Val Jon Farris, CEO Diamius Multinational - Biography
Award-winning author, behaviorist, and seasoned leadership development expert, Val Jon Farris is best known for his pioneering work in bridging the gap between personal growth and professional performance. From the early 1990s until today, Farris has designed, delivered, and supervised enterprise-level initiatives and training programs for over 40,000 executives, managers, and employees from Fortune 100 companies. Clients included Sir Richard Branson and his global "XTC" initiatives, Pacific Telesis, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Agilent Technologies, Intuit, Yahoo, Intel Corporation, and many other international companies in Mexico, Central and South America, India, Finland, Dubai Saudi Arabia, Canada, and China. LinkedIn Page
Farris' pioneering "Transcendent Leadership" curriculum and “Leader of One SupraSelf” mentoring programs opened the way for those in leadership positions around the world to develop greater personal insight, self-awareness and consciousness, the higher human faculties Abraham Maslow called “Self-Transcendence.” This deeply engaging development approach empowers leaders to "stay out of the way," allowing all those around them to access their own capabilities and excel based upon their own values and inner resources. Farris' Huffington Post Articles
Val Jon Farris and Sir Richard Branson
Making these linkages between higher human faculties and leadership development earned Val Jon Farris prestigious positions in HP’s Americas Education Worldwide University as a senior coaching and mentoring expert, Agilent Technologies’ Vantage Consulting Excellence Program as a highly-respected leadership resource, and as a senior organizational development and business scaling advisor to Sir Richard Branson for his Extreme Tech Challenge, (XTC) Incubator Academy. Some of Farris' many leadership, mentoring, and coaching initiatives can be reviewed here: Projects and Initiatives
Executive-Level Core Competencies & Skillsets
Executive Development: Strategic and entrepreneurial leader, executive confidante, c-suite enterprise-level advisor, and mentor. Cultural change steward, succession planning, corporate citizenry, and community relationships expert.
Organizational Skills: Change management expert, business scaling, onboarding, talent management, and leadership pipeline architect. International and cross-cultural project leader, proficient with ERP, SAP, and LMS applications.
Curriculum Design: 360 assessments, performance benchmarking, high-level instructional design and curriculum mapping, business case development. Stand-up and blended learning facilitator for sales, negotiations, leadership, coaching, business scaling, and change management.
Operations Management: Enterprise-level P&L, budgeting, business management, and staff development. Talent management, L&D and HR department collaboration, train-the-trainer facilitator, case manager supervision, action-learning, and event production leader.
Early Life Initiations Into Higher Consciousness Practices
Inspired at the age of 17 by the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and the practices of Kriya Yoga, Val Jon Farris embraced the life of a Bodhisattva, the Buddhist precepts of right conduct, and Gandhi’s Satyagraha philosophy of non-violence. The four Sila vows of service, kindness, gratitude, and happiness became the dharma foundation for his spiritual development and the guiding light for his future life’s work.
Among Farris' first face-to-face spiritual mentors was Swami Muktananda, the Indian Guru who founded the Siddha Yoga Movement and brought Shaktipat Initiation to the western world. During Swami’s 1973 second world tour, Val Jon and a small group of supporters hosted him on the island of Hawaii for a series of meditation retreats. During that time, Muktananda held personal Satsang sessions with Val Jon that prepared him to become a humble steward devoted to the betterment of humanity.
In 1975 Farris was called to Japan for a personal audience with Roshi Mumon Yamada, the preeminent leader of the Buddhist Myōshin-Ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japan. During their time together Val Jon received a sacred transmission from Roshi directing him to devote his life to the ways of Buddhism and to bring back to America its paradoxical teachings of embracing both love and pain as a means for self-transcendence.
Involvement In Transformational Communities
In 1976, Farris joined Werner Erhard as an est staff member, production manager, and program leader. Over the next ten years as a staff member and then an outside consultant, he facilitated personal development seminars and transformational programs for tens of thousands of individuals. Through his collaborations and consulting work with many est (and Forum) leaders, Val Jon made contributions to many of the emerging self-awareness movements of the era.
Transition Into The Fortune 100 Corporate World
In the 1980s Farris had the honor of working with Buckminster Fuller as his event production manager. Through his working association and as a result of Mr. Fuller’s stewardship mentoring Val Jon migrated from the public sector into the private sector of Fortune 100 companies. Val Jon’s early life spiritual awakenings coupled with Bucky’s “Trimtab” mentoring inspired him to devote the next thirty years to developing and delivering leadership programs grounded in spiritual principles and self-awareness raising processes within Fortune 100 companies. Val Jon’s leadership programs have been delivered worldwide to over 40,000 executives, managers and employees.
Current Initiatives Val Jon Farris Participates In
CEO responsibilities and senior curriculum designer, organizational development architect, and champion for enterprise-level leadership initiatives. Conducts "T3" train-the-trainer programs for rapidly scaling top facilitator talent both internally and for client organizations. He also serves as a senior leadership advisor to many top-tier executives and global leaders such as Sir Richard Branson, as well as contributes to global stewardship initiatives and charitable organizations.
