The Courageous Wholeness Intensive is a day-long deep dive into the courageous wholeness approach to leadership development. Over the course of one remarkable day, participants will explore the four key mindset shifts that are at the heart of this model. It’s a high-impact workshop that leaves participants with a new understanding of themselves, the work of leadership, and the process of change
The Problem
In this moment of constant change and complexity, it’s increasingly clear that old ways of understanding and practicing leadership are no longer sufficient:
Hierarchical structures generate pushback
Senior leaders struggle to manage staff effectively in the face of ongoing change
Early-career workers expect greater degrees of freedom, deeper alignment with purpose, and different types of support
Everyone is challenged to stay grounded and resilient in the face of multiple overlapping issues unfolding simultaneously
The old ways are no longer effective, but the new ways have not yet come fully into view…until now.
The Courageous Wholeness Intensive is a leadership workshop that will guide you through four key mindset shifts that will change the way you understand yourself and the way you think about leadership in foundational, paradigm-shifting ways. The experience weaves together the four most powerful and impactful leadership development trainings that I’ve refined over the course of 25 years of work in the field of leadership development. I’ve shared these mindset shifts with nonprofit professionals, entrepreneurs, elected officials and senior business executives; all of these audiences emerged with insights that were instantly applicable to the ways that they practice leadership every day.
Key Takeaways
Deeper connection to personal purpose
Knowledge and skills related to holding spaces for meaningful reflection and dialogue
Enhanced ability to keep staff engaged and connected to the meaning of their work
News skills to navigate complexity with skill and creativity
Powerful understanding of “shadow” and how it impacts individuals and organizations
Deeper compassion for both self and others
Organization-wide capacity for inquiry, learning, and adaptive in the face of continual change
Who Is this For?
Professionals seeking a high-impact leadership training that will provide in-depth knowlege and practical skills
Appropriate for mid-career and senior-level executives
Relevant to nonprofit professionals, entrepreneurs, and corporate staff
Philanthropists interested in the work of large-scale leadership development
HR and People professionals seeking cutting-ege practices for building transformational, scalable leadership development practices into their organization
What You’ll Learn
Here’s an overview of the four mindset shifts you’ll encounter in this day-long intensive:
As the world around us changes, we discover that tools, responses and beliefs that once served us well are no longer effective. We must experiment our way towards innovative approaches that meaningfully respond to the new realities that we face. The shift from technical to adaptive leadership provides a framework to lead powerfully in the context of change.
Here’s what you’ll take from this session:
An understanding of the difference between authority and leadership
An ability to discern the differences between technical and adaptive challenges
A framework and tools for effectively exercising adaptive leadership
A memorable and engaging opportunity to experience adaptive leadership
The work of clarifying purpose is an essential task for anyone seeking to confront complexity. It is essential…but it is not sufficient. The truth is that light and shadow always co-exist, and we do not fully understand ourselves if we focus only on our light while ignoring our shadow. Until we confront our own wholeness—the fact that we each possess both light and dark within—our shadow will influence our actions from beyond our conscious awareness.
Here’s what you’ll take from this session:
Greater clarity of personal purpose
Insight into your own personal shadow
Enhanced ability to lead with light—not shadow— in the future
Greater wisdom regarding how to be with our wholeness as human beings
Many of the basic beliefs and assumptions informing our understanding of leadership today are increasingly problematic. We will uncover these assumptions and illuminate an entirely different paradigm for understanding leadership and change. With these insights, we will access and unleash a whole new array of possibilities that allow us to respond powerfully and effectively to the world around us.
Here’s what you’ll take from this session:
A new awareness of the assumptions—and limitations— of the mechanical universe model
An introduction to the living systems paradigm
Learn how to lead and drive change within living systems
Gain an expanded worldview that integrates all three previous shifts in powerful and practical ways
Problem solving is an essential skill; it allows us to move forward powerfully and also becomes a source of trust and authority when we demonstrate an ability to solve problems consistently. It’s important to recognize, however, that this source of strength can quickly become a blindspot. In a rapidly changing world, we may jump too quickly to problem solving mode without taking the time to discern whether we fully understand the problem, or whether we’ve chosen the most strategic problem to address. To respond to complexity and uncertainty, we must develop the skill of question finding.
Here’s what you’ll take from this session:
Learn and practice the Question Formulation Technique
Build individual and organizational capacity to find and explore powerful, strategic questions
Gain a deeper awareness of how a sole focus on problem solving limits our ability to confront complexity and uncertainty
Want to bring the Courageous Wholeness Intensive to Your Organization or Community? Contact the Center!
About Dr. Max Klau
Dr. Max Klau is the Founder of the Center for Courageous Wholeness, an organization dedicated to helping individuals and organizations integrate shadow, serve others, and scale their impact. He recently served as the Chief Program Officer at the New Politics Academy (NPA), an organization focused on bringing more servant leaders–military vets and alumni of national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps–into politics. Prior to that, he was the Vice President of Leadership Development at City Year, the education-focused AmeriCorps program. He received his doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2005 with a focus on human development and leadership. His second book, Developing Servant Leaders at Scale: How to Do It and Why It Matters, was published in September 2025.
The four trainings included in this program are the sessions that have proven to be the most powerful, impactful, and transformational sessions in Max’s toolkit.
This is a collection of a master leadership educator’s greatest hits.