Leaderless leadership when there have always been leaders? At the Prieuré there was Gurdjieff. At Sherborne House there was Bennett. Pierre Elliott directed courses at Claymont for decades. With a teacher, the direction and energy for spiritual work comes through a single source. That has been the model throughout history.
The recent experiment at Claymont called The Course of Study, or COS, had a staff of ten peers overseeing nineteen students. That there was no individual leader was perhaps the real experiment, not the fact that the three-month course was a hybrid between in-person and online.
The Task of Leadership was Subtle
For something to transmit energetically, we staff had to stay out of each other’s way. For me, I found my work was in neither correcting nor upstaging another when they were leading. When it was my turn to lead I had to be fearless in my leadership.
What I found, was that the respect and autonomy we gave each other was reciprocated. The whole became the conduit for the work and that was more powerful than any of us could create individually. It also empowered me to trust my own inner directive.
Being on the Course
In front of this three-month undertaking, with all its unknowns, we staff came prepared to be “on the course” with the students. And that was what it felt like. The commitment was total for me, and it became apparent it was so for all of us. Part of the experiment was the ten-weeks on-line. Yes, there were commitments in life. But the intention to remain “on” the course was evident, even when someone had to travel or go to work.
Nothing can be taught without students. Ours were exceptional in their preparedness, openness and acceptance of the inner and outer demands placed upon them. None of us could fully anticipate what those were going to be, outside of a very rigorous schedule. The dedication of the students to showing up and participating was on a par with what we staff had experienced on our own courses. It was part of the glue that created a successful course.
On the other hand, our agenda may have been overly ambitious. One example is that I think the introduction to the Enneagram as an esoteric process remained just that for many of the students. For another, I feel we needed more time with the sacred impulses for them to deepen. Third, introducing the Decision Exercise earlier in the course may have given it more of an anchor.
However, my sense over-all is that this was a very successful Exoteric introduction to the Work. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The experience overall, roses, roses. Perhaps it was right that we didn’t get into the inner thorns this go-round. We were treading new waters, and the students brought as much as they received. This is very much a new era we are in, that of “leaderless” leadership.
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