Compassionate Leadership & Organisational Change Immersion
Thursday, May 18 – Friday, May 19, 2023
Unilever’s Four Acres Retreat Centre
London, UK
The invitation from the challenging and uncertain world we find ourselves in is to develop, strengthen and sustain our internal and external capacities – to enable flourishing for ourselves and the communities we serve.
Answer this invitation by joining a remarkable peer group of compassionate change-makers from around the world to explore the principles and practices that will enable you to transform your leadership and the lives of those you support.
Led by world-class experts, together we will explore the science of leadership, compassion and purpose, harness research-backed techniques, and experience a transformational programme that delivers on this 21st Century leadership imperative.
“A powerful experiential programme, facilitated in a way that both inspired and informed me.”
– Executive L&D Facilitator
This programme is designed to support you over a lifelong leadership journey. You will embark on a two-day residential immersion at Four Acres, Kingston – Unilever’s sustainable leadership centre on May 18th and May 19th, joining peers who are:
Business and organisational leaders
OD, HR, D&I, learning and change leaders
Executive and leadership coaches
The programme provides the tools, strategies – and critically – inspiration and encouragement to leaders who have heard the call to lead for a more human and future-fit organisational culture. The learning and support offered, while very practical, also enables leaders to go further and deeper in embedding the behaviours and principles of truly inclusive and progressive organisations.
What will I gain by joining this Compassionate Leadership Immersion Programme?
Our groundbreaking programme will equip you with empowering tools and evidence-based practices to:
Lead with compassion, courage and confidence
Build high-performing teams that are accountable and engaged
Create cultures of psychological safety, connection and belonging
Navigate difficult conversations and give feedback skillfully
Increase awareness of self, others, and your surroundings
Befriend your nervous system, overcoming stress and burnout
Apply courageous compassion to impact systems change
Who benefits from this transformational leadership programme?
We welcome leaders from a wide range of for-profit and non-profit sectors, including finance, energy, education, healthcare,, technology, media, government, international development, consulting, coaching, and consumer goods.
Whether you are a senior organisational leader or in a change/development function, the programme is designed to support you to build and model the critical competencies that will inspire and influence systemic change. Whatever role or vision you hold, the diverse mix of leaders and practitioners from difference functions and sectors is designed to infuse you with a rich, diverse array of insights and perspective to support you in your own purpose.
Over the years, we have been joined by leaders from JP Morgan Chase, Cap Gemini, Microsoft, Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, Morgan Stanley, US Air Force Academy, Stanford University, University of Notre Dame, University of Edinburgh, Wharton School, and The Carter Center to name but a few.
“This course was an incredibly enriching experience. I especially enjoyed the deep connection we cultivated as a group which created a safe space for us to share our individual experiences and unique perspectives and challenges. It was a transformative programme that left me feeling inspired and ready to lead with compassion, both personally and professionally.”
– Nonprofit Executive
What will this transformational compassionate leadership immersion look like?
The learning journey begins with a two-day residential immersion experience at Four Acres, Unilever’s sustainable leadership centre. Each day, in community, we will inspire and support each other as we cultivate new skills and connections.
The participant immersion at Four Acres includes:
Live experiential learning sessions, guided by expert faculty
Peer breakout groups for deeper exploration, connection, and skill-building
Customized practices, meditations, and reflections
All meals included - dining together with peers and faculty
Time for personal rest, relaxation, and reflection, with complete access to Four Acres’ beautiful facilities
The leadership journey also includes:
A follow-up online Compassionate Leadership Immersion cohort gathering in June to deepen connection, integration, and touch base with your experiences since the programme
An invitation to join the Center for Compassionate Leadership Global Alumni Community, which hosts monthly online gatherings and a private LinkedIn group for mentoring and support
A comprehensive bibliography and resource pack for further personal and team development
The evidence for compassionate leadership is clear.
Our training shares the evidence-based benefits that demonstrate the power of leading with compassion. This programme offers an efficient and effective opportunity to integrate the tools, principles, and practices needed to be an impactful, compassionate leader.
The evidence-based benefits of compassionate leadership offer proven outcomes:
Stronger Individual and Organisational Resilience
Improved Financial Performance
Accelerated Learning and Agility
Clarity of Mission, Purpose and Values
Improved Employee Engagement and Retention
Richer Creativity and Innovation
More Effective Collaboration
Improved Service Quality
The evidence for our programme’s effectiveness is clear, too.
In 2022, the curriculum and training experience was independently reviewed by world-class educational evaluators at Claremont Graduate University. They found that participants showed statistically significant increases in:
Self-compassion
Compassion for others
Compassion at work
Resilience
90% of alumni said that they would recommend the programme to their friends and colleagues. 70% of alumni interviewed said that they had seen changes in their organisation as a result of this compassionate leadership training.
A Look Inside the Transformational Learning Journey
The shift happens from the inside out. Our proven Compassionate Leadership Training Framework and curriculum begins with a focus on the inner self, moves into the realm of relationships and organisational leadership, and then extends outward to systems change.
Session 1
Igniting Our Community for Impact
Stepping into the Journey Together
Come together as a community with your colleagues and learn about compassionate leadership fundamentals from everyday practices to systems-changing force.
Session 2
The Case for Compassionate Leadership
Science, Organisational Evidence, and Model for Integration
Gain an understanding of the science of compassion, the evidence supporting the power of compassion in organisations, and the challenges to compassionate leadership.
Session 3
Anchoring Our Leadership with Inner Strength
Inner Work of Compassionate Leadership
Awareness, Self-Compassion, and Vulnerability
Deepen your ability to lead from a grounded, anchored place supported by awareness, self-compassion, and resilience.
Session 4
Building a Culture of Compassion
Psychological Safety, Mindset, and Resilience
Learn how to create a culture of compassion through evidence-based organisational leadership principles and skills.
Session 5
Fostering Belonging in Organisations
Inclusion for Everyone: Othering, Bias, and Belonging
Explore new perspectives and tools to foster a culture of belonging in organisations for everyone.
Session 6
Communication as a Transformational Tool
Compassionate Communication and Feedback
Develop the skills to have difficult conversations and share meaningful feedback with colleagues.
Session 7
Courageous Compassion
Changing Systems from the Inside Out
Learn how to apply courageous compassion and take action to change systems from the inside out.
Session 8
Interconnectedness and Impact
Integrating Compassion and Leadership for the Benefit of All
Chart your personal path and commit to integrate compassion into your daily life and leadership for the benefit of all.
What are the fees for the Compassionate Leadership and Organisational Change Immersion?
The course investment is £995.
The all-inclusive course fee covers:
Two days and one night at Four Acres Retreat Centre, including course tuition, room, board, meals, and complete use of the grounds and facilities
Two additional Compassionate Leadership Immersion cohort online gatherings in June and July to deepen connection and integration
Invitation to join the Center for Compassionate Leadership Global Alumni Community, which hosts monthly online gatherings and a private LinkedIn group
Pre-immersion Course Preparation Packet, including recommended readings, reflection questions, and guided meditation recordings
A comprehensive resource pack for further personal and team development
Connect with Compassionate Leadership Training Alumni Around the World
We are constantly inspired by alumni who are out in the leadership field and changing the world! Just ask the several hundred compassionate leaders from 42 countries who have already been through our training programmes. We gather monthly with alumni to stand together for change and to stay inspired and resourced. The work is hard, and we need each other to keep our commitment strong. Our alumni community is a unique and powerful resource to ensure success in your compassionate leadership journey.
“The future is community. How do we build a community of care to take care of each other? This group is the seed for the future.”
– Executive Leadership Coach
Pathway to certify as a facilitator of Compassionate Leadership curriculum
This Compassionate Leadership Immersion also fulfills the course pre-requisite requirement for admission to the Compassionate Leadership Facilitation Certification Programme.
The inaugural year-long cohort of the Facilitation Certification Programme will launch in Fall 2023.
The training will kick-off with a structured 10-week Facilitator training, bookended by two half-day online retreats and six weekly 2-hour online sessions in between. In addition to the live online training, the experience will include an extensive library of various courses, reference materials, bibliographies, and videos.
Certification may be conferred after the completion of the 10-week Facilitator training and approval of a submitted practicum video.
The Facilitation Certification cohort will continue to meet monthly with experts and peers to explore questions and answers, and facilitation practice. Mentoring and supervision will be offered through your first client engagement.
About the Center for Compassionate Leadership
The nonprofit Center for Compassionate Leadership convenes and supports a global community of transformational leaders dedicated to building a new world of connection, safety, belonging, equity, and justice. Together we are courageously pioneering solutions to the great challenges of our time through the lens of compassion, love, and flourishing.
The experiential curriculum is based on decades of leadership experience and wisdom practice, coupled with emerging neuroscientific and organisational evidence to validate our embodied knowing. Hundreds of alumni that have been through the journey are positively impacting the world in remarkable ways.
Our public programmes are one pillar of the Center’s efforts to spread compassion throughout the world. We also host customized in-person and online compassionate leadership training and retreats for a broad range of organisations.
The Center is a global community hub for leaders through its vibrant social channels, quarterly Global Community Compassion Gatherings, and collaboration with other compassion-focused nonprofit organisations. The Center serves as a catalyst and advocate for emerging research on compassionate leadership within organisations and individual leaders.
The momentum of our individual and collective action is how we change ourselves, organisations, systems, and the larger whole. Never underestimate even the smallest act of compassion – its ripples are a powerful and essential contribution to the larger river of all life.
Meet Our Expert Faculty and Global Ambassadors
Laura Berland
Laura Berland is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Compassionate Leadership. She is a weaver of next generation organisations and collaborative experiences, as a serial media/tech entrepreneur, Fortune 500 executive, transformational facilitator, nonprofit board member, meditation educator, yoga therapist, and executive mentor.
Now, through the Center for Compassionate Leadership, she has developed a new model for these turbulent times that melds evidence-based principles of modern leadership and the latest scientific research with the wisdom of contemplative practices. Laura has spent decades working with global executives, entrepreneurs, coaches, professors and graduate students, military veterans, and yoga/meditation teachers from around the world. She is an E-RYT500 (accredited educator) from Yoga Alliance, and C-IAYT (certified yoga therapist) from the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Laura is an alumna of Cornell University and New York University.
Evan Harrel
Evan Harrel is the Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Compassionate Leadership. He leads the Center’s thought leadership efforts and the integration of scientific and business research into the work of the Center. For the last fifteen years, he has worked in the nonprofit field, including as an executive director, consultant, and board member. Evan has taught about compassion to both nonprofit organisations and for-profit corporate boards.
Prior to his dedication to the nonprofit sector, Evan was an investment manager for over twenty years where he managed a thirty-billion-dollar equity mutual fund. He was awarded a Master of Business Administration degree, with distinction, from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Princeton University.
Louise Chester
Louise Chester’s decades of business and contemplative experience have been brought together in the creation of programs that have benefited individuals, organizations, and the greater good worldwide. Following a distinguished and recognized career in finance in the City, she founded Witherdens Hall Organic Retreat in 2005 and Mindfulness at Work in 2010 with the express mission of bringing mindful compassion and purpose to the corporate world. Her evidence-based ‘Inner Game’ training enables others to create value and thrive in the workplace and in all areas of their life.
Louise has shared her wellbeing, purpose, and culture change programs to over 250 organizations and over 150,000 people in the corporate and nonprofit worlds including Cisco, Citigroup, and Unilever. She also supports C-suite leaders in 1:1 coaching relationships. She is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher, and co-developed a program to bring this work into the UK NHS.
Louise completed a Masters Degree from Edinburgh University, and has written extensively on leadership. She co-authored the regularly cited article, “Power Can Corrupt Leaders. Compassion Can Save Them.” in the Harvard Business Review, and was a contributor to The Mind of a Leader, Wise Compassion, and Conscious Capitalism – the Workbook.
Daniel Stane
Daniel Stane is a leading international facilitator, coach, consultant, and speaker whose practice guides leaders to create a more human, compassionate, inclusive and future-fit approach to business and leadership. He is the founding director of UK based specialist consultancy Inclusion Partners.
Daniel draws on his committed mindfulness practice and his decades of business leadership experience in his approach to leadership development which includes the integration of mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and potential-oriented psychology. Daniel has consulted and offered keynote presentations to thousands of leaders from FTSE250 / Fortune 500 companies from a diverse range of sectors including consumer goods, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, technology and finance.
Daniel is fluent in several European languages including English, French, and Czech, and has worked in over thirty countries across the globe, which provide a foundation for his strong ability to connect well in a diverse range of national and cultural contexts. He has written extensively on leadership, team performance, innovation and inclusion. Daniel is also a certified compassionate leadership, mindfulness, inclusion, and emotional intelligence coach and facilitator, and he holds a BA(hons) in International Business, and a DipM in Strategic Marketing. He is also a visiting lecturer at London Business School.
About Four Acres Leadership Retreat Centre
Since 1954, the Unilever Management Training Centre known as Four Acres has been the place where leaders come to find the space and the time for transformational conversations and to practice the inner game of leadership. Fully restored in 2021-2022, Four Acres offers leaders the opportunity to engage in professional transformation, development, purpose-led performance, and sustainability. Four Acres Leadership Retreat is located just outside London in Kingston upon Thames, UK.
Learn more about Four Acres’ Global Leadership Learning facility here.
Four Acres Leadership Retreat Centre
Immersion participants at Four Acres will find a host of quiet spaces, inspiring spaces, and green spaces to facilitate transformation, collaboration, fellowship, learning and laughter together.
The Four Acres venue offers:
En-suite bedrooms
Four acres of gardens, lawns, meadow, woodland
High-quality food and refreshments
An inspiring collection of art curated for contemplation and conversation
A comprehensive library with classic and modern leadership literature
A 20-meter lane pool, tennis court, gym, and mindfulness studio
Ample car parking
Easy access by train
Four Acres Retreat Meeting Space
The Jubilee Building within Four Acres provides a supportive and engaging space for group connection, featuring large LED screens for presentation projection and a quality AV experience for audio and video sharing. A satellite kitchen offers accessibility for catering and refreshment needs in this flexible and airy space. Located in the Jubilee Building, the Dove Auditorium will serve as our main retreat meeting space for Thursday, May 18 and Friday, May 19, 2023.
Beautiful Accommodations
The Center for Compassionate Leadership and Four Acres aims to ensure a meaningful and accessible experience for all leadership retreat guests. If you need special accommodations to participate in this leadership retreat, please contact Rosie Murphy at cfclrosie@gmail.com.
Four Acres Directions
If you are traveling by car, the Four Acres Post Code is KT2 7PD. Four Acres is located on the private Coombe Estate. If you are stopped at the barrier, please inform the guard that you are attending the Center for Compassionate Leadership Retreat at Four Acres.
If you are traveling by train, exit from Norbiton Station. Cross the road and walk Wolverton Avenue. At the end turn right up Kingston Hill. Continue for approximately half a mile. Turn Right into George Road. Four Acres will be on your left after approximately 1/4 mile.
If you are traveling by air (Heathrow Airport/Gatwick Airport), London City, Gatwick and Heathrow Airports are close to Four Acres, with the closest being Heathrow at 12 miles (30 minutes) distance.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the daily schedule for the Immersion at Four Acres?
Thursday May 18, 2023
9:00am – 10:00am Arrival and greeting
10:00am – 12:30pm Sessions 1 and 2
12:30pm – 1:30pm Cohort Luncheon
1:30pm – 2:00pm Optional practice and reflection time
2:15pm – 5:30pm Session 3 and 4
5:30pm – 6:15pm Refresh and renew personal time
6:15pm – 7:00pm Pre-dinner cocktails and conversation
7:00pm – 8:00pm Cohort Dinner
8:15pm – 9:15pm Evening connectional activity
Friday May 19, 2023
7:00am – 7:30am Optional morning meditation
7:30am – 8:30am Cohort Breakfast
9:00am – 12:00pm Session 5 and 6
12:00pm – 1:00pm Cohort Luncheon
1:00pm – 1:30pm Optional practice and reflection time
1:30pm – 4:30pm Sessions 7 and 8, closing
4:30pm Departure
Will I have access to lead faculty?
Yes. Each session is designed with opportunities to engage in dialogue around your unique needs and questions. Lead faculty will be present and accessible throughout the two days for all meals and activities, in addition to the group working sessions.
How does the programme address Trauma-Informed leadership?
There are few people or organisations that have not been faced with trauma, loss, or suffering. This is especially true and more urgent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet many leaders are reluctant to address these challenges with individuals, with teams, and with their organisation. We prepare leaders to be trauma-informed by courageously utilizing the lens of compassion, bringing a heightened level of awareness, care, and concern to every encounter.
Trauma-informed leaders create conditions of safety and support, where everyone can acknowledge, heal, and grow from the most difficult circumstances. You will find that trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive best practices are woven throughout our compassionate leadership training.
Will I receive a certificate upon completing this programme?
Yes. You will receive a Certificate of Completion from the Center for Compassionate Leadership. Certificates will be delivered electronically, so that they can be shared on LinkedIn or other digital channels.
What are the fees for the programme?
The course investment is £995. If you have any questions about fees, please email cfclprograms@gmail.com.
What payment methods are accepted for the programme?
Payment may be made directly online with a major credit card or via PayPal. If you would like us to invoice your organisation, please send your request via email to cfclprograms@gmail.com.
What are the terms for payment? Will you refund my fee if I have to withdraw?
Your full payment is due upon programme registration to reserve your place in the training and room at Four Acres.
If you must withdraw up to five weeks prior to the start of the course, your fees are refundable, less a £240 administrative fee. If you withdraw after April 12, 2023, there is a £495 cancellation fee. Unfortunately, there is no refund available if you withdraw after May 3, 2023.
Can my organisation pay for the programme?
Yes. We can invoice your organisation directly or provide you with an invoice to submit.
Are group rates available?
Yes. Some organisations send several team members together to build an internal base of compassionate leadership community and support. We are pleased to offer group rates if several employees at your organisation want to participate in the same programme. Please contact eharrel@gmail.com for further details.
“Nothing that will change relationships, systems, and self so much than honing the skills of leadership so that they are dynamic and adaptive. This course does just that – it worked with the awareness that our leadership is dynamic in an ever changing globally connected world.”
– University Assistant Principal