Personal Leadership:
Making a World of Difference

A Professional Development Opportunity with
‘Personal Leadership Seminars’
9–13 March, 2009, Crestone, Colorado, USA

Explore the interface between leadership, creativity, and culture.

Seminar Information

The seminar is designed for:

The seminar is based on the understanding that intercultural knowledge and intercultural competence are two very different things, especially when our deeply held values or sense of identity are affronted by cultural differences. Personal Leadership offers a methodology specifically oriented to bridging the gap between knowing what to do (intercultural knowledge) and actually doing it (intercultural competence). The methodology is called ‘Personal Leadership’ because it focuses on taking leadership of our personal experience when we engage the new and unfamiliar—whether that be a person, project, or place. Based on the principles of mindfulness and creativity, the practices of Personal Leadership help us engage our automatic ‘default’ reactions; we learn to remain open and inspired, and thus to respond to cultural differences in effective and productive ways, even when we feel personally or professionally challenged.

Seminar objectives include:

  1. becoming familiar with the two principles and six practices that comprise the Personal Leadership framework,
  2. contextualizing their theoretical foundations in intercultural communication, organizational leadership, and whole-person self-development, and
  3. rigorously applying the principles and practices to participants’ specific situations through the powerful process technology of ‘The Critical Moment Dialoguesm.’

Focusing on our individual interests and engaging our collective creativity, the seminar will include content-focused discussions and integrative conversations as well as opportunities for quiet reflection.

Seminar Leaders: Sheila J. Ramsey, Ph.D., Barbara F. Schaetti, Ph.D., and Gordon C. Watanabe, Ed.D. - all Founding Partners, PLSeminars.

This seminar offers you the rare opportunity to work with all three founding partners at the same time. Please join us for a uniquely powerful and joyous experience.

For more information, please visit contact the Crestone Administrator.

Logistics

Location: Crestone, Colorado (read why US News and World Report consider Crestone
a "sacred place") — a small town nestled in the incredible beauty of The Sangre de Cristo Mountains where the “Southwest meets the Rockies.” Crestone, Colorado is about 220 miles SW from Denver International Airport, or 51 miles north of the airport in Alamosa, Colorado.

The adjacent Rio Grande National Forest, Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, and Great Sand Dunes National Park offer superb hiking up uncrowded trails leading to pristine high altitude lakes and fabulous hot springs.
There’s wonderful hiking right outside your door in Crestone, too. Photo opportunities are abundant, from spectacular mountain scenery to the herds of deer that live in the valley.

Organic and natural foods and general necessities can be found “downtown” at the Crestone Mart and the Crestone Store. Wifi is available at the coffee house downtown for those who need to keep up on business or personal activities.

“You’re more likely to see a mule deer strolling down
Crestone’s main street than you are to encounter a traffic jam.”

Dates: Evening, Monday, 9 March through Friday evening, 13 March, 2009. We ask that you arrive into Crestone by 5pm on the 9th and plan your departure for no earlier than after breakfast on the 14th.

Fees: The standard price for the seminar is $1690.

Early bird registration (those made before 19 January 2009) affords a $200 reduction in price. Past PL Seminar participants interested in a refresher are eligible to register at a fifteen percent (15%) discount. To qualify for this discount, you must register before 19 January, 2009 and have participated in a complete Introductory or Foundation seminar, not simply a conference presentation. These fees include nine communal meals but not lodging.

Thanks to donations by PLSeminars and from private contributors, we are able to award a limited number of partial scholarships for 2009 seminars in Crestone. To apply for a scholarship, please complete the scholarship application and return it (electronically) to the Crestone Administrator no later than 19 January 2009.

Payment Methods: Check or money orders (in US dollars drawn from a US bank) may be sent with your registration form. Credit and debit card transactions will be processed through PayPal - a five percent (5%) transaction fee will be applied. Bank wire transfer is also available for a fee of ten dollars ($10).

Refund Policy: If PL Seminars should cancel the seminar, you will be refunded in full any moneys you have paid to us. Partial refunds are also available (minus administrative fees) should you need to cancel. Please refer to the registration form for further details.

Meals: Three lunches and two dinners will be prepared by a local gourmet chef. Local and organic ingredients are used whenever possible. The five communal meals are included in the seminar fee. You will be on your own for all other meals.

Lodging: You will be housed in comfortable condominiums a few minutes from the seminar site. Single occupancy is $70/night + 6% tax. Double occupancy is $35/night + 6% tax. Every effort is made to assign roommates (if one is not already arranged) to those who prefer double occupancy rates. All fees are payable directly to the leasing company and not included in the seminar fees paid to PLSeminars.

Air Travel Considerations: You will need to either 1) fly into Denver and drive from there (an absolutely beautiful, 4 hour drive) or 2) fly into Denver, transfer to Great Lakes Aviation for the ongoing flight into Alamosa, and then drive or taxi from there (about 1 hour). The only airline into Alamosa, Great Lakes is a partner with United — which makes for an easy transfer if you fly into Denver on United.

Vehicle Considerations: Whether you fly into Denver or Alamosa, a car is essential to get you to and around Crestone for the seminar. That said, we make every effort possible to match participants who are interested in sharing vehicles. If you are driving your own car and are willing to pick up passengers along the way — we'll be happy to connect you with others along on your route as well.

If you fly into Alamosa you have the additional option to use a taxi service to Crestone. It is possible, however, that you may need to rent a car to get around Crestone and participate in the field trips if other vehicles are already filled to capacity.

If you drive from Denver, we recommend that you do so during daytime hours — in part because it would be a shame to miss the beautiful landscape, but also because it’s easier to follow the route during the day and to negotiate any new snow in the mountains.

Accademic Credit: Academic credit is offered cooperatively by Personal Leadeship Seminars LLC and Portland State University, Continuing Education/Graduate School of Education with the School of Extended Studies. To earn two (w) quarter credits, either undergraduate or graduate, participants must attend the complete seminar, read specified materials following the seminar, and complete a series of assignments. For more information, including associated costs, contact the Crestone Administrator.

Registration

To register for the seminar, download the Registration Form. Early bird and scholarship registrations must be received before 19 January 2009.
The registration form is in Adobe PDF format, and requires Adobe Reader. To download Adobe Reader, click the button below:

Download Adobe Reader

Contact

If you need more information or have specific questions, please contact the Crestone Administrator.