In a time when so much is divisive and uncertain, we need public leaders who remind us that connection is power and sharing your genuine self is strength.
Clergy and public speakers, activists and politicians, dancers and sex workers, stand-up comedians and actors—everyone in the public eye—must learn how to actually show up authentically in order to lead well. This is the work of public intimacy—paid labor in which people bring a real, private self into public view. Whether through emotion, spirituality, physicality, or a combination of them, these kinds of leaders share something real with their audiences, creating an intimate, and perhaps transformative, connection.
This work can be profoundly demanding as well as rewarding. Fame, whether it is a matter of being known at the grocery store or dealing with paparazzi at the airport, complicates one’s ability to just live freely in the world. Being known publicly while struggling to have a private self can result in changing careers, burnout, and self-destructive actions. Those of us who do this work have to learn how to share an authentic self, manage our vulnerability and risk, and hold good boundaries in order to thrive in these roles.
This 9-month cohort offers a structure for your development as a leader who works in public intimacy. Learners will meet synchronously two times per month (1st and 3rd weeks) for two hours to learn and discuss aspects of performance, intimacy, authenticity, and work from your own experience. Personal and group journaling prompts between the weeks will provide additional opportunities for reflection and integration. Additionally, each learner will have the opportunity for two 50-minute coaching sessions with cohort leader Rev. Adam Robersmith, DMin, PhD, a scholar-practitioner leading and training in this exciting new field of Leadership Studies.
This cohort will help you to understand the public intimacy work you do, examine how you do it well and how you struggle, and develop strategies for strengthening your ability to thrive in your work. Upon completion of the cohort, learners will be able to access a transcript that notes 60 hours of learning and conferring completion of this unique Leadership Studies certificate program.
Several half-scholarships are available. To apply, complete the following questions and email to arobersmith@meadville.edu and cc: klassiter@meadville.edu. All scholarship applications must be received by June 1 for priority consideration and will be considered at that time. After June 1, any remaining scholarship applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Learners applying for scholarship should wait to register for the cohort until they have been notified of scholarship decisions after June 1.
Cohort will meet synchronously on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, at 6–8 pm Central/7-9 pm Eastern.
The topic covered on each date is as follows:
Introductions & understanding performance theory
What is my performance style? Understanding phenomenology (the study of experience).
What is intimacy?
How does intimacy happen in life overall?
How do I experience intimacy in work?
How do I generate intimacy in work?
Who is the me I (want to) share or perform?
Cultivating genuine presence and self-revelation
Authentic Leadership Theory & (Im)mature Authenticity
How do I perform my Self?
Who am I in my work?
How do I move in and out of performance and daily life?
How do I sustain myself?
What skills and knowledge do I have or need?
What resources do I have for growth?
Key learnings from self and each other
Closure and appreciations
The Rev. Dr. Adam Robersmith is a Unitarian Universalist minister, spiritual director, artist, and educator. He serves as the Senior Minister of the Universalist Church of West Hartford, Connecticut, while also supporting the work of ministerial and spiritual formation within and beyond Unitarian Universalism through a private practice of spiritual direction, consulting work, and teaching as an adjunct professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago.
A graduate of Cornell University’s biology program, Adam holds a Master of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry, a Master of Arts from Fielding Graduate University, a Doctor of Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary, and a PhD from Fielding Graduate University. His undergraduate studies focused on Biology (Neurobiology, Behavior, and Ecology) as well as Myth, Ritual, and Literature. He was the St. Lawrence Fellow for the study of Universalist History in seminary and studied the process of spiritual formation for his doctorate. He is a member of the Gay Coaches Alliance and holds certificates in Spiritual Direction and Permaculture Design.
Beyond his religious vocation, he has performed, created, and taught in various media with over 35 years of arts and performance experience. He is an artist who most often works in fiber as a spinner, weaver, and knitter; a musician who plays harp, bodhran, and sings; and a writer of poetry, fiction, and spiritually focused non-fiction. When he is not actively tending his garden in the woods of Connecticut, he can often be found enjoying it and the wilder spaces beyond with his partner of nearly 30 years.