I am really getting into Otto Scharmer's work after working with the wonderful Dale Hunter in a Facilitation Master Class in August:
"The key leadership challenge of our time is to shift the inner place from which we operate. As individuals, as teams, as institutions, and as societies we all face the same issue: that doing 'more of the same' won't fix flawed and failed systems. We have to leave behind our old tools and behaviors, and immerse ourselves in the places of most potential. We have to listen with our minds and hearts wide open, and then connect with our deep sources of knowing and self. It's only when we pass through this eye of the needle-letting go of the old and letting come the emerging self-that we can begin to step into our real power: the power to collectively sense and create the world anew. Theory U describes a social grammar and practical methods for such a transformative leadership journey."
-- Otto Scharmer's take on the essence of leadership today - from his blog
(http://www.blog.ottoscharmer.com/?p=169)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Nimble Minds at U3A
I had great fun last week with a U3A group in a rural town. It was quite inspiring to work with these elderly nimble minds. It was a three hour session about the debate on climate change. Their questions kept me on my toes and I had to be inventive with activities that could accommodate their not-so-quite nimble bodies. It reminded how flexible we need to be as facilitators. Here's another story from a session I ran quite a few years ago.
A friend once asked me if I would run an assertiveness session for her client group...some blind people(she said)...of course I was happy to(I said)....well actually they are quite elderly too(she said)....ok that's no problem (I said).....that's great but some of them are deaf as well(she said).....O h k a y then I guess I can do that(I said)....don't worry we have someone to sign for you(she said)....(Now how you sign to a blind person I wasn’t quite sure but ....I am sure we can work something out(I said).....Great, now one last thing, quite a few of them have Alzheimer’s(she said)......Right, well it will be interesting then. (I said)
Well as it happened it was one of the more delightful sessions I have run and the group renamed the session, 'Querulous Training.' They had wanted the Assertiveness Training primarily because when they went to the Doctor, they felt that the Doctors generally treated them as stupid, didn’t bother to explain things and prescribed medication without providing information. So as a group they ended up coaching each other on shaking or stamping their white cane at the ‘Quack’....if they were going to be treated as stupid, then they decided they may as well ham it up and get fractious and querulous and insist that the young whippersnapper give them their due. The session was a great success and a fabulous learning experience for yours truly. I was told a few years later that they are still shaking their canes!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Women Lead in Sustainability
I am really excited to be involved in a new project developing women as leaders in sustainability starting soon in the central goldfields region of Victoria. We plan to work with about thirty women from all walks of life over several months, training them up as leaders and facilitators to enable them to educate friends, colleagues, family and community about how we can live and work in a more sustainable way.
Later in the year I will be working with Fabian Dattner to bring another leader program on sustainability to regional Victoria. More details to come.
In the mean time a colleague sent me the three minute video on Leadership Lessons from a Dancing Guy by Derek Sivers. It is really worth the watch. Enjoy.
Later in the year I will be working with Fabian Dattner to bring another leader program on sustainability to regional Victoria. More details to come.
In the mean time a colleague sent me the three minute video on Leadership Lessons from a Dancing Guy by Derek Sivers. It is really worth the watch. Enjoy.
Monday, February 15, 2010
three valuable words that make a difference
CLARIFY COMMUNICATE ALIGN(c)
Three powerful words that when enacted make a huge difference to the success of an organisation.
Occasionally I talk with people in business and ask how they live the organisation’s values at work. It is a question that elicits some interesting responses. Some simply list them from the poster on the wall with no real connection with how they are enacted or why they exist. Others are completely flummoxed about how to answer.
Rarely a group is really clear on what they mean, how they work in practise, the degree of personal and group alignment and the relationship to the business strategies.
Values mean different things to different people and the behavioural equivalents can range broadly. Almost any couple will tell you this if you ask them what love means to them (the value) and how they show it (the behavioural equivalent). It is generally not the same and is often the crux of communication confusion, breakdown and conflict.
This area is seldom addressed adequately in business. Values relate to the people side of business - how we are being with each other and the group we serve. It is the pearl that is too easily dismissed as fluffy and unimportant. Ironically it takes leadership and courage to steer true north here and much can be gained from clarifying what they mean, communicating explicitly and creating alignment about how they are enacted. A truly aligned group is a force to reckon with. Values work takes groups to the next level of meaningful productivity. It is a powerful thing to bring them into balance with the strategies.
(c)I learnt thes power of these three words working with The Zone over a number you years in the area of values based organisational change. It is so satifying to see a group put their own values into action.
Three powerful words that when enacted make a huge difference to the success of an organisation.
Occasionally I talk with people in business and ask how they live the organisation’s values at work. It is a question that elicits some interesting responses. Some simply list them from the poster on the wall with no real connection with how they are enacted or why they exist. Others are completely flummoxed about how to answer.
Rarely a group is really clear on what they mean, how they work in practise, the degree of personal and group alignment and the relationship to the business strategies.
Values mean different things to different people and the behavioural equivalents can range broadly. Almost any couple will tell you this if you ask them what love means to them (the value) and how they show it (the behavioural equivalent). It is generally not the same and is often the crux of communication confusion, breakdown and conflict.
This area is seldom addressed adequately in business. Values relate to the people side of business - how we are being with each other and the group we serve. It is the pearl that is too easily dismissed as fluffy and unimportant. Ironically it takes leadership and courage to steer true north here and much can be gained from clarifying what they mean, communicating explicitly and creating alignment about how they are enacted. A truly aligned group is a force to reckon with. Values work takes groups to the next level of meaningful productivity. It is a powerful thing to bring them into balance with the strategies.
(c)I learnt thes power of these three words working with The Zone over a number you years in the area of values based organisational change. It is so satifying to see a group put their own values into action.
Life Affirming Communities
Question: 'How do we really live together in harmony?'
Answer: "It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living? This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth."
Thich Nhat Hahn
Answer: "It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living? This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth."
Thich Nhat Hahn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
