1st Edition
Beauty in Leadership and Coaching And Its Role in Transforming Human Consciousness
Written by best-selling author and global thought leader Peter Hawkins, Beauty in Leadership and Coaching explores how leaders and coaches can contribute to the urgent task to transform human consciousness to address the great inter-connected challenges of our times.
Building on a growing interest in ecological conscious leadership and coaching, as well as the role that poetry, story and beauty can play to transform our work, this book creates a space for both inspiration and reflection, moving beyond seeing the climate crisis and the other major global challenges as a problem to be solved, towards an attitude of learning and partnering with the human and the more-than-human world.
Globally and transculturally inclusive, this book will appeal to leaders, coaches, leadership consultants and managers throughout the world, who aspire to grow and develop in their practice and make a greater contribution to the challenges we now face.
Part 1: The Challenges of our Times and what is Required in the Transformation of Human Consciousness 1. The Great Challenges of Our Time 2. The Gradual Shrinking and Imprisonment of Human Consciousness 3. The Return Journey and the Role of Beauty 4. Reimagining Leadership and Coaching Part 2: Awakening to Beauty Introduction to Part 2 5. Beauty and Love 6. Beauty and Truth 7. Beauty and the Good 8. The Ethics and Aesthetics of Beauty 9. The Beauty of Death and Transience 10. Beauty and Grace Part 3: Doing The Beautiful Introduction to Part 3 11. Beauty in the Art of Leadership 12. Beauty in the Art of Coaching 13. Beauty in the Space Between and the Marriage of Opposites 14. Co-creating Beauty; Inter-Poiesis in Coaching and Leadership Part 4: Back to One 15. Becoming Beauty
Biography
Peter Hawkins, Ph.D., is founder and Chairman of Renewal Associates and Emeritus Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School. He is a leading consultant, writer and researcher in organizational transformation, leadership and leadership development and an international thought leader and best-selling author in systemic coaching, systemic team coaching and leadership teams.
'Drawing on literature, research, scripture and ancient tradition and philosophy, Peter takes us on a journey that deepens our understanding and embodiment of beauty. He urges us to see how beauty comes into being in relationship, and shows us in practical and elegant ways how we can bring beauty into our own relationships as coaches and leaders - for the transformation of those with whom we work, for our own agency and for a better world.'
Dr Hilary Lines, Executive and Systemic Team Coach, Leadership Consultant, Supervisor and Author; Founder, Touchpoint Leadership Ltd
'Amid an ego-centric world caught up in its own dysfunctional digitized distraction, Professor Peter Hawkins provides a clarion call, a deep coherent call to action in leadership and beyond. Bringing his vast leadership experience and polymath mind to bear on the vitally important - yet seldom explored in leadership circles - soul-virtue of beauty Hawkins discloses, indeed activates, a transformation in leadership consciousness that might just save our humanity from the meta-crisis of its own making. Beautifully written and researched, Beauty in Leadership & Coaching is a wise and urgent text. This is a must-read for future-fit leaders and practitioners interested in shifting from ego-centric to life-centric living and leading.'
Giles Hutchins, leadership coach and author of Leading by Nature (2022) and Nature Works (2024)
'John Keats described the loss of awe at a rainbow as reducing it to “the dull catalogue of common things”. Our capacity for wonder, for feeling small against the beauty and majesty of the cosmos, is what makes us fully human. Here is a reminder of what it means to rediscover the beauty that resides within and around us – and what we need to do to sustain it.'
Professor David Clutterbuck, Special Ambassador European Coaching and Mentoring Council
'Beauty in Leadership and Coaching is Hawkins’ opus magnus. The book ranges across a vast territory of human history and human ideas, identifying the challenges humanity faces in a globalised industrial age, before offering insights on ways we can create a more sustainable consciousness, which connects people with each other and with the only planet humanity will ever call home. If you are seeking a guidebook for seeing and experiencing the world around us in ways we have forgotten, this is it.'
Prof Jonathan Passmore, Henley Business School and EZRA Coaching
'This astounding book is dedicated to nurturing highly-skilled, beautiful leaders and coaches — and it does this with grace and profound depth — but it does more than that. It is an education in being human. It has the power to nurture the beautiful in all of us. Peter Hawkins offers us here the great harvest of his life — as brilliant teacher, psychotherapist, systems thinker, world-class leader, and humble gardener. His vast reading and erudition are met on every page by his empathy and humanness. Open this book anywhere and you’ll find yourself enlightened by insights you didn’t know you knew, vistas of the beautiful, the good, and the true that will enliven your work and your life. Once you’ve read it, I promise, you’ll be thankful.'
