Who We Are

The Institute comprises a circle of experienced practitioners who bring their own distinct approaches to conversational leadership. They have created programs, workshops and coaching assistance for individual leaders and groups both inside and outside organizations. For more detailed information on each member, please click on the image.

David Whyte has written extensively on the nature and importance of courageous conversations as a way of more fully engaging with our work, our relationship partners and our deepest desires. A poet, author, lecturer and Associate Fellow at Said Business School, University of Oxford, he has developed a significant body of work on creativity and organizational development. His pioneering work in the area of courageous conversations has brought him into some of the top organizations and executive education programs in the world. Read more.

Craig Fleck’s twenty year career consulting to business, education, healthcare and non-profits has held common threads of developing leaders, cultivating organizational learning and implementing generative changes across diverse sets of stakeholders. His experience with this broad base of clients has heightened his respect for leaders confronted by today’s pressures and deepened his commitment to the power of courageous conversations to steward more vital organizations. Read more.

Walter Berghoef initially employed his business studies degree to the domain of marketing communication. From there, he moved to consulting, working in various capacities, including a focus on identity and corporate strategy. For the past decade, he has been developing his own approach to culture, leadership and ‘working together' issues, and currently offers a broad variety of programs as an independent, with the HartWerken Groep and in association with the Dutch management develop center De Baak. Read more.

Ciaran McMullan is an international banker and management consultant who combines his passion for exploring exotic out-of-the-way places with a soulfulness that has brought him profound insights into the human condition. Ciaran’s perspective blends his own life experiences growing up in Northern Ireland amid violence and persecution with a wealth of business knowledge accumulated during a professional career spanning nearly twenty years and five continents. Read more.