The Leader’s Quest | Navigating the Essential Self
A Reservoir Retreat, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
April 21 – April 25, 2024
You have a self and a self-concept and, like everyone else, you spend your life trying to break out of the concept, out of the synthetic self you have built and let others build for you.
But all along you’ve known you are more than that construction, that you can be more and do more.
This is your moment to open the door and step outside. And no place is better to do that than a Reservoir Institute Retreat at the legendary Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico.
Imagine yourself on a 21,000 acre ranch with like-minded leaders and four of the most courageous and respected authors and coaches you have ever met, spending four nights and three days in a magical setting as you design your journey to your most authentic and powerful leadership self.
This can be the kind of watershed moment that changes the direction of your life and your work. Are you ready to take the first step?
The Ghost Ranch Retreat is for you if you are…
“But in the desert, in the pure clean atmosphere, in the silence – there you can find yourself.”
Father Dioscuros
Arrivals and Evening Opening Ceremony:
Rising Above the Battleground
As leaders, we yearn to find a higher place to see the world around us. From that viewpoint all things are possible. Just as important, the most important possibilities are more visible.
Astronauts on the Moon had the highest viewpoint in human history and when they looked down on Earth they all had a profound change in their understanding of what it meant to be alive on Earth.
If you looked down at your leadership life from the perspective of being above the battleground – What do you see? What are you doing? What do you feel? And, most importantly, Who are you Being?
Led by Justice Quintana
Trainer/CEO of Just Results
During the retreat, Justice Quintana will lead morning spiritual and physical workouts that promise to bring your day into sharp focus. He is a martial arts master, Pilates and Yoga instructor, and certified trainer and massage therapist. A New Mexico native, he’s the CEO of Just Results in Wimberley, Texas.
Day One: Find Your Essential Self
You have a self and a self-concept. You spend your days constructing and fighting against the self-concept you have constructed. Let’s tear down those walls and connect to the leadership self you always wanted to be. We’ll focus on building radical self-awareness that literally changes who you are being in the world and the doors that are opening to you.
You will receive the book Being Essential: Seven Questions for Living and Leading with Radical Self-Awareness in preparation for this retreat and what can be accomplished on Day One is activating and operationalizing the themes you have read in the book.
Day Two: Connect with Your Heroic Cause
Self-awareness expresses itself in a life-altering cause. How can your cause set you apart in a sea of sameness? Your hero’s journey has to be tied to – and fired by – your heroic cause. Your heroic cause starts with this question: “What problem(s) in the world am I trying to solve?” During Day Two, you will learn your Highest Goal and how to identify your purpose in this life, your most essential cause.
You will receive the book CAUSE!: A Business Strategy for Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness in preparation for this retreat and what can be accomplished on Day Two is activating and operationalizing the themes you read in the book.
Day Three: Guide Your Growth With Vision
Led by Mark Lipton, PhD
Author of Guiding Growth: How Vision Keeps Companies on Course
Vision helps you navigate the changes ahead. It takes awareness – knowing where you are and why, a cause – knowing why you’re here and what you are called to do, and new rules of the road on which you’ll drive your life forward. This is the Warrior’s Path, with the skills to journey to your ultimate destination.
You will receive the book Guiding Growth: How Vision Keeps Companies on Course in preparation for this retreat and what can be accomplished on Day Three is activating and operationalizing the themes you read in the book.
Closing Ceremony: Living and Leading Your Moon Dance
Full moon party, wrapping up with everyone making a personal statement of their Essential Self, their Cause and how they will be Undisruptable.
Departures: Morning Breakfast and Final Intentions
Reflect on our time together over a warm breakfast and coffee/tea. We will do a final group share on what we each have learned and will walk away with, with actionable insights and intentional routine setting for our leadership path ahead.
All Inclusive
Excluding airfare.
The Ghost Ranch Experience
This is the 21,000 acre ranch that drew Georgia O’Keefe to New Mexico and engaged her in inspirational painting for the rest of her life. Ansel Adams came here to photograph. In the 1930’s it was a dude ranch that attracted movie stars. It’s been designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. And nearby are the ruins of an historic Tewa Pueblo dating back to the 13th century.
