????哥倫比亞商學(xué)院（Columbia Business School），一節(jié)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力課已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了將近一個(gè)小時(shí)，50多名學(xué)生仍然正襟危坐，雙眼緊閉。一位金發(fā)的研究助理用略帶德國(guó)口音的英語(yǔ)，在前面低聲指導(dǎo)學(xué)生：“注意鞋子的感覺(jué)?！?/p>

????該校的個(gè)人領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力與成功課程（Personal Leadership & Success）由領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力專家海汀德拉?瓦德瓦執(zhí)教，被認(rèn)為是哥倫比亞大學(xué)最“軟”的一門課，尤其是與金融等“硬”課程相比。這門課背后的理念是，優(yōu)秀的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力首先要從自我認(rèn)知開始，因此學(xué)生需要進(jìn)行冥想。

????這種觀點(diǎn)聽起來(lái)或許有些奇怪，但美國(guó)多家商學(xué)院都開設(shè)了類似的課程。斯坦福大學(xué)（Stanford）從1966年就開始開設(shè)一門名為“人際互動(dòng)”（Touchy-Feely）的課程。而哈佛商學(xué)院（Harvard Business School）的類似課程則將這種通過(guò)小組學(xué)習(xí)實(shí)現(xiàn)自我認(rèn)知的理念推向了新的層次。

重塑歸屬感

????哈佛大學(xué)的課程由美敦力公司（Medtronic）前任CEO、哈佛大學(xué)管理學(xué)教授比爾?喬治開設(shè)，課程開設(shè)的前提是，與家庭和朋友等其他人際網(wǎng)絡(luò)相比，具有商業(yè)思維的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者團(tuán)體能夠提供更有效的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力指導(dǎo)。參加這門課的哈佛大學(xué)MBA學(xué)生來(lái)自不同的背景，他們被分成不同小組，共同完成課程作業(yè)，分享彼此的人生經(jīng)歷。

????通過(guò)分享個(gè)人經(jīng)歷，可以滿足人們對(duì)于團(tuán)隊(duì)的渴求。喬治在其最近出版的《真北團(tuán)隊(duì)》（True North Groups）一書中指出，美國(guó)人的社交活動(dòng)越來(lái)越少。在書中，他引用了哈佛大學(xué)教授羅伯特?帕特南的研究結(jié)果。這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國(guó)人在工作之外參加扶輪社（rotary clubs）或宗教團(tuán)體等團(tuán)體活動(dòng)的頻率大幅下降。此外，1975年至2000年期間，美國(guó)人參加各種俱樂(lè)部的人數(shù)減少了58%。

????因此，一些商學(xué)院開始介入其中，而學(xué)生也反響良好。在哥倫比亞大學(xué)200門選修課中，個(gè)人領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力與成功課程是最受MBA二年級(jí)學(xué)生歡迎的10門課程之一。比爾?喬治在哈佛大學(xué)教授的課程共設(shè)有240個(gè)聽課席位。從2008年開始，每年申請(qǐng)?jiān)撜n程的學(xué)生均超過(guò)600人（目前，喬治負(fù)責(zé)高管類課程的授課）。從今年開始，專為MBA開設(shè)的個(gè)人領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力與成功課程將每年增加60個(gè)聽課席位。

????部分學(xué)生表示，他們之所以被這種課程所吸引，是因?yàn)橥ㄟ^(guò)這種課程，他們能夠使內(nèi)心歸于沉靜。杜克能源公司（Duke Energy）的拉伊?巴克特是哈佛商學(xué)院的畢業(yè)生，他也曾參加過(guò)喬治的課程。他認(rèn)為，目前，許多企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人存在的問(wèn)題與他們處理數(shù)字的能力無(wú)關(guān)，而是因?yàn)閮r(jià)值觀的缺失。巴克特說(shuō)：“目前企業(yè)高管最大的失敗之處不在于技術(shù)上的失誤，而是道德上的缺失。”

????哈佛商學(xué)院校友、電影制片人彼得?比桑茨認(rèn)為，喬治的課程，以及其他類似課程，可以幫助未來(lái)的高管提高他們的道德水準(zhǔn)。他說(shuō)：“如果商界領(lǐng)袖們能夠看清自己的優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)，就不會(huì)過(guò)度貪婪，也就不會(huì)導(dǎo)致金融危機(jī)的發(fā)生?！?/p>

????但是，上面提到的兩位都是班里的佼佼者，他們對(duì)這種方法深信不疑。他們都曾向同學(xué)敞開心扉，這種做法給人的第一感覺(jué)是，它與商學(xué)院的環(huán)境格格不入。

