“Wisdom From Our Elders Part IV: Legacy, Leadership, and Right Relationship”
- chri116
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Summary:
In celebration of the 2025 International Coaching Week, we’re proud to share a deeply grounding and expansive episode of The UpLevel Podcast featuring five extraordinary elders: Eileen Blumenthal, Hide Enomoto, Hope Langner, John Vercelli, and Lorry Schneider.
For the fourth year in a row, we’re honoring elderhood, an often overlooked role in modern society, and exploring how it deeply informs our understanding of right relationship in coaching, leadership, and life.
Whether you're a coach, a business leader, or simply someone navigating life with intention, this conversation will root you in the power of presence, mutuality, and honoring those who came before.
Listen in, feel nourished, and remember, the wisdom is in the circle!
In This Episode:
What elderhood really means and how it’s embodied with humility, wisdom, and love
Right relationship is a practice of reciprocity, presence, and legacy
Why lifelong learning is a hallmark of those who walk the path of the elder
The fine line between offering insight and holding space and the dance of asking vs. telling in coaching
How elderhood can be a radical act of stewardship in a fast-moving world
Reflections on Co-Active principles, conscious leadership, and collective wisdom from decades of coaching
Order of Topics:
Meet the Elders
Exploring the Concept of Right Relationship
Inclusivity Across Generations
Reciprocity and Mutuality
The Coactive Model in Right Relationship
How Coaching Skills Foster Right Relationships
Coaching as a Life Practice
Coaching Concepts for Creating Right Relationship
Impact on Clients and Inviting Self-Presence
The Role of Curiosity and Listening
Integrating Elderhood and Coaching
Asking vs. Telling: Elders in Coaching
Intention vs. Form in Empowering Clients
Wisdom for Emerging Coaches
Presence Over Performance
Listening to Elders’ Experiences
Mastery in Craft and Conscious Intention
Action Items:
Embrace Elderhood as a Responsibility
View elderhood as an opportunity to bridge generations by sharing wisdom and experiences.
Recognize the role of elders in providing guidance through presence and insight.
Cultivate 'Right Relationships'
Strive for harmony not just with people but also with nature, community, and future generations.
Practice integrity, consciousness, reciprocity, and justice in all interactions.
Apply Coaching Principles Beyond Sessions
Adopt coaching skills such as deep curiosity and empowerment into everyday relationships.
Foster respect for individuals as naturally creative, resourceful beings.
Ask Empowering Questions Over Giving Answers
Focus on intention rather than form; guide discovery through powerful questions that encourage self-reflection.
Prioritize Presence Over Performance
Be fully present in your interactions rather than focusing solely on outcomes or achievements.
Value Continuous Learning and Passionate Craftsmanship
Master your craft by continually learning from both peers and experienced mentors or elders.
Foster Self-Awareness for Personal Growth
Cultivate compassion towards yourself to better empathize with others’ perspectives.
Respond thoughtfully to personal triggers to maintain healthy relationships.
Reconnect With Lineage Through Storytelling
Engage in conversations that explore shared history to strengthen ties within communities.
Appreciate the continuity provided by stories passed down through generations.
Panel:
Eileen Blumenthal, CPCC, PCC, JD
Eileen has worked in a variety of domestic and global settings, focusing on strengthening skills and systems to transform individuals and the networks they support and rely on. As an executive coach, she has worked in the academic, corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors, most recently in Sri Lanka, Kenya and Mozambique. Formerly an employment lawyer and director in nonprofit organizations, Eileen has degrees from Bucknell University, Harvard University, and the University of California Law, SF. Currently, in addition to serving on the Co-Active Training Institute’s faculty, she volunteers as a Death Doula, a mentor to a 3rd grader through the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, and a facilitator and coach with animal rescue organizations. She lives in Sonoma, CA in the U.S., where she spends as much time as possible enjoying the redwoods and very beautiful Pacific coast.
