02/17/26 - 04/21/26 (10 tuesdays from 4pm to 5:30pm Pacific Time)
Advanced Ethical and Effective Leadership: Skills Development for Teachers, Priests and Zen Center Leaders
Taught by Steven Tierney, EdD, LPCC
COURSE outline
The role of clergy in all denominations and lineages has evolved to include essential ethical standards in all areas of leadership. How we recruit, hire, develop, support and when necessary, terminate staff is an area ripe with ethical concerns. Zen has paid much needed attention to the safety of Sangha members, volunteers and staff; creating codes of ethic that provide clear moral and legal boundaries and easily accessible access addressing and resolving grievances.
Zen in America has paid much closer attention to ethical leadership in the past several years. This is important, required, urgent and must be continued. There are many aspects of ethical leadership that face Zen leaders today. We will work on issues that include the role of ethical decision making in finance, fundraising, staffing, succession planning, programming and training. This course broadens ethical excellence and accountability, inviting wise, compassionate, and inclusive leadership.
One key challenge for Zen Leaders involves recognizing and responding to the mental, emotional and spiritual crisis and adversity faced by members of the community. Deep and careful training in Buddhist principles of wisdom and compassion help teachers, priests and Sangha leaders to respond with care and compassion. However, as mental and emotional health challenges increase in these difficult times, it is imperative that our spiritual leaders know how to respond effectively. It is also important to know when not to respond, to make referrals and to make these decisions in an informed and ethically clear and reasoned manner. Buddhists seeking care must have access to appropriate, skilled and ethical first responders. We need to provide engagement with additional professional care when appropriate and necessary for the individual or the community. The safety of the members, staff, sangha and community must be a priority but not a barrier,
The course will be structured with flexibility so that the real challenges and concerns of students can be brought in and strategies for ethical resolutions can be offered and created in class.
Graduate credits
This course will be offered over ten weeks and will provide credits for the Master’s in Divinity Program. The course is open to all who want to learn more about ethical decision making and pastoral care. The course will offer two (2) graduate credits and will require a presentation and graduate level paper on one of the topics listed above or a topic selected by the student and approved by the instructor.
Tuition:
This course is by donation. Nobody will be turned away due to inability to pay. Self-directed sliding scale recommended donation from $300 to $600. Any additional amount gifted supports Shogaku in offering these classes to all, regardless of their ability to pay. Please consider becoming a sponsor by offering $1,200.
How to enroll:
Email registrar@shogakuzen.org
About THE INSTRUCTOR:
Steven Tierney, EdD, LPCC. Steven Tierney (Kai Po Koshin) is a Dharma transmitted teacher in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi. Steven is the Guiding Teacher at Oceans Compassion Zen Community, The San Francisco LGBTQA Sangha and the Meditation in Recovery Sangha at SFZC. He is currently the president of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA)
Dr. Tierney is a psychotherapist in private practice and Professor Emeritus in Counseling Psychology at CIIS. He is licensed to practice in California, Massachusetts and is Certified to practice in Ireland. He is a graduate of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. He is a Certified Addiction Specialist and has been named a Diplomate in Clinical Mental Health by the American Mental Health Counselors Association. Tierney has been integrating meditation, mindfulness, and breath-based wellness initiatives since 1995.