????喬治在《真北團(tuán)隊(duì)》中提到，課程的難處在于，把“令自己突破極限，并影響一生的獨(dú)特經(jīng)歷”作為“嚴(yán)峻考驗(yàn)” 時(shí)刻與其他同學(xué)分享。比桑茨表示，有人選擇在所有人面前敞開心扉，而所談的話題往往伴隨著強(qiáng)烈的感情沖擊——比如，曾有一個(gè)人站出來(lái)，在全班同學(xué)面前出柜，承認(rèn)自己是同性戀。而比桑茨則選擇與同學(xué)分享自己酗酒的往事。

????喬治在書中寫道，要與自己的朋友有這種親密的互動(dòng)會(huì)有些困難，但這是成為一名領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者所必須具備的能力。巴克特同意他的觀點(diǎn)，他說(shuō)：“怎樣才能自然而然地說(shuō)出生命中面臨嚴(yán)峻考驗(yàn)的這一刻，如何才能讓自己聽起來(lái)不至于冷冰冰的？”

????但喬治堅(jiān)決認(rèn)為，這門課程不應(yīng)該代替治療，在討論中，有一些話題不應(yīng)涉及。例如，在他的書中，他提到真北團(tuán)隊(duì)的一對(duì)已婚夫婦，他們希望談?wù)撐椿橹暗姆攀幧?。顯然，這樣的話題就很不合時(shí)宜。

????About an hour into a leadership class at Columbia Business School, all 50-odd students were sitting rail-straight with their eyes closed. A blonde research associate with the slightest hint of a German accent cooed instructions at the front of the class. "Notice the sensation of your shoes," he said.

????Personal Leadership & Success, which is taught by leadership expert Hitendra Wadhwa, is considered one of the "softer" offerings at Columbia, especially when compared to "hard" courses such as finance. The idea behind it is that good leadership begins with self-knowledge, hence the meditation exercise.

????It may seem far out, but there are similar classes at business schools across the country. Stanford has offered a class called "Touchy-Feely" since 1966. And a class at Harvard Business School takes this idea of self-knowledge through group learning a step further.

Recreating the community group

????The class, developed by former Medtronic (MDT) CEO and Harvard management professor Bill George, runs on the premise that groups of business-minded leaders can offer better leadership guidance than other networks, including family and friends. For this class, Harvard MBAs from different backgrounds are put into small groups where they complete coursework together and share deeply personal experiences.

????Those shared experiences can fill an unmet need for community. Americans have become less social, George argues in his recently published book True North Groups. He cites the work of fellow Harvard professor Robert Putnam, whose research has shown that Americans' participation in groups outside of work, such as rotary clubs or religious groups, has plummeted. According to Putnam's research, the number of people attending meetings of any kind of club in the U.S. dropped by 58% from 1975 to 2000.

????That's where some business schools are starting to step in, and students are responding. Personal Leadership & Success is one of the top 10 most popular electives for second-year MBA students at Columbia out of about 200 elective courses. Since 2008, over 600 students have applied every year for the 240 spots in Bill George's class at Harvard (George now teaches a version for executives). This year, the Personal Leadership & Success program for MBAs is expanding to take on 60 more students per year.

????Some students say they are attracted to these kinds of courses because they feel like they are learning to lead in a vacuum. According to Rye Barcott, a Duke Energy (DUK) employee and Harvard Business School alum who took George's class, the problem with many leaders today has little to do with their ability to crunch numbers, but rather a lack of values. "When you think about the biggest failures of corporate executives, they're not necessarily technical failures, but ethical ones, " Barcott says.

????Programs like George's class can help sharpen those ethics in future executives, says HBS alum and film executive Peter Bisanz: "I think that if our business leaders had insight into their own strengths and weaknesses, we would not have had the excessive greed that would have led to the financial crisis."

????Granted, both of these men were star students in the class and they believe in the methodology. But they both opened up to their peers in ways that may seem, at first glance, out of place in a business school setting.

????The crux of George's class is the students' identification of a "crucible" moment, described in True North Groups as sharing with their groups "the singular experience that has tested you to the limits and impacted your life." Some choose to open up in front of everyone, and these crucible moments can be intense -- one person stood up and came out as a homosexual in front of the whole class, Bisanz says. Bisanz himself shared his experience with alcoholism.

????It can be tough to have the kind of intimate interactions with personal friends that are necessary to grow as a leader, George argues in his book. Barcott agrees: "How do you bring up what the crucible moment is in your life without sounding like a tool?"

????The program is no stand-in for therapy though, George insists, and some topics should stay out of these discussions. For example, in his book, he refers to a married couple in a True North group that wanted to talk about issues they had been having as swingers. It was disruptive.