About Peter

Portrait of Peter Yaholkovsky. He wears a black suit coat and an unbuttoned white collared shirt. He has white-grey short hair, light skin, and a well-trimmed beard.

While studying mechanical engineering at Stanford I realized that I enjoyed working with people, which brought me to medicine. As a physician, I found conversations with patients most rewarding. When I began to work with Fernando Flores, conversations were illuminated in a new way, not only with patients but in all kinds of situations: in teams, in leadership, in process design. Over time I have found myself working with families and senior business teams where trust has foundered. Looking back, I see the through-line is communication -- wrapping around trust as trust wraps around 'what really matters' -- which comes down to commitment and responsibility.

Dealing with what matters is about you, me, and us together. It asks the question: how do we build a ‘we’ with substance? It comes down to listening for what really matters. In the times we’re facing, I believe that being able to have these kinds of conversations is more important than ever, to find a ‘we’ who can make life work together. That is ultimately what our work is about: how do we live together? People think ‘we’ is about 'us vs. them,' but we can be more inclusive, we can build the skills of living together. In the end, we’re all adrift in the ineffable mystery of life, open to the emergent possibility of transformation.