Leadership is changing. And I believe that media has a responsibility to inform and support that change.

Which is why EQ was a sponsor for the Return to Your Power “Brain Optimization Workshop Series” last year. I personally participated in two of those events, and left with a clearer vision of my role as a leader in the day-to-day work of my own startup; the role I would like to play in the future of St. Louis; the role EQ needed to play in the future of media and business; and the role that leadership plays in making our personal and collective visions of the future a reality.

That was the catalyst for the EQ Leadership Dojo series. We’ve teamed up with Venture Cafe and enlisted Dixie Gillaspie and Philip Penrose, the co-founders of Return to Your Power, to work with us to create a monthly drop-in, drop-out curriculum investigating how to unlock our inherent potential to become leaders in our lives, our businesses, and our world.

Let’s Re-invent the Definition of Leadership

How do we believe leadership is changing? Philip Penrose described some of the shifts that the leader of the future will have to make in this article, “The Next Frontier in Leadership Development.” And in this episode of Bourbon Friday, Dixie Gillaspie explained that not only is the business world getting more complex and more nuanced, creating different challenges for leaders than they’ve ever faced before, but that the nature of work and the expectations of the people who do that work are changing too.

I also believe that our concept of leadership will have to change, not only in business, but in education, economic development, policy and administration, and every other aspect of the ecosystem in order to transform the city.

What to Expect From the Leadership Dojo sessions

So these Dojos aren’t lectures about the principles of leadership because much of what we thought we knew about leadership no longer applies anyway.

Instead, this is about you, as a person and human being. The word “Dojo” translates loosely as “the place of the way.” And we’re making this a place where you can explore your unique way of leading.

Whether you want to be a company leader, a thought leader, an innovation leader, or a community leader, this is your place to engage and activate the traits and talents that will enable you to discover your natural abilities and take on that role with confidence.

The EQ Leadership Dojo is a drop-in, drop-out curriculum that will take place once a month at Venture Cafe’s Thursday Gathering for all of 2019. You can attend as many or as few as you like during the year. Each session will explore a different dimension of this huge discussion. I hope you can join us!