Are you an accomplished leader with a track record of success, but also someone who feels something essential is missing from your professional life?

The opportunity: Joining a Wisdom Circle offers you the chance to pause, take stock of your career, and explore the role work plays in generating joy and contentment in your life through a structured process of reflection and expression in a small group setting.

The premise: The more intentional you become in thinking about the role work plays in your life, the more likely you will be to make decisions that will advance your career and amplify the impact you have on the people and organizations you serve.

The goal: To clarify your thinking about the meaning of the work you do, accelerate your professional growth, and find greater peace and contentment in your life.

“The topics were great, the discussions thought-provoking, and the price was a steal…I thought “Oh my God! Ninety minutes is going to be a long time! But the conversation was so good that when I noticed we were coming to time, I was like, ‘Oh, I want this to last a little longer…’” Yara Demo, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Leadership and Wellbeing Coach, Northwestern Medicine

Who Should Apply

• Professionals with experience in the private, non-profit, or government sectors who are committed to lifelong learning and growth – not just for yourself but for others as well.
• Leaders with the curiosity and courage to surface unspoken assumptions about the work they do and the role work plays in their lives through deep reflection and conversation with a small group of like-minded professionals.
• Individuals interested in exploring important questions such as:
• • What constitutes a meaningful life, and how might my work contribute to creating such a life?
  • How does the work I do inform my sense of identity?
  • Based on my definition of success, what’s the next career move that would be best for me?
• Each 90-minute session explores a different topic related to how to derive greater contentment and satisfaction from the work you do. Voluntary reflective, reading, and writing exercises will be suggested between sessions to enrich out time together. 

Program Details

• The cost of the program is $1,999.00 for the three-month program. Membership is by application only. To apply, schedule a 30-minute interview here. Refer a friend or colleague, and you’ll each receive a 10% discount when you both enroll.
• Wisdom Circles meet virtually and bi-weekly on Saturday mornings (North America) for three months, for a total of six 90-minute sessions. The next Circle is scheduled to begin in January 2026. In addition to our six group sessions, each participant will receive one hour of 1 x 1 coaching at the conclusion of the program from Wisdom Circle facilitator Eric Fridman.

• Each Wisdom Circle includes 6-8 accomplished individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions.
• Wisdom Circles are designed and facilitated by Eric Fridman, founder of Fridman Associates LLC, Northwestern University adjunct professor of learning and organizational change, Kellogg School of Management team and career coach, and certified leadership and organizational coach.

“I had pages of notes from each session…I found myself becoming more thoughtful and strategic about different ways I might use the next three years of my life…how I might start preparing now to do work that will provide me with the best combination of flexibility, meaning, and impact…” Paul Campbell, Lecturer of Strategy and Director of Healthcare at Kellogg, Kellogg School of Management

Program Agenda

• Session 1: The building blocks of meaning in life and work
• Session 2: Measures of happiness and professional success
• Session 3: The psychology of flow, cultivating mindfulness, and the power of reframing work as play
• Session 4: Leveraging work relationships to maximize learning and growth
• Session 5: Career transitions and roadmaps of adult and leadership development
• Session 6: Your narrative identity and plan for continued growth and development in the years ahead

Program Benefits

• Assess your current work situation and identify future career possibilities with a series of simple, easy to use analytical tools that will help you sharpen distinctions, root out and discard limiting beliefs, and design new strategies for becoming more creative and impactful in the work you do.
• Engage in an intensive deep-dive into managing your career with a small group of accomplished peers guided by an experienced facilitator and coach.
• Recognize the signs of burnout and learn simple techniques for regaining and retaining your emotional equilibrium in a world that never slows down.
• Strengthen your leadership presence.
• Achieve greater clarity about your next career move.
• Build a support group of accomplished peers – a personal board of directors – you can turn to for advice and accountability as your career progresses and evolves.

“I was always looking forward to each session because I knew it was going to be inspirational…I really liked how Eric curated the group discussions…it felt like he was taking us on personal journeys of self-discovery and then left us with tools we could use to continue our journeys after our work together had ended…” Britta Rendlen, Deputy Head of Sustainability, Sonova Group