????哥倫比亞商學院（Columbia Business School），一節領導力課已經進行了將近一個小時，50多名學生仍然正襟危坐，雙眼緊閉。一位金發的研究助理用略帶德國口音的英語，在前面低聲指導學生：“注意鞋子的感覺。”

????該校的個人領導力與成功課程（Personal Leadership & Success）由領導力專家海汀德拉?瓦德瓦執教，被認為是哥倫比亞大學最“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，優秀的領導力首先要從自我認知開始，因此學生需要進行冥想。

????這種觀點聽起來或許有些奇怪，但美國多家商學院都開設了類似的課程。斯坦福大學（Stanford）從1966年就開始開設一門名為“人際互動”（Touchy-Feely）的課程。而哈佛商學院（Harvard Business School）的類似課程則將這種通過小組學習實現自我認知的理念推向了新的層次。

重塑歸屬感

????哈佛大學的課程由美敦力公司（Medtronic）前任CEO、哈佛大學管理學教授比爾?喬治開設，課程開設的前提是，與家庭和朋友等其他人際網絡相比，具有商業思維的領導者團體能夠提供更有效的領導力指導。參加這門課的哈佛大學MBA學生來自不同的背景，他們被分成不同小組，共同完成課程作業，分享彼此的人生經歷。

????通過分享個人經歷，可以滿足人們對于團隊的渴求。喬治在其最近出版的《真北團隊》（True North Groups）一書中指出，美國人的社交活動越來越少。在書中，他引用了哈佛大學教授羅伯特?帕特南的研究結果。這項研究發現，美國人在工作之外參加扶輪社（rotary clubs）或宗教團體等團體活動的頻率大幅下降。此外，1975年至2000年期間，美國人參加各種俱樂部的人數減少了58%。

????因此，一些商學院開始介入其中，而學生也反響良好。在哥倫比亞大學200門選修課中，個人領導力與成功課程是最受MBA二年級學生歡迎的10門課程之一。比爾?喬治在哈佛大學教授的課程共設有240個聽課席位。從2008年開始，每年申請該課程的學生均超過600人（目前，喬治負責高管類課程的授課）。從今年開始，專為MBA開設的個人領導力與成功課程將每年增加60個聽課席位。

????部分學生表示，他們之所以被這種課程所吸引，是因為通過這種課程，他們能夠使內心歸于沉靜。杜克能源公司（Duke Energy）的拉伊?巴克特是哈佛商學院的畢業生，他也曾參加過喬治的課程。他認為，目前，許多企業領導人存在的問題與他們處理數字的能力無關，而是因為價值觀的缺失。巴克特說：“目前企業高管最大的失敗之處不在于技術上的失誤，而是道德上的缺失。”

????哈佛商學院校友、電影制片人彼得?比桑茨認為，喬治的課程，以及其他類似課程，可以幫助未來的高管提高他們的道德水準。他說：“如果商界領袖們能夠看清自己的優缺點，就不會過度貪婪，也就不會導致金融危機的發生。”

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

????喬治在《真北團隊》中提到，課程的難處在于，把“令自己突破極限，并影響一生的獨特經歷”作為“嚴峻考驗” 時刻與其他同學分享。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烈的感情沖擊——比如，曾有一個人站出來，在全班同學面前出柜，承認自己是同性戀。而比桑茨則選擇與同學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會有些困難，但這是成為一名領導者所必須具備的能力。巴克特同意他的觀點，他說：“怎樣才能自然而然地說出生命中面臨嚴峻考驗的這一刻，如何才能讓自己聽起來不至于冷冰冰的？”

????但喬治堅決認為，這門課程不應該代替治療，在討論中，有一些話題不應涉及。例如，在他的書中，他提到真北團隊的一對已婚夫婦，他們希望談論未婚之前的放蕩生活。顯然，這樣的話題就很不合時宜。

????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.