In 2010, Rinpoche asked Chris and Sydney Jay to design a leadership and management program to “bring the monks into the 21st century.” Based on their work with a large global consulting firm, Chris and Sydney designed a leadership program at Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute in Chauntra (DKCLI) with three broad elements: structured problem solving, relationship skills, and self-awareness. Khyentse Foundation then sponsored three 10-day workshops for the khenpos and tulkus at Dzongsar Institute (2011, 2012, and 2013). Rinpoche then invited 32 participants to the 2014 workshop at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, “Excellence in Leadership and Management: Core Concepts and Best Practices.” Attendees included Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, Dudjom Yangsi Rinpoche, Thartse Khen Rinpoche, and many other rinpoches, tulkus, and khenpos and a select group of lay people.

The workshop was led by Chris Jay, Sydney Jay, Edouard Janssen, Anja Hartmann, and James Hopkins, who generously donated their time and energy. The workshop participants learned about and had the opportunity to train practically in a broad range of core concepts and best practices, such as:

  • Leadership versus management
  • Intercultural communications
  • Vision and mission setting
  • Program and project planning: Goal setting and goal statement, issue tree, work plan
  • Tools for prioritizing and evaluating projects and tasks
  • Models for understanding and describing different levels of thinking and acting
  • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
  • Tools for running effective meetings, such as the SALSA framework, performance dialogs, and feedback models

The frameworks for these modules were built on the works of Otto Scharmer, John Kotter, Geert Hofstede, Chris Argyris and Peter Senge, and others. Many of the projects and tasks were based on principles of corporate finance, and participants were introduced to new models for understanding and describing different levels of thinking and acting, such as the iceberg model (systems thinking), Theory U, and the Ladder of Inference.

“This Leadership Training program is very much in line with the aspiration of Khyentse Foundation to create the favorable conditions for Buddha’s teachings to flourish through education.” —KF Executive Director Cangioli Che

Photo: Participants at the 2014 Excellence in Leadership and Management workshop, Shechen Monastery, Nepal. Photo by Stacey Stein.

KF Leadership & Mangement Workshops from Khyentse Foundation on Vimeo.

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