Elias Amidon, Spiritual Director (Pir) of the Sufi Way, Author, International Spiritual teacher and Ecologist
'I am delighted to endorse Beauty in Leadership and Coaching by Prof. Peter Hawkins, a luminary systemic thinker whose new book tackles global challenges through the lens of evolved consciousness. His insightful analysis of how our narrowed perceptions have led to today’s crises is both compelling and enlightening. Peter advocates for a systemic change in leadership and coaching, promoting a connection to beauty, truth, and goodness. This book is essential for anyone seeking accessible and soulful wisdom to navigate and lead through these incredibly complex times.'
Dr. Catherine Carr, Co-author of High Performance Team Coaching and 50 TIps for Terrific Teams
'As I read this beautiful book, I let out a sigh of relief many times and felt deep gratitude for this personal, impassioned plea to us all to reconnect with our purpose and fall in love again with the wider world around us, laying out a path to heal the split between the human and more-than-human world, to be in service of, and have reverence for, life. It is a book full of wisdom, poetry, helpful practice, apposite quotes and stories – there is one on pages 72-73 about a “drunk” and a “small, elderly man in a kimono” in Tokyo that is worth buying the book for, alone! It is a gift.'
Eve Turner, multi-award-winning author, researcher, master executive coach and supervisor, co-founder of the Climate Coaching Alliance, founder of the Global Supervisors’ Network, former Chair, APECS (Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision)
'Peter stands on the shoulders of philosophical giants and gives us a beautiful synthesis of centuries of wisdom on Beauty, Grace and Truth. Awakened in me a thirst to seek Beauty in all aspects of life. Peter eloquently challenges the orthodox coaching boundaries and aligns with my Gestalt principles which encourages us to engage deeply with our coachees with love and Beauty. To move from being an empathetic observer to a ‘fully embodied participant.'
John Leary-Joyce, Founder and CEO of the Academy of Executive Coaching and leading gestalt coach and author
'This ground breaking book addresses the many inter-connected challenges of our time, and how crucial it is for coaches and leaders to pave the way in shifting human consciousness. Peter Hawkins provides practical ways leaders and coaches can work together to bring new ways of thinking, perceiving, doing, and being. I encourage all leaders and coaches to read it.'
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is the Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
'Hawkins invites leaders and coaches to embrace a radical transformation in consciousness, recognizing themselves as a part of a global family and integral to the broader ecological framework. Using beauty as a guide, he weaves a mixture of storytelling, philosophical depth, and poetics to lead readers through a thought-provoking journey, advocating for a more expansive sense of self that allows us to live in our world in a way that is ‘future-fit’ rather than finding ourselves trapped in old narratives and ways of thinking that inhibits the new emerging. Provocative and powerful – a must read! Great writing, compelling read, so needed.'
Pam McLean, Founder and ex CEO of the Hudson Coaching School California
'Peter Hawkins has seen all the seasons across the leadership and coaching industries over many decades. This book expresses his deep insight and profound appreciation of beauty, with a capital B, that is to be found at the heart of this work. Highly recommended!'
Dr Marc Kahn, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Investec Plc
'Peter’s book offers a refreshing holistic approach to systemic coaching, emphasizing not only the functional aspects of leadership but also the significant roles of ethics and aesthetics. This blend makes his work a unique and invaluable contribution to the field. Peter’s accumulated wisdom is in it!'
Dr. Frank Quante, CEO Fraport Bulgaria
'In an era where leadership is as much about beauty and consciousness as it is about decision-making, Beauty in Leadership and Coaching emerges as a timely masterpiece, intricately weaving the complexities of modern challenges with the transformative power of coaching. With a keen understanding of the evolving landscape of work, Peter eloquently argues that leadership in the new world is not merely a scientific endeavor but an art form enriched by deep, systemic human connections. Each chapter, invites you, the reader to reflect on not just the role of beauty in leadership, but its essentiality in fostering meaningful relationships and ethical practices in an increasingly transient world. For anyone looking to navigate the complexities of modern leadership with grace and systemic insight, Beauty in Leadership and Coaching is an indispensable guide. It doesn't just educate; it inspires a much-needed transformation in our perception of the roles of beauty, love, and truth in our professional lives. This book is a call to action for all who aspire to lead, coach, and create with beauty at the forefront of their endeavours.'
Jan Sipsma, Head of Strategy and People GHD
'With his new focus on Beauty, based on what he calls inter-poiesis, Peter Hawkins shapes a new paradigm for leadership and coaching that only can exist as a co-created endeavour and a perpetual becoming. This book is for readers who are aware of a world suffering from a shortage of our love. '
Reinhard Stelter, PhD, professor of coaching psychology at the University of Copenhagen
