Recently, a group of Buddhist monks walking a peace pilgrimage across the United States passed through Greensboro, where Table Mountain Consulting Group is headquartered.
They moved quietly through the city. No stage. No amplification. Just steady, deliberate steps.
And yet, their presence had a powerful effect. People came out to watch. To hand them flowers and small gifts. To stand silently and observe. There was a palpable sense that something meaningful was happening, even without words to explain it.
It was a striking reminder that leadership does not always announce itself. Sometimes it simply shows up.
Their journey offers a powerful counterpoint to the dominant leadership narrative, and a surprisingly practical lens for thinking about leadership competencies, coaching, and influence in today’s organizations.
Presence as a leadership skill
The monks walk with deliberate attention. Each step is intentional. There is no rushing toward the destination.
In leadership and coaching, presence is not merely a “soft skill.” It is a foundational one. Leaders who are truly present listen without rehearsing their response. They notice what is said and what is not. They create psychological safety simply by being fully available.
In coaching, presence is often where the real work begins. Before insight, before strategy, there is attention. The monks model what it looks like to lead not by doing more, but by being fully where you are.
Consistency over intensity
The peace walk is not dramatic in the way we often expect leadership to be. There are no grand gestures or viral moments. Just steady, repeated action day after day.
Organizations tend to reward intensity: big initiatives, bold declarations, urgent timelines. But trust and culture are built through consistency.
Effective leaders reinforce values through their behavior over time. They show up the same way under pressure. They do not rely on one defining moment to do the work of leadership.
This mirrors what coaching teaches about sustainable change. Transformation rarely comes from a single breakthrough. It comes from small, repeatable shifts practiced consistently.
Influence without authority
The monks hold no formal power over the people they encounter. And yet, people stop. People ask questions. People reflect.
This is influence rooted in alignment between values and action. Positional power is flimsy, but integrity is unshakeable.
In organizations, the most effective leaders often lead this way. They model the behavior they want to see. They earn trust rather than demand compliance. Their credibility comes from coherence between who they are and how they act.
Coaching helps leaders understand this gap between intention and impact. It brings awareness to how they land with others, especially when they do not have direct authority.
Comfort with discomfort
Walking across the country means weather, fatigue, boredom, uncertainty. The monks do not optimize for comfort.
Leadership increasingly requires the ability to stay grounded amid discomfort. Change, ambiguity, competing priorities, and unresolved tension are constants, not exceptions.
Strong leaders do not rush to eliminate discomfort. They increase their capacity, and their organization’s capacity, to sit with it long enough to make thoughtful decisions.
A core outcome of coaching is helping leaders remain present inside discomfort rather than reacting impulsively or avoiding difficult realities.
Purpose that does not need justification
The monks do not explain the return on investment of the walk. The walk itself is the point.
Leaders who are anchored in purpose operate the same way. Their purpose is not performative. It guides decisions, prioritization, and behavior, even when the path is difficult or unclear.
Coaching often reconnects leaders with this deeper purpose beneath metrics and milestones. When purpose is clear, decisions become simpler, even when the work remains hard.
Rethinking what leadership looks like
In a world that equates leadership with speed, certainty, and control, the image of monks walking silently through a city street invites a different definition.
Leadership as presence.
Leadership as consistency.
Leadership as values lived, not announced.
Coaching and leadership development are not about making leaders quieter or slower. They are about making leaders more intentional. More aware. More aligned.
Sometimes the most powerful leadership lesson does not come from a boardroom or a keynote stage, but from watching someone take the next thoughtful step forward.
