Enlightened Leadership with Matt Poepsel – Leading Outside In and Inside Out

by | Dec 6, 2023 | Conversations

“For me, the wheels came off during the pandemic…” 

Who else can relate to that? I know those of us at A Leadership Beyond sure can. It’s what led us to create this community… but you already know that story.

That is the initial prompt that led our friend and colleague Matt Poepsel on a journey that culminated into his recently released book Expand the Circle: Enlightened Leadership for Our New World of Work.

Matt’s Buddhism practice inspired a look-back to ancient philosophical leadership alongside a deep study of business methodologies to build his enlightened approach to leadership, where we abandon the ego to consider the broader world and humanity in the way we lead ourselves, our people, our organizations, and ultimately the world. 

An enlightened leader, as Matt describes it, is one who has gone beyond outdated leadership attitudes and beliefs – in other words, focusing only on the financial bottom line. This won’t cut it anymore – people are demanding their work serve a higher, more important, purpose. Enlightened leaders want and see the need for something bigger than ourselves. We’re starting to see evidence in business that this evolution has begun and enlightened leaders are on the path to shift this thinking in a big way.

In his book, Matt provides a framework that can be visualized with circles. The premise: while it’s essential that we begin focusing beyond ourselves and our organizations, we must begin within ourselves. The difference from traditional leadership is that with enlightened leadership, we are leading ourselves for the purpose of serving others and beyond others, serving the world (and even universe?) at large.

Listen to this episode for a more detailed review with Matt and practical advice to begin your own journey to enlightened leadership.

We’re so grateful to Matt for spending time talking with us and sharing himself with our community. We’re sure you’ll be inspired and want more – lucky us, Matt has given so much more for us to delve into!

Connect with Matt and follow all the good stuff he brings to the world:

Reach out to us anytime and see you next time!  

 Tom & Adrienne