Introduction to centered leadership

Build practical leadership skills with Joanna Barsh's introduction to centered leadership. This is video 1 of a 6-part series on centered leadership by Joanna Barsh, director emeritus at McKinsey & Company.

Before You Start

Goal: Explore the five dimensions of centered leadership and identify the beliefs and mindsets that shape how you lead today. Even if you don't hold an official leadership role, you're still performing leadership actions every day, and this series can help you become a stronger leader.

Watch: "Introduction to Centered Leadership" — Joanna Barsh, McKinsey & Company. This is video 1 of a 6-part series. Members are encouraged to watch beforehand.

Meeting Agenda · Approx. 60 mins

  • Member Updates · 10 mins
  • Icebreaker · 10 mins
  • Key Takeaways · 5 mins
  • Activity · 20 mins
  • One Action · 10 mins
  • Wrap-Up · 5 mins

👋 Member Updates · 10 mins

Go around your Circle and share personal updates. Keep them brief and focused on significant changes or important decisions since the last time you met. It's OK not to have one every month. If you have a One Action update from last time, share that too.

🧊 Icebreaker · 10 mins

Invite everyone in the group to share. Keep answers to one or two minutes per person.

Think about your daily experience at work. Do you feel the need for greater meaning, better emotional regulation, more energy, greater courage, or stronger connection to others? Why?

💡 Key Takeaways · 5 mins

Centered leadership is a research-backed model that identifies the abilities that distinguish high-impact leaders from those who do a fine but unremarkable job.

  • Five dimensions work together. Meaning, Reframing, Connecting, Engaging, and Energizing. Each contributes independently, but their real power comes when practiced together.
  • Meaning is the anchor. It means leaning into happiness and strengths, and developing purpose, which in turn generates the conviction, courage, and confidence to lead.
  • Managing your reactions is about seeing yourself clearly. Learning to notice your emotional triggers and reactive patterns, and to pause before acting, makes you more effective.
  • Connecting builds the relationships that make impact possible. Trust and community are not optional extras at work. They are vital to leadership and high performance.
  • Engaging means moving toward fear, not away from it. Presence, ownership, and taking action despite uncertainty are what separate people who lead from people who wait.
  • Energizing sustains all the others. Managing your energy is what makes high performance possible long-term, not just in bursts.

🏋️ Activity · 20 mins

Step 1: Map yourself (10 mins)

Individually, take a few minutes to reflect on all five dimensions and where you stand in each:

  • Meaning: How connected are you to your strengths and purpose right now?
  • Reframing: How well do you manage your reactions and reframe challenges?
  • Connecting: How intentional are you about building trust and relationships?
  • Engaging: How willing are you to take risks and step into discomfort?
  • Energizing: How well are you managing your energy and recovery?

Step 2: Share with your Circle (10 mins)

Go around the group. Each person shares:

  1. Which dimension feels strongest for you right now — and what's an example of it in action?
  2. Which dimension most needs your attention — and what's one belief or habit that might be holding you back?

🎯 One Action · 10 mins

Commit to one concrete action, big or small, you'll take before next meeting.

Complete the following and share with your Circle: 'The dimension of centered leadership I most want to develop is… and one concrete thing I will do this month to strengthen it is…'

Go around the Circle and share (1 minute or less per member). Vocalizing it helps hold each other accountable.

📅 Wrap-Up · 5 mins

Before you break, set up your next meeting and close on an energetic note. Go around your Circle one by one and finish the sentence:

Now I am feeling… (choose one word).

  • Set the day, time, and location
  • Choose the next topic or resource
  • Confirm who's leading the discussion
  • Decide how you'll stay in touch in between