More than that, Ghost Ranch is one of the most powerful spiritual places on the planet and a destination for life-changing experiences. Hiking to Chimney Rock, exploring the remarkable palaeontological site in the Hayden Quarry, where over a thousand dinosaur skeletons have been found, seeing the inspiration for so many memorable O’Keefe paintings, and standing by a fire pit beneath the starlit sky will be moments you will never forget. The same will be true for our closing ceremony under the October Hunter’s Moon.
Ghost Ranch is an hour north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. You’ll fly into Albuquerque, about two hours south of the ranch and we’ll provide shuttle service for attendees. There are limited flights into Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico as well. If you like road trips and are close enough, you can drive. And if you like adventure, Amtrak provides train service from Los Angeles, Austin and Dallas.
Total Price: $4,875
(excludes airfare)
Reserve Your Spot
A $500 deposit reserves your spot today.
Reserve your spot in an upcoming retreat. All Deposits are non-refundable 48 hours after they are submitted. Deposit refund has a 3% processing fee deducted.
A team member will reach out to you within 24-48 hours after we’ve received your deposit for a one-hour discovery session.
“In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly, and the old world gave way to a new.”
D.H. Lawrence
Your Hosts
At Reservoir we intend to be at the heart of a transformation of leadership consciousness in pursuit of two essential questions: What world are we called to create? And how do we elevate the human experience? We see leadership and work as a path of self-knowledge and enlightenment. In our client organizations, and in other like-minded organizations around the world, we see the magnitude and diversity of impacts that such leadership creates.
We Advise senior leaders.
We Advance leadership development and learning at the C-Suite and mid-level.
We Advocate for better outcomes for people and the planet.
Dain Dunston
Dain Dunston has spent 30 years as an advisor and coach to leaders, helping them frame the foundation of their personal and professional journeys. He is author of Being Essential: Seven Questions for Living and Leading with Radical Self-Awareness. Other books include Nanovation: How a Little Car Can Teach the World to Think Big and Act Bold with Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, The Downside of Up: A Comic Novel of Outrageous Fortune and The Straight Dope: A Novel of Sex, Death and Rock & Roll. He is a frequent speaker on leadership, culture and coaching topics. Dain is the founding partner of Reservoir.
Inna Ulanova, MBA
Inna Ulanova is on a mission to redefine what strength looks like. After a decade consulting executives, start-up teams and global corporations on design thinking and strategic communications, Inna joined the Reservoir team as a partner to change the game and level the playing field for next-gen leaders. As the Chief Play Officer, Inna guides teams to better understand themselves and others through empathy, creative play and psychology. She is the head of Reservoir Advance, an innovation lab for workshops and interaction design. Inna is also an accessibility design advocate through her company Small Meet Large.
Jackie Freiberg, Ed.D
Jackie Freiberg is a powerful thinker, writer and speaker. Recognized as one of the “Top 30 Best Minds on Leadership”, Jackie is one of the most sought-after business speakers in the world. With her husband, Dr. Kevin Freiberg, she is the co-author of eight books, including Nuts! Southwest Airlines Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success, Cause! A Business Strategy for Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness, and with co-author Dain Dunston, Nanovation, How a Little Car Can Teach the World to Think Big and Act Bold.
Mark Lipton, Ph.D
Mark helps CEOs—from start-up founders to executives of massive and complex organizations—become critical management thinkers to create and curate the tailored solutions that will bring them closer to their vision. He is Professor Emeritus of Management at Parsons School of Design and The New School in New York City. Mark has advised Fortune 500 corporations, think tanks, philanthropies, not-for-profits, and start-ups for over forty years. Since 2015, he has led Deloitte’s Chief Executive Program research strategy. He’s the author of two award-winning books, Guiding Growth: How Vision Keeps Companies on Course and Mean Men: The Perversion of America’s Self-Made Men. He’s also a frequent contributor to the business press.
Justice Quintana
During the retreat, Justice will lead morning spiritual and physical workouts that promise to bring your day into sharp focus. He is a martial arts master, Pilates and Yoga instructor, and certified trainer and massage therapist. A New Mexico native, he's the CEO of Just Results in Wimberley, Texas.