Life Lessons of Leadership

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What would the world be like if everyone was interested in the other person’s success? asks Cathy Barr, CEO of Bethesda Hospital, part of the "Best Places to Work" award-winning HealthEast Care System.

In a slight departure from a "regular" TLG, Friday's Thought Leader Gathering brought a picture of leadership stemming from a core values of our three Conversation Starters, with Craig "interviewing" Cathy Barr, Pam Hull, and Betsy Stites.

What if...??? and WHY NOT?? What if we faced life's challenges with allies or colleagues who demand our best, and help us get there. Cathy created a team of trusted allies - Betsy as an Executive Coach and Pam as strategic partner - to explore the big questions of integrative leadership.

When asked, "What are the characteristics of leadership that you hold true?" Cathy remarked, "I espouse partnership and collaboration, listening, relationships. At Bethesda, it is 'Management by Walking' around and I know it is the little things that matter."

Betsy remarked: "Employees know you are there to make things the best they can be. One of my gifts is courage and standing up to be counted."

When asked, "What do you want to be known for? Your legacy? Your epitaph?" Pam responded: "I might say... She always left a trail of unconditional love and joy wherever she was. It was just in the way she approached things and how she moved things along...nothing stayed still too long when she was around. Her eye was always on the end user...the patient in the bed...she made a difference for those people. Her heart was soft and open and she continuously learned and grew as a person."

We were honored to convene with three remarkable women

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The Story of WoLF: leadership and empowerment

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Reflecting on Friday's TLG, we continue to say "WOW!". Julie Gilbert and Mary Capozzi were inspired to launch an organization called WoLF (Women's Leadership Forum) to mobilize and support the women at Best Buy. The 3 pillars of Wolf exemplify how these leaders show up in their lives: Commitment, Network (helping all voices to be heard), Give Back.

Authentic leadership comes deeply from within; you can't fake it. It needs to be seen, experienced, embodied. Our time with Mary and Julie was a demonstration of authentic leadership in action.

TLG Member Amy Lenzo offers her reflections in an excellent Beauty Dialogues post. As Amy notes, "The truth is that in an integrated human being the personal and business realms are not separate, no matter how hard we try to make them be."

We are honored to have sat in circle with each of you and Mary and Julie. More reflections to come later today....

with gratitude, Patricia & Craig

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Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges

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What an honor, 170 of us had this evening, to be invited inside the mind and heart of one of the seminal leadership thinkers and practioners of our time, Otto Scharmer.

How his early life on a bio dynamic farm, the environmental, peace and anti- nuke movements in East Germany influenced his integration of systems thinking, consciousness and organizational therory is absolutely spellbinding. Then he took us through the Seven Leadership Capacities that form the foundation of the Theory U.

He introduced the theoretical framework and practice called “presencing” in “Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges” (2007). We've posted the audio of the session in the left column so you can listen for yourself.

Or listen here:

http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pa8baf0581a22f96448b5abb7694a932aYFh9R1REYGVz&buffer=5&shape=6&fc=FFFFFF&pc=666666&kc=009900&bc=CCCCCC&brand=1&player=ap26

In the meantime, for a wonderful primer on Theory U check out Download Uncovering_the_Blind_Spot_of_Leadership.pdf

Craig

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Moving from "Rah-Rah" to "Ah"...Finding Success From The Inside Out

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It's our choices that determine who we become, not our abilities. -Dumbledore to Harry Potter

Our VisionHolder Interview tonight with Robyn Waters was about the flow of life, moving from "Rah-Rah" to "Ah"...

Over the years, Robyn has been a cheerleader of possibilities. Success was about rah-rah, applause. Then, a mentor asked, "what would success feel like to you?" She began to know that it was time for her life to change, have a different focus, to take a step forward into something new....

"When we come to the edge of all the light we have and must take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things: Either we will find something firm to stand on or we will be taught to fly." –tom seller

At some point success became ah, contentment, peace, gratitude, being in the present moment, appreciation.  Now, she is a cheerleader for: Right place, right person, right reason.

Robyn spoke to four stages of her adult life:

• Finding success
• Finding me/authenticity
• Finding meaning
• Finding joy
• Stage 5? Sharing the wisdom, the give-back. Asking: "How much is enough? Social capitalism: doing good while doing well."

One of Robyn's core values: hanging out with 'nutritious people.' People who don't want to change me, make me be anything other than my whole, best self."

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein

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Fearless Leadership

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"Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real"
The 'tap' of the ship's prow against the iceberg...If you got just a little ‘tap’ that gave you a little vision of hope, 6 months from now you can be miles away from where you started.

