GMC · In person
GMC Leaders
For the people building Gelephu Mindfulness City — governance, investment, planning and civic institutions — taught on site.
Duration
12 days, in three residential modules across nine months
Location
Gelephu, Sarpang
Format
In person
Next cohort
March 2027
Fee
On application
Who it is for
Directors and senior managers inside the GMC Authority, its regulatory bodies, and the state-linked institutions delivering the city — planning, land, energy, health, education and finance.
People who hold a decision that cannot be undone cheaply: a masterplan commitment, a regulatory precedent, a first-of-its-kind concession.
Cohorts are mixed by institution on purpose. Most of the difficulty in building a city is coordination, and coordination is learned in the room.
The arc
Module one — Ground
Four days. Attention training from the Bhutanese contemplative sources, the physiology of pressure, and a written account of the decision each participant is carrying.
Between modules
Twelve weeks of daily practice, a fortnightly coaching call, and one written review of a live decision.
Module two — Instrument
Four days. Strategy, economics and regulation taught against real GMC mandates. Judgement under incomplete information.
Between modules
Twelve weeks applying one governance change inside the participant's own institution.
Module three — Consequence
Four days. What changed, what did not, and what the participant will hold to for the next year. Measurement repeated.
What is measured
Sustained attention (SART)
Response inhibition and lapse rate, at entry, at module three, and six months after.
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)
A standard self-report measure, run at the same three points.
Decision review
Two named decisions per participant, reviewed with their supervisor at six months against criteria set at entry.
Heart rate variability
Overnight HRV during residential modules, as a physiological check on recovery, not as a score.
Film 02 — Between Breaths
Attention Is the Work — Attention as a leader's scarcest resource, and why decision quality is set upstream of the decision.
Watch the filmFaculty
Karma Tshering
Director of Programmes, BGLI
Twenty years in Bhutanese public administration; led the RIGSS senior executive programme.
Dr Liane Hofmann
Head of Research, Awaris
Clinical psychologist; designs the measurement protocol used across BGLI cohorts.
“I came in expecting a retreat and left with a governance change I could point at.”
Sonam Dorji — Deputy Director, Planning, GMC Authority
“The measurement is what convinced my board. Not the meditation — the review at six months.”
Pema Choden — Head of Investment, Druk Holding and Investments
Dates
Questions
Is prior meditation experience required?
No. The first module assumes none. Participants with an existing practice are asked to keep it and log it.
Can an institution send a whole team?
Yes, and it usually works better. Send no more than four from one body so the cohort stays mixed.
What is the language of instruction?
English, with Dzongkha used in discussion. Written materials are provided in both.