Hide Enomoto
Hide Enomoto is a graduate of California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, USA and holds M.A. in Organizational Development and Transformation. While living in S.F., he came across Co-Active Coaching developed by The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and became the first Japanese to be certified as a Professional Coach. In 2000, he founded CTI Japan and played a key role in spreading Co-Active Coaching and later Co-Active Leadership in Japan. A few years later, he made a sharp left turn in his career where he resigned from the President’s role at CTI Japan in order to move to Findhorn, a world-renowned Ecovillage located in the north of Scotland, with his family in 2005. There, he came across two major global civil movements called Transition Town and Awakening the Dreamer Initiative, both of which he later took back to and spread them around Japan in order to create a resilient and a sustainable future. In 2012, he set up his own business called Yoku-ikiru Kenkyusho which means Institute for Right Livelihood and offers talks and workshops that are the integration of all the things he has been doing to date. He is the author of four books; “Empower Your People by Coaching” (PHP Institute, 1999), “The Real Work” (JMAM, 2014), “Living Your True Self”, (Shunjusha, 2017) and “Changing the World by Changing your Local Community” (Jiyu-no-mori, 2021).
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yokuikiru.jp
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hide-enomoto-6a23017
Hope Langner, MS, CPCC, MCC
Hope is an accomplished Co-Active coach, course leader, workshop and retreat designer, and an ICF Master Certified Coach. From 2016 to 2024, Hope served as the Director of Faculty and Coach Training at CTI, the world’s largest coach training school. Renowned for her heart-centered approach, calm presence, and razor-sharp clarity, Hope is deeply committed to the belief that transformation begins with inner alignment as the foundation for personal, organizational, and cultural change. Hope coaches a select group of individual clients, designs tailored programs for business leaders and professionals, and creates and leads nature-based transformative workshops and retreats.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hopelan
John Vercelli
John Vercelli brings a lifetime of experience—and a deep curiosity about what it means to grow, lead, and serve. A former high school science teacher, electrical engineer, technical manager, leadership trainer, coach trainer, executive coach, and executive, John is a multidimensional leader who continues to explore what it truly means to evolve with purpose. Now, in what he calls his “mostly retired” chapter, John is leaning into a new frontier: Elderhood in modern society. He’s currently working with the Co-Active Training Institute to explore how seasoned wisdom can shape healthier, more conscious organizations. Through this work, John is helping redefine what it means to lead later in life—with presence, humility, and a powerful commitment to intergenerational learning.
Lorry Schneider
Lorry Schneider spent 15 years in the private sector in a progressive career path with diverse businesses. Has had extensive experience in Sales and Marketing including Key Account Sales, Product Manager and Sales Supervisor. His career included progressive management positions, including Manager of Human Resources and culminating in the role of General Manager for a metals recycling processing facility. Currently Lorry works with the CoActive Training Institute (CTI), one of the foremost Coach Training Companies in the world. As a Co-Leader in their workshops since 2000, he has trained and developed hundreds of participants who are pursuing coaching as a career and in their work. He has also been a Supervisor in CTI’S certification program since 2001. Beyond his work with CTI, Lorry has worked with a wide range of senior executives in many large and small companies including: financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail, consumer goods, and technology. As an Executive Coach, Lorry has a passion for coaching and developing leadership. In this role, Lorry works with executives to be more effective as communicators and as leaders in their work; and, to be more fulfilled in both their work and their personal lives.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lorry-schneider-9390921
🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts/
About UpLevel Productions: Founded by Christie Mann, MA, CPCC, PCC, and Rachel Baldi, CPCC, PCC, UpLevel creates, produces, and delivers Transformative Experiences, Workshops, Training, Events + Media that develop leaders who make our world a healthier, more alive, and connected place to be. As Associate CTI Faculty Partners, UpLevel is licensed to sell, produce, and deliver Co-Active coach training and leadership development programs around the world to support the transformational growth of individuals and culture inside the workplace and organization. www.uplevelproductions.com Instagram @uplevelproductions Facebook & LinkedIn @uplevelproductionscompany