From individuals to organizations, we field many questions about Search Inside Yourself on a daily basis. Below are answers to address the inquiries we hear most frequently.
What does Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute teach?
The level of information, complexity and degree of change that we encounter daily at work is not going to diminish. Working more, working faster and working harder isn’t sustainable. Velocity is not a solution for complexity. So something has to change on a personal level. We can meet challenges reactively, or we can meet them in a balanced way that draws on our executive functions, which mean we’re responsive instead of reactive. That’s where Search Inside Yourself comes in.
We teach skills that help people see more clearly, effectively and non-reactively. While these skills translate seamlessly into personal life, our focus is on the workplace and helping people prioritize effectively to navigate different challenges and demands. Our curriculum is rooted firmly in the latest scientific research and available to individuals or entire organizations.
Search Inside Yourself is a way to help people cope and navigate complexity and change in the workplace. Our unique approach is mental training in the form of education activities and exercises—all based on neuroscience—in mindfulness, empathy building and compassion building. The outcome is emotional intelligence that provides a foundation for how to show up as a leader, prioritize and be productive and collaborate with others. Once shown these tools, it’s an ongoing process of honing these abilities.
In this video, SIYLI CEO Rich Fernandez describes how SIYLI’s unique teachings create a toolset for emotional intelligence in the workplace—and how this work translates to a personal, societal and global scale.
Interview with Rich Fernandez – CEO of Search Inside Yourself from Deiric on Vimeo.
Does it work?
We’ve measured the results of Search Inside Yourself by comparing assessments before the program with assessments longitudinally over time to gauge how participants see a change in handling stress, controlling emotional reactions, bouncing back after emotionally challenges situations and more. Additionally, companies like SAP, which have introduced Search Inside Yourself programs internally, report a 200-percent return on investment.
What do past participants say about the program?
People frequently ask what it’s like to take part in our emotional intelligence and mindfulness leadership program. Outside of attending a program yourself, perhaps the best way to get a feel for what it’s like to participate in SIY is to hear about the experience directly from someone who tried it. In this interview with Byron Kan, a recent SIY participant, he describes the program and shares why he registered for SIY, the benefits, what he personally liked best, how SIY changed his daily habits and a few tips for people who want to enroll.
How can I become a certified SIY teacher?
SIY Teacher Training is a nine-month program that identifies and develops exceptional teachers who are dedicated mindfulness practitioners, skilled presenters and who have business experience to be able to co-teach SIY in workplaces around the world.
The training is for individuals with significant meditation, business, presentation and facilitation experience and who intend to co-teach SIY to at least 100 participants annually.
To apply for SIYLI Teacher Training, we ask that applicants meet the following prerequisites:
- have an established daily meditation/mindfulness practice
- have a cumulative meditation/mindfulness practice of 500 or more hours
- are skilled teachers and facilitators
- are fluent in Engligh
- have experience in organizational settings and understand the unique challenges of the workplace • passionate about bringing mindfulness and emotional intelligence practices into organizations
- are committed to personal growth and able to teach from a place of openness, curiosity and humility
- have a demonstrable plan to teach at least 100 participants annually and can show ready access to new audiences
- are willing to partner with other SIY-certified teachers to co-teach every SIY program
Hear what participants say about the program:
Learn more about SIYLI Teacher Training.
How did Search Inside Yourself begin?
In 2007, Chade-Meng Tan assembled leading experts in mindfulness, neuroscience and emotional intelligence to develop an internal program for his colleagues at Google. This was before the term “mindfulness” was commonly accepted, especially in the workplace. To appeal to Google’s engineers and programmers, the course was originally described with terms like “refactoring the brain for optimal performance” and “neuro self-hacking.” Eventually, Search Inside Yourself was born, a play on words in reference to Google’s search engine, and Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute was created as an independent nonprofit organization in 2012. Since then, the program has spread to over 30 countries and 100 cities around the world.