Last Friday, the Bay Area TLG community welcome Joe Bailey and Beverley Wilson as our Conversation Starters. I wrote to Joe and Beverley that our time last Friday was one of the most simply elegant mornings we’ve had. "Simple, in that your words were seemingly simple. Elegant, in that they went deep to the heart of the matter. Truth was spoken, and heard by our souls."

Joe began the morning with the story of his real and metaphorical journey to the TLG, of losing his inner GPS momentarily. "As we go through life as leaders, whether official or not, we have this inner GPS—an inner systems that guides us through life—and we also have this inner fear. When we don’t trust our inner GPS, our heart and true self, then we get caught in fear – in this image that floats through our mind, and we mistake it for reality.

We find ourselves at that fork in the road, where we van take the path of fear, or the path of wisdom or heart, or the true self. Fear is a friendly little guy—it’s there for a purpose. Fear lets us know when we’ve fallen back asleep and gotten hypnotized. It wakes us up, without damaging us. It’s like an alarm clock; a feeling of discomfort in the physiology of our bodies. My fear this morning was a signal, letting me know I had moved away form my true self, and gotten caught in the illusion of fear.

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"There is nothing we need to to create it, it’s already there. All we can do is obliterate it with thought and fear. I hope you will leave this place today knowing to trust this still small voice, the universal intelligence inside of us."

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Fear covers up love. It makes it appear that the world is a terrifying place, out of control. But when we remember and reconnect with who we are – spirit – it is the seat of our sanity and leadership. There is nothing we need to to create it, it’s already there. All we can do is obliterate it with thought and fear.
I hope you will leave this place today knowing to trust this still small voice, the universal intelligence inside of us."

Beverley Wilson, G.O.D., spoke next with a story:

"I was called to Michigan State to address a group of people who totally intimidated me… I felt completely overwhelmed, like I was shrinking inside myself. I lost touch with who I was on the inside. When we do that we make other people into giants, and ourselves into little grasshoppers. So I was called to the stage, and felt this voice inside me. Who am I? A child of God! I have to believe I’m called here today because there is a rare need – I only get special assignments. We were all guided here, and I know I am not here by accident, but by divine design. There’s an energy in the room, and it starts getting bigger, and it feels like it’s going to take over. What do you do?

The 'correct' answer is to let your heart expand, (like Betsy said). But when I first started doing this, I felt overwhelmed. Authenticity is VERY important to leadership. If you’re saying one thing with your mouth and something else with your body, most people will see right through it and know it right away.

What we fear the most is immortality. When I first saw that picture (a painting she brought), it absolutely floored me. It took my breath away and my spirit was turning flips backwards. I saw people just freely dancing in the fire, without the power to hurt. That’s fearless leadership! Can you see yourself in there dancing? I want that kind of fearlessness – once I lose my fear of losing this mortal body. Who we really are is so big… we’d walk inside those flames and start dancing in a New York minute."

More to come when we send the write-ups!

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Integrity: Creating a World That Works for All

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With the focus on integrity of action and intention, it was clear from the beginning of Friday's TLG that we were in the thick of a conversation essential to each of us. Steve Piersanti's journey to the founding and visioning of Berrett-Koehler invoked some of the following reflections:

"What if all it took to have sustainability was to have/hold integrity?" "It's a radical act to be integral, to hold on to what is true."

Heartland's vision has grown to include "...creating love in action." Our experience of Steve and the founding B-K vision of stewardship vs. ownership exuded love in action. Love for and inclusion of each stakeholder in the community: from authors, to staff, to suppliers, to readers.

Steve wove a story of a company committed to integrity in its very bones. In creating a world that works for all, B-K knows that change is needed at all levels: individual, organizational and societal. "We are committed to supporting a more enlightened world of work, both through our publications and through how our company is operated.... We have an open culture of sharing knowledge and resources."

When asked: "What most excites you about how B-K could manifest its vision in the next 10years?/How can we help B-K thrive?" Steve responded, "Going down the path of B-K being an inspiration and catalyst, a former of alliances, nexus of alliances. Getting out into the world through our relationships. That excites me."

Many thanks to Steve and all of you for an essential morning.

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Trade Up! 5 Skills for Redesigning Your Leadership & Life from the Inside Out

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What is the compelling future that is worthy of my life? What is the compelling future that leads me to want to 'Trade Up'"? These are just two questions that pioneer and author Rayona Sharpnack left us with at the end of a most engaging conversation.

Listen here: http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P52018f800871402b01c09c8e3cdcac9aYFh9R1REYGB9&buffer=5&shape=6&fc=FFFFFF&pc=666666&kc=009900&bc=CCCCCC&brand=1&player=ap26

Speaking to her new book, Trade Up! 5 Skills for Redesigning Your Leadership & Life from the Inside Out, Rayona began with another profound question: "For the sake of what?" For Rayona, it is for the sake of leaving the world a better place than she found it.

It's for living into a life filled with grace and ease and flow, as a path for herself, and a model for others.

The question for each of us is: for the sake of what do I want to enter the inquiry that begins the journey of trading up? If you consider that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of what you do with it, then the context begins to focus on what you do with it.

Rayona invited us to move forward, toward manifesting our visions and being a catalyst for others, but with the following context of leadership: that the only time leadership is relevant is when it's time to change the status quo. And that change happens best in community: that a leader has listened, and then speaks and evokes action around a compelling future. Not THE compelling future, but a future that has been co-created, which creates engagement, empowerment, fulfillment for those participating.

For some of us on the call tonight, we began "trading up" as we listened to Rayona's words and intention. Many thanks to Rayona for her generosity of spirit and courage to bring forth her book, and continue to be in the world as a pioneer for transformation.

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A New Voice of Business

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Elliot Hoffman & Meredith Beam, co-founders of New Voice ofBusiness, brought a rich conversation of creating a truly new voice of business to the January Thought Leader Gathering.  What is the larger frame that we’re working within at NVB? Were out to build A TRUE MARKET ECONOMY. Telling truth to the marketplace. Bringing integrity to the marketplace.

Gary Malkin started our day with a beautiful song… “we’re made of hope and a wisp of stars, do you remember who we are?” After Stringing the Beads, we heard from Elliot and Meredith of their knowing and big vision.

Questions from the 56 participants were also rich:

• If we believe that business is a key lever for change, what are we willing to do now to build this new voice?
• To have a new voice, we also need to have a new style of listening, to bring everyone together (no matter political and religious affiliation).
• Will the group have more impact through driving creation of new ideas or aggregating support behind great existing or external ideas?
• How will we make everyone feel included? Some/many don’t feel they’re business people- teachers, artists, construction, science, government, etc.
• What will it look like when you (and we) are successful in engaging business (social entrepreneurial networked) people? What do you see happening? What will it feel like? What will people be saying and doing?

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TLG: "When love starts happening, you can melt the snow."

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"When love starts happening, you can melt the snow." -David Sibbet

The Artistry of Leadership: The Role of Design, Participation & Community. Heartfelt thanks to David and the TLG community for a remarkable session last Friday. Every part of the morning was thoughtful (Welcome from Constance, Lori's poem: Download UnPopularMountain-TLG.pdf, Pam's "Report from the Field," and, last but not least, David's remarks).

David commented that the title of the TLG had been "working" him. "Am I an artist? I was thinking I was a designer. And, what is the participation part? What is the leadership part? What has been coming up for me around those two: I have a problem with the term "leadership"...

Instead of leadership (an individual endeavor), we need to prepare people for governance (a community endeavor). It is an assumption that it is a group activity—you govern with circles and committees. We have mental models about things we don’t understand, about how things connect. Being organized is about people sharing ideas about how things connect."

Why is participation and community a true part of leadership? For a leader to not to involve people is to exclude the richest part of being in an organization. The deep artistry is making these things—systems and operating systems—explicit so that people know how to engage and contribute.

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Awakening the Global Corporation or discovering fire again

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“Someday after mastering winds, waves, tides and gravity, we shallharness the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will discover fire.” -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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"What scale of love would be sufficient for transformational change?" asked Vivian Wright our November Thought Leader Gathering Conversation Starter. How do you move an organization from compliance to social responsibility to caring for the whole? Increasingly, brand is enhanced by the perception of doing well. Begin with the conscious individual, conscious leader making choices to steward the organization towards wholeness.

The global corporation is arguably the most powerful institution of our time. We are all "members"/creators of global corporations (at very least as consumers). if we evolve out of what we create, Vivian believes the corporation brings us an irresistible invitation to evolve, as individuals and as a group.

The TLGs were founded with the idea that business and organizations are the conduit and delivery system through which a global renaissance is occurring. Can we dedicate our evolution, our awakening as interconnected humans, to create the transformation that can happen through these highly efficient supply chain creations?

Who is good at levels of scale and what do we really need to bring to that from ourselves to make this work? it is time for hippies and yippies to join the Hopis and the yuppies. Time to utilize the ideas, skills, connections and channels that can create substantive change now.

