Motivation Behind Aware Leadership™

Aware Leadership™ represents a transformative leadership body of knowledge, offering a suite of principles and practices for cultivating more effective, sustainable, and skillful leadership. Far from claiming to be a definitive method or promising a quick-fix solution, it invites you to explore, apply, and personally evaluate its impact.

My motivation for developing Aware Leadership™ stems from my own rich and varied leadership experiences. At EDS Electronic Data Systems, I navigated the complexities of a large, well-established corporate culture. In contrast, my role at DVB Bank SE, a smaller organization with a flat hierarchy, offered a different leadership landscape. These contrasting environments provided me with invaluable insights into effective leadership across diverse settings.

My deep dive into mindful leadership began at DVB Bank SE and was further enriched by attending the International Scientific Conference on Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society. There, interactions with thought leaders like Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, profoundly influenced my leadership philosophy.

Aware Leadership™ is born out of this journey blending, and fully extending mindful leadership with a spectrum of ancient wisdom practices, reimagined for today’s leadership challenges. Over a decade of study, research, and practice has culminated in this approach.

The Aware Leadership™ body of knowledge series, comprising the four volumes ‘Leadership Functions and Factors – Foundation’, ‘Understanding Our Mind – Insights’, ‘Training the Leadership Mind – Practices’, and ‘Mastering Leadership Dialog – Communication’ provides a comprehensive and holistic leadership framework and practices. These volumes are designed to equip leaders from all fields of leadership with the skills and capabilities to be more adept, impactful, and resilient.

Join me on this journey of discovery and growth through Aware Leadership.

Andreas Metzen – Bad Kreuznach, Germany – January 2024