aim to break through self-destructive thinking and develop essential skills, empowering youth to achieve their desired future.

In our conversation, Christy explains how NPFY’s youth, mentors, and staff engage in ongoing self-development, whic

It’s difficult for me to throw away pictures of people. People I love are the hardest, not really surprising at all. But a close second are the people pictured on packaging, especially if their faces are meant to evoke the workforce that brought the product to me.

Of these, one of the most difficult is the man pictured on the back of the Equal Exchange 72% Cacao chocolate bar wrapper. His shoulder shrugged slightly, his head tipped to one side, and his smile a beam of innocent joy. Another is the Sari-wrapped woman on the Tulsi Raspberry-Peach tea box. (You and I know that this is a tisane, not tea. Tea comes from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, white, green, oolong, or black. All those other things are infused herbs, flowers, spices, etc. Tulsi, Ocimum sanctum, a.k.a. holy basil, is a medicinal herb and it is indeed holy, because when caffeine’s had the better of me and I want something warm, this is what I have.)

None of this explains how these people’s images have become pasted to my heart, like decoupage. Perhaps it’s the gratitude I feel for having received the products from some far off equatorial land. I imagine the labor of picking leaves or cacao berries, the drying process, all those hands and souls touching these Earth-given items – the whole of all it took for me to find them on the other side of the continent or world.

Perhaps it’s that I believe these images contain fragments of people’s souls. If I save one and put it on my vision board, it might spare all the other little images covering the planet in far flung landfills or recycling bins. Then maybe on my vision board I can wish for them all the deep abiding richness I’ve found in life. A richness and prosperity that comes from having found profound love and belonging. Yes, that’s what I want for them. Yes, I really do.

Jan coaches high-performing individuals and leaders seeking a deeper sense of integration. She serves on NVW’s faculty as a Mentor Coach.

Photo by Riza Rifshandya on Unsplash

The post Fragments of Souls appeared first on New Ventures West.

This time Adam speaks with Christy McClendon, a NVW graduate and President/CEO of New Pathways for Youth, an organization serving youth living in extreme adversity. NPFY’s programs aim to break through self-destructive thinking and develop essential skills to empower youth to achieve the future they desire.

In this conversation, Christy explains how NPFY’s youth, mentors and staff engage in ongoing self development, which in many ways is at the root of the organization’s impact. It is a fascinating exploration of the intersection of service and skillful means, and a powerful glimpse into how Integral Coaching can support this most essential work.

How does Integral Coaching, a method that works at a deep developmental level, translate to working with leaders and corporations?

This is a common question and elusive territory for potential coaches.

To help illuminate the topic, Adam Klein spoke with Andrea Garfield, founder and CEO of the Awesome Institute, a company that offers executive leadership and team coaching inside organizations.

Andrea shares plenty of examples of how Integral Coaching can

Catherine Bronnert DeSchepper, NVW graduate and founder of Interweavers, joins Adam to talk about the myriad ways we can—and perhaps already do—integr

At this year’s Enneagram Global Summit, James Flaherty spoke with host Jessica Dibb about the inextricability of humans and systems. They delve into how each Enneatype can develop their engagement with systems to revolutionize them at every level, from personal to organizational to global.

This is James’s third appearance at this annual event and, as Jessica points out at the beginning of this recording, their conversations grow more profound each year! We hope you enjoy listening.

The post Revolutionary System Changes with the Enneagram appeared first on New Ventures West.

Anne Egseth, NVW graduate and trained actor, joins Adam in this engaging conversation to speak to what can open for us and our clients when we begin to be present in our bodies. They also discuss myths around embodiment and common ways of accessing greater somatic intelligence.

Here are some of the topics covered in the Stepping In podcast episode How Embodiment Frees Us: