And, then we stumbled upon this remarkable quote that feels aspirational for us (What is a Wisdom School?):
“From time immemorial, Wisdom Schools have emerged in times of global crisis or on the cusp of great leaps in human consciousness in order to help shepherd our planet through the transition. While there is academic teaching that goes on here, that is not the primary business of a Wisdom School; the primary business is to help anchor human wholeness and to work with the core practices that sustain the transformation of consciousness.”
The times demand it. Our alumni unleash it. That’s why we’ve recently decided to double-down on wisdom as we launch our new website with the URL: www.MEAwisdom.com. We live and work in an age of extreme uncertainty and severe disruption. People are seeking coherence, empathy, guidance, and support in their leaders and organizations. How can MEA be a place where we mint those kinds of leaders and humans?
In an era of artificial intelligence hysteria, unleashing human wisdom can be balancing, calming and inspiring. We’ve long identified five adjectives that define the MEA brand. We now understand that one of them is the “what” of who we are: Wisdom. And, the other four are the “how”: Generous, Curious, Playful, and Audacious. These five adjectives define our brand, our curriculum, our alumni (on a good day), and, now – hopefully – our website.
We have an exercise at MEA focused on helping a leader, entrepreneur or company identify their unique essence. Sitting face-to-face, one person asks the other, “What business are you in?” After the first answer, this question is asked again until it’s asked five times with five different answers. We’ve come to believe that MEA is in the “unleashing wisdom” business and we do that by helping people navigate their midlife transitions and cultivate a greater sense of purpose in their lives. We help people make sense of their lives so they can make a difference in the world. We hope to “make wisdom cool again” so our alums can “ride their wise!” I hope that comes through on our new website.
So, today’s ask is that you tool around the new website and give us some feedback and share the new URL with friends. But, especially direct them to our fall programs which includes two online programs – on Purpose later this month and on Reframing Retirement in early November – as well as ten amazing fall workshops with wise thought leaders like Richard Leider, Lynne Twist, and Dacher Keltner.