Stages of the Heart: From Personality to Presence
The Psycho-Spiritual Journey of Conscious Leadership
Stages of the Heart is a two-day experiential masterclass exploring the psycho-spiritual development of the human being and its implications for how we lead, relate, make decisions, and exercise influence.
Building upon the conference presentation Beyond Type: Awakening the Heart and Mind of Leadership, the masterclass moves beyond the question “What is my Enneagram type?” toward a deeper inquiry: “From what level of awareness and presence is my personality operating?”
Participants will be introduced to the Stages of the Heart, an integrative framework developed by Dr. Khaled ElSherbini for understanding the journey of waking up: from greater identification with the conditioned personality toward increasing presence, inner freedom, integration, and a deeper experience of connectedness. Drawing upon the Enneagram, Sufi psychology, contemplative traditions, and contemporary approaches to consciousness and psycho-spiritual development, the model distinguishes temporary states of consciousness from more enduring stages of inner development.
Through teaching, reflection, contemplative practice, and experiential exercises, participants will explore how the different Enneagram types encounter this journey in distinctive ways, and how our degree of identification or presence can profoundly change the way the same personality structure is expressed.
For leaders, this becomes a practical inquiry into the inner source of leadership: how we respond to pressure, exercise power, encounter conflict, relate to others, and create the relational conditions in which people and teams can develop. The masterclass therefore approaches leadership not only as a set of competencies, but as an expression of the consciousness from which those competencies are exercised.
Key takeaways
By the end of the two-day masterclass, participants will be able to:
- Understand the Stages of the Heart framework as a developmental map of psycho-spiritual awakening and increasing inner freedom.
- Distinguish personality, states of consciousness, and stages of development, and understand why a powerful state or spiritual experience is not necessarily the same as enduring transformation.
- Recognize the difference between knowing an Enneagram pattern and becoming less identified with it, moving from automatic reaction toward greater capacity to witness and choose.
- Explore how the nine Enneagram types travel the waking-up journey differently, including characteristic attachments, challenges, and possibilities for transformation.
- Deepen the capacity for presence and self-observation, learning to notice personality patterns without being completely governed by them.
- Explore the movement from multiplicity toward greater integration and wholeness, and the role of the Heart in compassion, connectedness, wisdom, and non-reactive awareness.
- Apply the framework to leadership, examining how inner state and degree of identification influence power, relationships, conflict, communication, decision-making, and the ability to empower others.
- Develop practical contemplative and reflective practices that can support ongoing inner work beyond the masterclass.
Who it is for
This masterclass is designed for leaders, executives, managers, business owners, coaches, consultants, HR and organizational-development professionals, Enneagram practitioners, and others interested in the relationship between inner development and the way we lead and relate.
It will be especially valuable for participants who have already developed some degree of self-awareness and are beginning to ask a deeper question: What comes after knowing my type and patterns?
The masterclass is relevant both to experienced Enneagram practitioners seeking to move beyond personality description into transformation, and to leaders interested in presence, consciousness, and the inner foundations of leadership.
Participants will continually be invited to connect inner development with the realities of organizational life: pressure, authority, responsibility, relationships, conflict, decision-making, and the creation of conditions in which others can flourish.
Prerequisites
No advanced Enneagram training is required. Basic familiarity with the Enneagram and knowing one’s likely Enneagram type are strongly recommended, but not essential.
The masterclass will briefly establish the Enneagram concepts needed for the work. Participants need only bring curiosity, openness to self-observation, and a willingness to engage in reflective and experiential practice.
