Keynote Speaking
Drawing from the realm of time tested spiritual traditions, I share wisdom and principles about creating a culture of connection & belonging, storytelling for leaders, and inspiring authentic connection quickly. For those navigating the challenges of remote work and virtual communities, I offer principles and practices for cultivating community online and building digital connections.
Cultivating the Art of Community in an Isolated Age
In an age filled with fewer personal connections and less time spent together, loneliness has grown into an epidemic that we are all painfully recognize, yet few know how to act powerfully for something different.
Charles Vogl brings much needed relevance to the topic of creating a culture of connection and belonging. So much so that his first book, The Art of Community, became the cornerstone for how Google builds connections across the globe. His unique work reflects a calling to help leadership address the pain in this pivotal time, the most lonely era in organizational history. Leaders and their respective brands looking to tap into their true communities need to know that it is a journey and Charles can serve as their wise and time tested guide. Drawing on three thousand years of spiritual traditions, he teaches audiences the knowledge and principles to build deep community and resilient relationships that serve to foster innovation and integrity within organizations and around the world.
Charles is committed to guiding leaders as they navigate this new and rapidly changing world. He is passionate about sharing wisdom that speaks to creating a culture of connection and belonging, storytelling for leadership, and inspiring authentic connection quickly. For those facing the challenges of remote work and virtual communities, he offers time tested practices for cultivating community online and building digital connections.
A bestselling and award winning author of three books, Charles holds an M.Div. from Yale, where he studied spiritual traditions, ethics, and business as a Jesse Ball duPont Foundation scholar. He is dedicated to helping cultivate human connection and belonging when we need it most.
“This was an excellent interactive experience where I had the opportunity to connect with my peers and gain the foundation for developing valuable new skills I had not previously considered.”
— Dayna Wagner, Employer Reputation and ID&E Workforce Insights Specialist, Dow
“Charles shared principles that are life changing in helping people connect with others to enrich their lives in a time when many people are isolated and lonely. I want to integrate some of these ideas in our chapel community so that people have a 3AM friend.”
— Martha Strong, Director Of Religious Education at Ministry to the Armed Forces
“Get ready to be open, vulnerable, honest and embracing! During this session, you will be able to connect and share in a space that feels very safe and refreshing to just be yourself. Even if you're an introvert you will feel at ease to be open in the small groups and you may be amazed at how close we can become to one another just through shared experiences.”
— Alethia Bert, E.W. Scripps
Previous Speaking Hosts:
The details
Community Leadership Course
The full Community Leadership Course consists of three full days of experiential workshops, plus shared meal times, in which participants experience the principles knitting them together into a stronger connection. The course’s signature curriculum consists of six workshops over three days, where participants will explore with one another how community distinctions and principles play a role in their own lives and how they can create stronger belonging for themselves and their community. In my experience, when these workshops take place in person, participants are able to experience the powerful connection that grows among themselves and are often deeply moved. See the signature curriculum below.
Workshop 1
Recognize Community
Distinguishing Community with Intention
Participants will learn to:
Distinguish community from group, list, crowd, and team
Recognize that a team can grow mutual concern beyond tasks
Boundary
Participants will learn to:
Recognize shared Values & Purpose within a community
Recognize who’s on the inside and invest
Workshop 2
Start Community Powerfully
Invitation
Participants will develop an understanding that:
Members want to see someone cares
Invitations work even when rejected
Connecting to Mission & Purpose
Participants will practice:
Articulating the big purpose and shift the emotional relationship to a team and project.
Inviting members to express enthusiasm for the bigger purpose
Workshop 3
Embolden Participants Inside
Intimate Experiences (Campfires)
Participants will:
Recognize the importance of intimate experience to create trust
Learn how to create intimate experiences
Acknowledgement & Recognition
Participants will:
Ensure members feel seen and recognized.
Recognize when acknowledgment is missing
Workshop 4
Make it Safe Enough
Vulnerability & Available Support
Participants will learn to:
Recognize the importance of sharing how we changed.
Recognize how to create a space for connection by sharing where we struggle
Avataring & Authentic Understanding
Participants will:
Learn to distinguish authentically recognizing someone apart from superficial presentation.
Contextualize every conversation and expectation
Workshop 5
Make Resilient Friendships
3 AM friends
Participants will experience:
Recognizing who we want to call us when they need help
Recognizing who we can call
Rituals & Tokens
Participants will:
Recognize where we can acknowledge someone has changed
Make together time special
Workshop 6
Integrate Community & Life
Recognize Opportunity
Participants will practice:
Stepping up in crisis
Embracing silence
Putting Community in Action
Participants will:
Acknowledge the people we care about
Invite and integrate communities together
Practice Support Group
To support participant growth and learning application after the Community Leadership Course has concluded, all course graduates will be invited to join a convenient support group led by highly trained facilitators with national experience in professional community building.
The extended support group is a resource to ensure and support meaningful change. For leaders, cohorts among same-level peers are often one of the most powerful aspects of growth and development. Leaders will have the opportunity to support one another in applying the distinctions and holding one another in friendly accountability, while having a space to address their own loneliness and disconnection. For teams, extended support groups create a safe space for participants to share their experiences implementing the topics and practices learned throughout each workshop. Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss the issues they or their teams have faced in crisis. The groups themselves can also become a resource to create needed community amongst participants.
Extended support groups will consist of 3-10 participants each and will meet by online gathering twice a month over the course of a six-month period. Gatherings will be scheduled as 90-minute formal sessions, though participants will be welcomed to extend the conversations beyond formal meetings.