'Functions of the Mask' with Leslie Goldenberg

Masks can serve many functions.  Across a wide range of cultures, masks have traditionally been used for religious ceremonies, coming-of-age rituals, the enactment of myths, and the expression of comedy.  Donning a mask for these uses can have a powerful effect on both the wearer and on witnesses.

In our contemporary lives, the metaphor of the mask carries a hint of these powerful effects, as we associate them with an outwardly projected identity or an inwardly concealed one.  Masks paradoxically both convey information and hide it.  Perhaps our real truth is in the masks we wear. 
 
Join us for an exploration of the function of the mask as object, as metaphor, and as an aspect of leadership.

This is a virtual dialogue on Zoom:
Tue, 24 May, 18:30-20:30 Hong Kong Time
Fri, 27 May, 08:00-10:00 Hong Kong Time
Check your local time zone.

Leslie Goldenberg

My desire to know and work with the challenges facing leaders in complex enterprises began with my own experiences. I had several careers before becoming an executive coach: as a partner in a boutique consultancy, a senior manager in a Big Four firm, and a global leader in the executive development function at IBM. 

My work as an artist and mask-maker informs my coaching. Taking up a new role can feel like donning a mask, the fear of being unmasked can arise when doubt arises, and at times one can wish to shed a mask and bring more of oneself into view.  

In my day job, I am an in-house executive coach at EY (Ernst & Young, a global professional services firm).  I blend business acumen, adult development theory, systems thinking, team dynamics, mind-body awareness, and an interest in the unconscious.  Uncovering knowledge and ideas we don’t know we know, and beliefs and assumptions we don’t know we have, offers a way to get beneath the surface of the organizational politics, interpersonal conflicts, and self-limiting patterns that shape our experience.

I earned an M.A. from UCLA and B.A. from UC Berkeley.  I hold the PCC coaching certification from the International Coach Federation (ICF) and a Master Coach certification from the Hudson Institute of Coaching.  I am an active member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO) and am in formation at the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis (LSP).  I am also an award-winning ceramic artist.  I live in in Los Angeles with my husband of 32 years and am the mother of three young adult children.  

Contact:
Mobile:  +1 818-201-7205
Email:  [email protected]
Instagram: @lesliemademe
Website:  lgartistcoach.com