Fortune named HP one of ten green giants. to meet European cafe standards, life-cycle PCs were created with 95% recycled parts. We have reached a point where products are enhanced by recycled, Brand is enhanced by the perception of doing well.

How can we use the global corporation as an expression of the internal "global incorporation," as a human evolutionary process at this time? How can we awaken and stay to create the changes that are so possible?

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A Third Way of Knowing

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This evening’s VisionHolder Interview with Michael Jones was truly a sacred convergence of leaders. I’m struck by the power and majesty of our offerings and inquiries. How we leaned into one another and allowed Michael the space as an elder among us to speak his imaginal soul, and ask the timeless question: Who is going to play your music if you don’t?

“In times of uncertainty we need to look to the spaces between for order and coherence – to gifts, beauty, grace, voice and wholeness – what may be called the commons of the imagination. Awakening to the presence of the commons in both the personal and the pubic imagination is our new art form. It is also the leader’s new work.” -Michael Jones, from Artful Leadership: Awakening the Commons of the Imagination.

Below are notes/snippets/reflections plucked from a magical hour of essential conversation. Add your own comments by clicking on the "Comments" link.

Who is going to play your music if you don’t? When a stranger asked me, after hearing me play, it was a moment of transformation for me. Many of these moments occur in the presence of strangers. It expands the sense of community, defines the concept of the commons, in the sense of who belongs and who doesn’t. The other importance of the stranger is that often our friends can’t see us wholly or objectively. We need the stranger interaction for fresh perspective, for new knowing.

The intersection of leadership and art. Art as language, metaphor and a way of knowing: Using art provides a ready made language for listening, going deeper, connection with the world around you.

...truly outstanding leaders are not remembered largely for their professional, technical or cost-cutting skills, but for their wisdom, presence, intuition and artistry. These are the qualities that prepare them for making an organic response to critical situations. Technical knowledge is important, but it is only part of the story; listening, getting a ‘feeling’ for things and engaging others in imagining possibilities, is the larger part of it. So much of a leader’s work today is not about playing the notes but listening for what’s emerging in the space between.

A commons of the imagination - a collective field of possibility that transforms our mechanistic view of the world to a more sustainable and transcendent vision that is creative, organic and whole.

Love is the only that expands intelligence. Definition of love: seeing one another in the fullness of who they are.

Leadership: Hold space for the possibility of wholeness to emerge.

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Ordinary Acts, Extraordinary Outcomes-Betsy Sanders

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“And who is to say it is foolish or it is useless to ride outalong and wish for … something better? … on one small road in on small night “ Who better to say than each of us? My great yearning is that each of us might experience a life that we fully live. That we discover what our gifts are and share them, to generate well being and good. To find the place where we can wish each other well.

"Ordinary Acts, Extraordinary Outcomes: Small Changes That Create a Big Difference" with TLG member Betsy Sanders, was a phenomenal morning of journey stories, big successes, and realizing the successes and journey are worthwhile within the context of bringing our gifts to our colleagues and humanity.

The grace of the monk who had the begging bowl. It allows us to give, and the monk then lives from what’s in the bowl – it is enough. Each day it’s enough. Each opportunity is enough. It’s about nourishing ourselves with whatever is in the bowl in a way that transforms us. I’ve been gone form Nordstrom as long as I was there, and yet the gift of that time continues to give.

What is that is in each relationship here, if we hold out our bowls to each other, that will renew and nourish us?

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Becoming a Resolutionary: Creating a Culture of Agreement

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“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each [hu]man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

High Performance: Creating a Culture of Agreement
My VisionHolder interview with Stewart Levine, a passionate "Resolutionary," went far beyond the topic of Conflict Resolution, to the discussion of how to create structures of intentional communication and behavior that can inform, enliven, and transform our relationships — whether between 2 people, a team, or within an organization of many.

Because most conflict is structural (the result of replicating patterns or habits), it is important to establish covenantal agreements* up front: a meeting of minds and heart.

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"This creates a process that establishes the principles of engagement: an environment where people feel it’s safe to move their mindset."

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*How do you create/what are covenantal agreements? in his writings, High Performance: Creating a Culture of Agreement, Download Levine-agreements.pdf Stewart speaks of two constructs for agreement that are effective for individuals and organizations:

• 10 elements of agreements for results  the cycle of resolution.

Stewart credits some of this learning/thought formation to Bill Veltrop, The Infinite Games, an imaginal thinker, and long-time organizational change and transformation cheerleader.

