A KOAN Love Letter

Jennifer Simpson
4 min readFeb 14, 2024

We need our hearts now more than ever

Photo by Bart LaRue on Unsplash

Happy Valentines Day to all who celebrate…

In a world often characterized by its fast pace, cutthroat competition, and relentless pursuit of success, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters: our shared humanity and doing our part to make this world we share a little brighter for our fellow travelers.

I’ve spent a whole career growing leaders in organizations all over the world and it’s becoming more and more clear that traditional models of leadership are no longer serving us. It’s time for a new approach — a more human-centered one that prioritizes kindness, curiosity, and lasting connection over short-term gains that masquerade as “success.”

Imagine a world where empathy and compassion are the guiding principles of leadership, and co-creation is the key to success. That’s the world that the KOAN method invites us to explore— a world where leadership is not just about achieving goals and targets, but about uplifting, inspiring, and empowering those around us to bring their best thinking forward and innovate.

The KOAN method shows leaders how to deliver breakthrough results by embracing principles of kindness, openness, adaptability, and networks of relationship. Fundamentally, each of these shows us how to bring more love back to our lives…

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Jennifer Simpson

An artist, poet, leader, lover, daughter, sister, and mother living in Boulder, Colorado. Owner and CEO at Integrated Work. Author of the KOAN method.