A graduating senior shares insights from a trip to India with the Dalai Lama Fellows program.
Nikki Bechtold鈥檚 spring semester is one for the books. Along with a group of students, faculty and staff from CU Boulder, the senior business major traveled to India in March for an unforgettable meeting with the Dalai Lama.
鈥淚t was just so humbling,鈥� said Bechtold, who is graduating in May. 鈥淚 learned so much from both a cultural and personal-insight perspective.鈥�
鈥淐ompassion in Action: A Conversation 麻豆视频 Leadership with His Holiness the Dalai Lama,鈥� was the result of a connection between CU鈥檚 Ren茅e Crown Wellness Institute and the University of Virginia Contemplative Sciences Center. The event, held March 17-23 in India, gave students including Bechtold the opportunity to seek wisdom and guidance from the Dalai Lama and broaden their cultural perspectives.
Representatives from the Crown Institute, Leeds School of Business, Stanford University, and the Contemplative Sciences Center, along with faculty, staff and students affiliated with CU鈥檚 Dalai Lama Fellows program, met with the Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamsala for a series of conversations focusing on compassionate leadership.
Bechtold attended the trip as part of the Dalai Lama Fellows program, a one-year leadership program designed to help emerging social change makers cultivate self-awareness, resilience and compassion; broaden their cultural perspectives; learn how to engage with complex systems; and work with local communities in sustainable ways.听
CU Boulder entered into partnership with the University of Virginia and Stanford University in 2021 to deliver the global Dalai Lama Fellows program, which is headquartered at UVA. The CU Boulder program launched in 2022 and expanded in 2023 to include Leeds students as part of a three-year pilot focusing on nurturing compassionate and contemplative leaders with a focus on excellence in leadership development.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 really think I knew what compassion meant until these talks,鈥� Bechtold said. 鈥淚 took away that if I'm dealing with a conflict as a leader, I want to keep that mindset. Compassion is such an important thing that can often be overlooked in leadership. Because as the Dalai Lama mentioned, hierarchies can be really detrimental to compassion.鈥�
Leadership, compassion and connection听
CU Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano opened the meeting with the Dalai Lama, remembering when CU hosted him on campus in 2016 and when the Crown Institute hosted a virtual conversation with him in 2021.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a joy to be with you and Dalai Lama Fellows from the University of Colorado, Stanford University and the University of Virginia,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is an opportunity to shape tomorrow鈥檚 leaders.鈥�
Questions for the Dalai Lama were crafted by global fellows and four undergraduate CU Boulder DLF fellows around themes including climate, leadership, education, social and cultural change, and compassionate leadership.
The Dalai Lama highlighted the importance of compassion, humility and the shared human experience.
鈥淚 want to tell you how happy I am to be meeting with you here,鈥� he said. 鈥淏asically we have all been born of a mother and received maximum affection from her. It鈥檚 a natural response, we see other animals do this too. It鈥檚 an experience we all share in common, and it means we are all essentially the same. We survive because of our mother鈥檚 kindness. This is something very important to remember.
鈥淲hile we鈥檙e still young, the sense of our mother鈥檚 affection remains vivid within us, but as we grow up and go to school, it begins to decline. How much better it would be if we could keep our appreciation of her kindness fresh and alive until we die? One way to do this is to make an effort to nurture a sense of compassion and warm-heartedness.鈥�
Leeds Senior Nikki Bechtold snaps a photo near the entrance to the Kora Walk in Dharamsala, India, which surrounds the Dalai Lama鈥檚 residence.
鈥淢y mom passed away in high school, and we actually left (Colorado) on the anniversary of her death during this massive snowstorm,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e thought our flight was going to get canceled, but we actually left with no delay 鈥� So I felt like I really was supposed to be there.鈥�
One question the students asked the Dalai Lama was how to employ compassion as a leader when you鈥檙e feeling angry and frustrated.
鈥淚f we were to keep the basic sense of affection that we received from our mother alive, there鈥檇 be no reason to quarrel with anyone,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, instead of thinking about what we have in common with other people, we tend to focus on the differences between us.鈥�
Bechtold considered how these insights might influence her leadership style. 鈥淚f I can become a leader someday and a manager and all these things, I鈥檒l remember how important being compassionate is,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n the society that we have right now, sometimes it can be hard to be compassionate in all circumstances.鈥�
Vijay Khatri, Tandean Rustandy Endowed Dean of the Leeds School of Business, said meeting with the Dalai Lama was 鈥渢ransformational.鈥�
鈥淚 am filled with inspiration and gratitude after witnessing young social innovators who are creatively addressing global challenges in ways that are tailored to their local communities, all the while fostering the well-being of our planet,鈥� Khatri said.
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