From boardrooms to quiet moments of prayer, God is at work in unexpected places. Meet Annabel Esman, a business consultant whose journey through the CACS Spiritual Direction Formation Programme is shaping her into a spiritual accompanier — listening, guiding and helping others discover the beauty of God in their lives.
From boardrooms in international business to the quiet stillness of prayer, God is at work in unexpected places. For Annabel Esman, a leadership development consultant and final-year student of the Spiritual Direction Formation Programme (SDFP) at the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality (CACS), the call to guide and accompany others now spans two distinct yet deeply connected worlds.
Leadership and Accompaniment
Annabel is a partner and practice lead for leadership development at The Way Over, an international leadership development organisation. Her work focuses on dynamic transformation, compassionate leadership and cultivating exceptional relationships. She helps senior executives, blue-chip companies, NGOs, and international teams expand their self-awareness and live their leadership in ways that foster trust, collaboration and lasting impact.
“Leadership accompaniment”, she explains, is about enabling others to explore who they are, what drives them and how they show up in their relationships and decision-making. Through programme design, facilitation and one-to-one work, she guides clients toward deeper reflection and growth.
It is no surprise then, that Annabel was drawn to the CACS programme in spiritual direction — a ministry that, while different in focus, also centres on listening, reflection and transformation.
A Journey Home
Her path to spiritual direction began with her own experience of accompaniment. “I needed accompaniment. I needed people to walk with me, to show me the way, to listen to what I was experiencing and reflect back to me what I was hearing. That gave me confidence in my journey home. It has been so important that I now want to offer the same to others.” For Annabel, the SDFP weaves together three dimensions: the practical — developing the listening and discernment skills of a spiritual director; the formative — growing in her own relationship with God; and the theological — learning from the treasures of Carmelite spirituality, from St Teresa of Ávila to St John of the Cross.
God in the Workplace
This formation has already borne fruit in Annabel’s daily life, including in her consultancy work. She recalls a moment when a client came to her for a discussion about leadership theories. Within minutes, however, he was sharing a profound personal experience of God — something he had never voiced before.
“He was very surprised to hear himself telling me. He was moved. I was able to listen and to mirror back what he had experienced, giving him confidence — just as others had once done for me — to understand that this was God, and to follow that path. It was beautiful.”
Moments like this show how spiritual accompaniment can reach into unexpected places, quietly affirming the presence of God in everyday life.
Drawing Out Beauty
Alongside her professional and spiritual work, Annabel finds joy in simple hobbies — particularly drawing.
“I can’t draw very well,” she says with a laugh, “but I love to just draw what comes to me. I do that a lot here, related to the programme, to help me digest everything we’ve taken in.”
This practice is more than a pastime. It reflects a core truth of both leadership and spiritual accompaniment: the act of drawing out what is hidden, allowing beauty to emerge, and recognising that what matters is not perfection but expression. In the same way, spiritual direction helps reveal the divine beauty within each person — the restoration of the soul in God’s image.
A Ministry for Our Times
The ministry of spiritual accompaniment is perhaps one of the most vital movements in the Church today. It is not noisy or dramatic but grows steadily, like the mustard seed in the Gospel, bringing about change from within. CACS is a pioneer in forming gentle, compassionate and competent spiritual directors who can walk alongside others in their journey toward intimacy with Christ.
Pope Benedict XVI captured this truth well: “A spiritual director who intimately knows and loves Christ can help the directee to achieve that same love and intimacy.”
Through its careful blend of study, formation and practice, the CACS Spiritual Direction Formation Programme is shaping people like Annabel — lay professionals, clergy, and religious — into accompanists who embody this mission.
An invitation to Step In
Annabel is quick to encourage others who might hesitate because they do not see themselves as “qualified.”
“Don’t set yourself outside this programme because you think it’s for religious, or for people who’ve studied theology. I thought that for a long time. But if you feel called in any way, then step in. There’s so much nourishment here, so much teaching. It’s the variety of people that makes the difference and enriches the entire group.”
Her journey is a testimony that spiritual direction is not an esoteric practice for the few but a ministry through which ordinary Christians — whether in boardrooms, classrooms, parishes, or homes — can accompany others with compassion and wisdom.
And in this way, the kingdom of God continues to grow quietly, steadily, and beautifully — through listening hearts and attentive companions like Annabel Esman.
You can listen to Annabel personally on YouTube below.