Patrick Boland

Patrick Boland is an author, leadership consultant, executive coach, psychotherapist, and trainer across several industries and sectors around the world. He has delivered keynote addresses and leadership programs to organizations ranging from Salesforce to the LEGO Group, Google to Pfizer, Harvard University to Citi to the Center for Action and Contemplation. Patrick founded Conexus in 2013, an organization that coaches leaders and their teams using a combination of neuroscientific research, depth-psychology and embodied, experiential learning. He is the author of The Contemplative Leader and coauthor of a book of reflections, Every Thing Is Sacred, with the contemplative teacher Richard Rohr.

Patrick’s background is in Strategy and Human Capital consultancy and Education, and he has been involved in a variety of leadership development, training, and executive development roles since 2005. His work revolves around helping individuals, teams, and organizations to connect with their 'whole selves', to have the courage to lead from this place of grounded awareness. This way of leading is what Patrick calls 'contemplative leadership'.

Patrick travels from San Francisco to New York, London to Istanbul, delivering keynotes and in-depth, multi-day leadership development programs for a variety of corporations and start-ups, as well as spiritually focused organizations. His keynote addresses feature myriad stories, from challenges and failures he's experienced (e.g. his time as a professional sailor, personal struggles with burnout and depression, career highs and lows) to anecdotes featuring the leaders and corporations he's worked with; from scientific research (neuroscience and social sciences) to the ancient wisdom of mystics, philosophers and religious leaders and writers. His depth and breadth of knowledge on a variety of seemingly disparate subjects all interweave and connect together, deeply resonating with the audiences to whom he speaks.

Patrick is a qualified mindfulness trainer (Oxford University offshoot training program) and has run mindfulness workshops and multiweek training programs in companies such as Hubspot and Salesforce. He holds undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in international commerce, Italian, guidance and counselling, education, theological studies, executive and leadership coaching, and psychotherapy. In 2015, he gave a TEDx talk at Trinity College Dublin on the topic of “Failure and the Importance of Mentors.” Patrick lives with his family near Dublin, Ireland, and spends much of his free time sailing or playing football with his son.