Mar 19, 2021
LEADership in a 21st Century Renaissance
Our vision inspires and energizes Stanford LEAD executive learners
Earlier this month, I had the honor of speaking about “LEADership in a 21st Century Renaissance” to global participants of the executive LEAD program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business during its special Me2We annual event. In a combination of lecture and immersive interactive activities, the session highlighted four cornerstones of a 21st century renaissance:
- The Da Vinci Way, in the age of CRISPR, space travel, and artificial intelligence
- Humanism redefined, vis à vis technology, nature, and spirituality
- Better understanding of the mind and consciousness. Embodied, not just embrained
- Beauty re-embraced: from products and customer experience to workplace and business culture
Following my presentation, Momo Sanno, professional dancer, choreographer, and fellow rebel led us through a series of creative movement exercises to symbolize and embody ideas of Renaissance Leadership. We ended with a special song, written and performed by my dear musician colleagues Frank Kilpatrick and Rayko, in the spirit of healing, gratitude, and rebirth.
Throughout the session and for the past couple weeks since, I have been humbled and overwhelmed by the enthusiastic engagement and responses we have received. Here are some of them:
“Preparing for and being a spectator of your session was absolutely amazing. So well crafted and well thought through, there were so many interesting points in your presentation. Huge thanks to you and Momo for the activity part — as you have seen, everyone has genuinely enjoyed it, and we cannot wait for the recording :)” — Daniel R.
“Awesome session… Would be a nice addition to the orientation material for each cohort as they begin their own journey of innovation, self-discovery and connecting with the world (literally and otherwise).” — Phoram M.
“Fantastic session! It combined all my favorite things — history, mindbody, spirituality and movement. You spoke directly to my heart, BeiBei. The connections you drew and parallels to modern life are insightful!” — Deborah N.
“A great way to kick off the Me2We sessions. I really liked the concepts shared and enjoyed the music and dance session. 😊 Thank you!” — Ayan B.
“Love that depiction… dancing around multiple disciplines!” — Lynn L.
“Darkness and light coexist! What a great mindset to look at the bright side at tough times! 👍” — Grace Q.
“I love this! Great way to show how these approaches to thinking fit together.” — David L.
“Amazing session full of insights. Thank you so much, BeiBei for a new great learning opportunity!” — Kane N.
“Personal renaissance resonates so much with the essence of LEAD which is all about being innovative and disruptive.” — Ranjani
“Thanks for this great time travel.” — Luis G.
“Touched, moved and certainly inspired!” — Marwan K.
“That was EXACTLY what I needed!!!!” — Angela H.
“First Zoom that made me sweat!!! Great!!!” — Tomas C.
“Going to try the dance moves in my next meeting 😉” — Meshal J.
“Love it!! Think we have our new secret greeting once we can meet again in person.” — Deborah N.
“Amazing Wrap up for the weekend and the day. Thank you BeiBei Song, Momo & Me2We Team… Proposing if we can use the songs played as our LEAD theme songs…” — Amit S.
LEAD is a year-long executive program designed for mid- to senior-level professionals who are looking to become principled and purposeful leaders of positive change in their organizations, industries, and the world. The program attracts cohorts of executives from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, and to date has enrolled over 2,400 participants from 30+ industries and 95+ countries.
Me2We is a special annual event organized by and for alumni and participants from the Stanford GSB LEAD program. The event brings together a variety of thought leaders including renowned Stanford GSB faculty, key industry leaders, researchers, authors, and artists…
As challenging times shake our world, our feelings, and the way we live, this year’s Me2We was themed on “Nex2Us — Connecting LEADers to accelerate positive impact”, strengthening and enhancing connections in the community to transform knowledge into impact and to drive innovation for a better future.
Our vision of a new renaissance served as a powerful inspiration.
