Bernadette Wesley

“Playing the Edge between the Internal and the External”

I have been consulting and coaching leaders for over 15 years. As a Certified Sociocracy Trainer, Generative Dialogue Facilitator, Certified Advanced Energy Psychology Practitioner and Mind-Body Therapist, my approach integrates the transformation and healing of the individual and the collective. By bridging power-with structures and conscious leadership practices, I help leaders and their teams co-create in a sustainable, empowered, and productive way so they can thrive during this time of great change. This is driven by a strong personal desire to assist in transforming old organizational systems that are no longer functional, with the intention of paving the way for more human-centric and self-sustaining leadership which accesses the collective intelligence of their teams.

In my perspective, what lies at the root of the upheaval we are currently facing in the world is the rewiring of power. We are all recovering from a collective trauma of power-over/under dynamics. This, combined with the dramatic increase in the rate of change, is causing enormous stress that we can all palpably feel. Now, more than ever, leaders need to be ReSourced™ internally and externally so that they can meet today’s challenges, without getting overwhelmed or burnt out.

In healthy, sustainable systems, the nature of leadership is shifting toward a power-with dynamic. Yet, I believe that you can’t have power-with unless you have power-within.

My Story

I have spent my entire adult life on a quest for deeper understanding of the human condition and the bigger picture context of our times. Using my own journey as a living lab, I set out to cross the chasm from wounded to healed, from unconscious to conscious, and to integrate all that it means to be both a physical and spiritual being.

The journey began in my mid-20’s when, to my surprise, I became the top-ranked sales person for Honeywell, Inc. in Philadelphia. This unexpectedly led to a promotion to Sr. Marketing Analyst and a relocation to the Minneapolis corporate headquarters which became a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I met my first mentor, Ann Wade, who was the Director of Human Resources at the time. She was the first person to introduce me to the internal realms of the conscious and unconscious mind, which sent me on a lifelong journey of exploring and studying the mysteries of trauma, transformation and healing.

On the other hand, this immersion in a fast-paced, competitive corporate environment left me disillusioned. The experience revealed a rift within me and around me between working for profit and working for purpose, awakening a yearning and a quest to bridge the two.

I was then recruited to run a highly complex, international company providing global sustainable wood sourcing and furniture design for large US retailers. As CEO, I gained first hand-experience in the challenges of responding to the ever-changing demands of running a business in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) context, while trying to create a healthy, human-centered environment.

The split between the stressful, competitive reality I was faced with everyday and the vision I held for creating a conscious organization, led to a severe case of adrenal burn-out, setting in motion an even deeper journey of healing and re-alignment. 

I was unable to work outside the home for several years while my body recovered. It was a challenging time of letting go and surrendering to the process. Drawing from my healing journey, I became passionate about assisting young people (including my two young daughters) to “stay awake” to their true selves and inner knowing that often gets buried if not tended to. I felt strongly that becoming a self-aware, inquisitive human being needs to start before the turbulent teenage years, so I started an alternative school for pre-adolescents called Tree of Life Wisdom School. It included a curriculum of different wisdom traditions and practices, environmental education and the arts.

As Founder and Director of the school, I was able to realize my dream of running a successful, conscious organization where people learn, grow and thrive while being highly productive in serving an inspired purpose.

As my children grew older, I shifted my focus away from the school and applied my knowledge and experience to supporting leaders and organizations in navigating the choppy waters of today’s extreme VUCA world, while meeting the challenge of creating thriving, human-centric organizations.

In 2013, I moved with my husband and two daughters from the U.S. to Portugal. It was a conscious move toward creating a life that felt more aligned with my family’s values and my desire to live more sustainably.