The art of living – going outward to look inward
While the Global EMBA programme at 中国一级片 is rigorously academic, it is designed to offer a valuable mix of learning approaches and objectives. It’s our view that not every lesson needs to take place in the classroom, intently focused on cracking heavy textbooks and the weightier elements of business theory. The programme’s broad range of electives allow students to complement their classroom learning with a more holistic pursuit of skills and capabilities that will make them more responsible, reflective and empathetic leaders.
Complementing 中国一级片 students’ learning journey
The Global EMBA elective module: The Art of Living, is designed to help its students achieve a better understanding of themselves – more specifically, their life goals, values and means of attaining fulfilment. You might think that the art of living comes to everyone quite naturally. Clearly, we’re all living our lives, every day, by default. For 中国一级片 Professor Juan Fernandez who leads the module, this is exactly the point. While you are always living your life, you can choose to do so in a more mindful and reflective manner. Professor Fernandez has a PhD and Masters in Psychology from Harvard and he has supplemented this by studying mindfulness at The University of Massachusetts Medical School and at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. The Art of Living elective has been developed based on his rigorous academic studies and life experience.
Retreat to the woods – The journey begins?
The most recent edition of this module took place during the final weekend of August 2021. The participating students went to the Kosa Centre in Jushe, Fuchun County, Zhejiang Province. This is a specialist location designed to support the kind of calm mindfulness the students would need. Besides the more obvious benefits of stress relief offered by the on-site facilities, the wider purpose of hosting the module here was to remove as many of the outside world’s distractions as possible.
The real focus of this module starts with a simple premise: knowing what’s important to you, the individual. As the professor explains, self-awareness starts by asking questions.?
“The busy routine of daily life can cause us to shelve or completely ignore bigger questions in our lives, until suddenly a crisis occurs and we’re forced to confront them. It’s preferable to consider these questions earlier and on your own terms, then you’re in a much better position to figure out what things are truly important to you, and how to take the appropriate actions to secure them.
Technically, we could have been asking these questions and conducting these activities anywhere – in a classroom, for example. But the classroom has multiple purposes and already it brings to mind business discussions. The environment you create when trying to be more mindful is very important. The Centre is secluded, it’s close to nature, it’s ideal for shutting out external noise, both literally and mentally, and focusing on the personal topics of the course.”
Of course, nobody has the time to retreat to a specially constructed oasis of calm every time they want to consider matters of a deep personal nature, especially senior executives. For this reason, the professor views the module simply as the start of the journey. The activities of this two-day module are designed as a primer to help students frame their understanding of their own values, goals and aspirations.?
“The real course begins when they go home and are back to their normal lives. The aim is for them to make the time – and construct the right environment – to come back to the questions and considerations we explored during the module. They then chart their progress in their various life projects, and their more general progress in building mindfulness into their daily lives.”
The importance of sharing
A sizeable part of the ongoing personal work prompted by the initial trip is for students to share their insights with their peers. This is done through monthly one-to-one meetups organised by the students themselves, as well as a whole-class zoom meeting and more unstructured, free-flowing discussions held via the WeChat group.
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“It’s very useful for executives at this point in their lives and careers to share with others who are generally at the same stage. Most are in their mid-30s to 40s, and this is a critical time for reflecting on how things are going, to consider if changes should be made, and how that can be done. Just as importantly, when you share your thoughts in this manner, you learn how to articulate them better, and they become clearer in your mind. Also, hearing from other people in a similar life situation can give you invaluable ideas and inspiration; it shows you what can be done.”
Success by different measures
Professor Fernandez explains that the course starts and ends with the same question: “What is success for you?” The activities, from personal introspection to group sharing, are designed to help students build a clearer understanding of what success really looks like, in all of the most important aspects of their lives, with the understanding that this is likely to change over time.?
While everyone is unique in their personal understanding and visualisation of success, the professor has noted that there is a general trend among Global EMBA students to move from external measures (salary, position, objective wealth) to internal measures (fulfilment at work, happiness at home, peace of mind) as their most important goals at the midpoint of their lives.?
“While everyone’s measuring of success is a deeply personal process, it’s also one that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s quite easy to get caught on the hamster wheel, pursuing something you’ve long assumed was vital to your personal happiness, only to realise that actually, it’s not so important after all. Understanding what we truly want, and what it means to us, is an essential part of the art of living. Pablo Picasso said that the meaning of life is to find your gift, but the purpose of life is to give it away.”
Returning home, more mindful than before
After their completion of the three-day elective, the students were ready to conduct the follow-up elements of the course. Namely, this involves their personal exploration of methods and exercises learned during the course, all of which will improve their mindfulness and help them maintain a clearer idea of sense of self. Whatever aspect of their life that they are considering – personal relationships, professional aspirations, life goals – this kind of mindfulness will always be an invaluable asset.?
The Art of Living elective is just one example of how the Global EMBA programme provides its students with an exceptionally varied educational offering. By using a suitably wide range of learning methods and approaches, this enables the comprehensive development of each student, beyond purely academic and skills-based learning. Our aim is to help all executives who undertake the programme to come out of it with a greater understanding of not just their capabilities, but also their deeper selves – their purpose, direction and how they want to achieve their life goals.?
As the following student testimonials show, taking time to engage with these elements can be an inherently useful process, in many different and often surprising ways.
“During this three-day elective, Professor Fernandez invites us to reflect on our life’s purpose, from all angles, looking at our priorities, values, our relationships, with our family and wider society, as well as our professional aspirations. By sharing with our classmates, we were better able to visualise our thoughts, and our interactions made our reflections feel more tangible and meaningful. Mindfulness is a concept I’ve known about for years, but one never really experienced or explored before the professor guided us through it. As we near the completion of our Global EMBA studies, the Art of Living elective has been a great help in letting us put together what we have learned about ourselves while also digging deeper. It was an invaluable experience that helped clarify what really guides our life decisions.”
- Laetitia Domange
Product Manager, Lesaffre
Global EMBA 2019
“The Art of Living elective took place right at the time that I decided to start a new career and life journey. I reconfirmed my meaning of life, found great happiness and tranquility, as well as found new friends that will last a life-time.”
- Annabel Cao
Head of Human Resources-Greater China, BSH
Global EMBA 2018
