About the Journal
Aims & Objectives of the Journal
The International Journal of Presencing Leadership & Coaching (IJPLC) is an annual peer-reviewed publication dedicated to advancing the global field of presencing research and practice. IJPLC serves as a platform for transformative scholarship that deepens and broadens our understanding of presencing, with a particular focus on leadership, coaching, and related contexts.
Recognizing the foundational contributions of Theory U to the field of presencing, IJPLC seeks to complement and extend this body of work by exploring emerging frontiers. The journal provides a generative space for inquiry into new frameworks, practices, and perspectives, including the Emerging Presencing Approaches identified by Gunnlaugson (2023). This direction encourages a multiplicity of voices and approaches, reflecting the evolving complexity of leadership and coaching challenges in today’s world.
The International Journal of Presencing Leadership & Coaching welcomes a broad spectrum of traditional and progressive research methods, including theoretical and conceptual approaches. The journal embraces interdisciplinary perspectives, inviting contributions from fields such as Contemplative Studies, Adult Learning and Development, Integral Theory, Consciousness Studies, Applied Arts and Creativity, Transpersonal, Somatic and Buddhist Psychology, Phenomenological and Ontological studies, as well as Eastern Philosophy, Process Philosophy, Existentialism, and more.
As an open-source, peer-reviewed, online international journal, IJPLC welcomes submissions that bring forward fresh perspectives, bold ideas, and nuanced approaches to presencing. The journal encourages contributions that push beyond established frameworks that embrace multiplicity, heterogeneity, and innovative paradigms, fostering the evolution of presencing as a trans-disciplinary, wisdom-centered approach relevant to today’s complex challenges.
By providing a generative space for inquiry, IJPLC aims to restore and amplify a broader vision for presencing—one that transcends institutional affiliations and boundaries, cultivating profound insight, and meaningfully contributing to leadership, coaching, and beyond. As such, IJPLC invites researchers, practitioners, and thought leaders to contribute to this evolving field and shape its future trajectory.
Background
The roots of presencing can be broadly traced back to different Eastern, Indigenous, and global wisdom traditions, including early Greek practice. Presencing has also been explored in contemporary western thought through the works of existential philosopher Martin Heidegger.
In the early 2000s, organizational consultants Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski, Otto Scharmer, and colleagues developed the term in a new direction in their consulting work and book Presence, bringing the practice of presencing to mainstream awareness. Framed as an integrative leadership approach and method for learning from the emerging future, in recent years exposure and interest in presencing has continued through Scharmer and colleagues’ work with Theory U and ULAB as an awareness-based change approach. These efforts have fostered a growing community of practitioners, researchers, and organizations invested in the transformative potential of presencing.
Parallel to these developments, Francisco Varela’s phenomenological method, which partly inspired the creation of Theory U, Joseph Jaworski’s storied journey of Source as an inner path of knowledge creation, and more recently Gunnlaugson’s Dynamic Presencing have expanded the way in which presencing engages the deep interior dimensions of practice. Despite these advancements, the underlying territory of presencing remains under-researched and under-theorized, leaving ample room for further exploration and development.
As global interest in presencing continues to grow, IJPLC remains committed to empowering practitioners, researchers, and thought leaders to explore presencing’s deeper potential in addressing and stewarding the complex challenges of our time.
IJPLC envisions a future where presencing is widely recognized as an innate human capacity—akin to mindfulness or meditation—shared openly and practiced across diverse contexts. Through its commitment to fostering inquiry, collaboration, and exploration, the journal seeks to cultivate this deeply human and trans-disciplinary practice as a resource that can be continually rediscovered and developed by practitioners and eclectic communities of practice. By supporting this collective evolution, IJPLC aims to amplify the practice of presencing, ensuring its enduring relevance and effectiveness in addressing the complex challenges of our time.
