Steve Sphar

Hi.  I’m Steve Sphar, creator of Stumbling Mystic, where I write about how to respond to the spiritual impulse and walk the path of the modern mystic.

This site, stevesphar.com, is the repository of a body of work I did over the course of 35 years as  an attorney, business consultant and leadership coach for world class organizations and Fortune 500 leaders. 

Over time, I came to find that using recipe techniques and managing the outer environment were not enough.  Creating meaningful change means committing to a path of inner development and spiritual growth.

At your core is your native capacity for kindness, generosity, empathy, patience, forgiveness, and other aspects of your higher self.  When you remember the innate goodness and beauty of your higher self, your gifts can shine and life tends to blossom.

If you want to learn more, come on over to Stumbling Mystic and see what I am writing about.  You can subscribe and also access my free download, Reflections on Engaging a Vibrant Spiritual Practice.  I hope you’ll join me.

Our greatest danger lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and hitting our mark.

– Michelangelo

Leadership is the art of bringing people together to accomplish the extraordinary. But all external results are fueled by internal capacities. Like the rudder of a ship, these internal skills are hidden from view but are essential to keeping the ship aligned and true.

Traditional coaching and leadership development focus on external skills. But the domain of interior faculties, what we could call the hidden half of leadership, is largely neglected. My coaching and consulting work emphasizes deep reflective learning that develops internal skills such as awareness, congruence, resilience, presence, empathy and connection. Typical topics to explore might include:

• Individual / Team Discovery –  assessments that help a leader see patterns and interconnections that are hindering optimum performance. 
• Intention Setting / Goal Development – exercises to clarify direction and align ideas with action.
• Leadership Coaching – one-on-one coaching sessions to examine and change habits of mind and strengthen inner capacities.
• Skills Training – interactive group sessions that teach and practice specific leadership skills through experiential activities.
• Facilitated Retreats – offsite retreats that allow leadership teams time to reflect, exchange ideas, build cohesion, and plan for the future.
• Emotional Intelligence – the baseline skills for improving relationships and interpersonal savvy through self-awareness and self-regulation.
• Spiritual Intelligence – the capacity to act ever more frequently from the best version of ourselves, fostering a workplace that is more centered, wise, compassionate, creative and fulfilling.
  

The twin aims of every business are to sustain long term excellence and create deep personal satisfaction. These aims are interdependent and mutually reinforcing – you can’t have one without the other. Engaging the heart of leadership requires a commitment to inner growth and reflective learning that fulfills these aims by sustaining peak performance.