Questions/reflections from the participants were enlightening:

• Looking at the broader view of Conflict Resolution: Does this help society in general? If you were to help the world, where would you take this? Where would you start?
• What is the role of forgiveness – how to encourage/facilitate?
• What about cultural differences? In some cultures, some might feel exposed by speaking of their feelings in a group.
• Establish covenantal agreements up front: This seems time consuming, impossible.
• You speak of new organizational structures vs. traditional ones, such as religion, as where the change is happening. Tell me more.
• What about the role of religion and fundamental thought?
• Different cultures: moving from outer space to inner space
• I'm curious about "the movement beneath the radar" that makes you hopeful about the possibility of creating culture shifting toward resolution vs. conflict.
• This is pertinent to my work in building my business. We're looking at the structures that will create a positive, healthy work environment.

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Conversations are transforming our world!!!

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Sandy Heierbacher, Director of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), was our VisionHolder interview tonight.

NCDD brings together people and groups who actively practice, promote and study inclusive, high quality conversations.Our wide ranging conversation about the NCDD network (700 members) and her vision for it articulated the spectrum of dialogic and deliberative practice and how people can make informed decisions about which approaches to use in different circumstances.

I've been to 2 of the 3 NCDD conferences and have been struck by the variety and diversity of voices within the "movement". As conveners of essential conversations  we are vitally interested in how people are bringing their voices to their communities and organizations. As an example of the maturation of this field they have identified 4 "streams of practice". read on......

D&D Streams of Practice

NCDD uses the term “streams of practice” to discern the various types of dialogue and deliberation programs and methods out there. Although there are more streams than just these four, these four streams outline the four main purposes practitioners, communities, public leaders and others use dialogue and deliberation.

Exploration

The “exploration” stream of D&D practice is used primarily to encourage people and groups to learn more about themselves, their community, or an issue, and to possibly discover innovative solutions. We consider Bohmian Dialogue, World Café, Conversation Café, Council process, and Open Space to be proven methods for exploration.

Conflict transformation

The “conflict transformation” stream of practice is focused on resolving conflicts, fostering personal healing and growth, and improving relations among groups. Sustained Dialogue, Victim-Offender Mediation, Public Conversations Project dialogues, and Web Lab’s Small Group Dialogue are effective methods for transforming conflict.

Decision-making

The “decision-making” stream of practice is focused on influencing decisions and policy, and improving public knowledge. Some of the methods that fall under this category are National Issues Forums, Citizens Juries, Deliberative Polling, 21st Century Town Meeting, Citizen Choicework, and Consensus Conference.

Collaborative action

The “collaborative action” stream is focused on empowering people and groups to solve complicated problems and take responsibility for the solution. Study Circles, Future Search, and Appreciative Inquiry are considered part of this stream.

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The Real Wealth of Nations

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Caring economics: What if our economic system had a mechanism to measure and value aseconomic activity the [everyday] life-sustaining and life-enriching cultural and community activities that are integral to an evolved society?

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Our conversation with Riane Eisler, tonight's VisionHolder interview, introduced the partnership system and the domination system as two underlying possibilities for structuring beliefs, institutions, and relations that transcend categories such as religious vs. secular, right vs. left, and technologically developed or undeveloped.

She further developed the core premise that the greatest problems of our time--poverty, inequality, war, terrorism, and environmental degradation--can be traced to flawed economic systems that fail to value and support the most essential human work: caring for people and the planet.

She spoke to how our values are distorted by the economic double standard that devalues anything stereotypically associated with women and femininity; reveals how current economic models are based on a deep-seated culture of domination; and shows how human needs would be better served by economic models based on caring. Caring for our families, our communities; caring for our natural world, can become an economic imperative if the system is reordered to integrate the full spectrum of what creates a healthy society.

What are some steps for moving from our current structures to a new perspective? First, read the book, The Real Wealth of Nations, to understand the broader picture and the tools that Riane outlines. Then, believe that we can evolve the system to achieve the full measure of our humanity. Next, begin the conversation—with your legislators, community leaders, neighbors.

Last but not least, Riane's website http://www.partnershipway.org/ provides many resources and connections to local, national and international organizations that are partnering to this end.

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Capitalism 3.0-upgrading to a new economy

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"Moving from an 'I' economy to a 'We' economy" At the May Bay Area Thought Leader Gathering, Peter Barnes posed the question he'd been wrestling with for years: “Is there a way to have a market-based economic system that doesn’t destroy the planet and widen the inequality between humans, and makes us happy? Is that even conceivable?”

Capitalism 3.0 is an expansion of the idea of trusteeship. Our whole system is currently run by an OS that has major flaws. Peter asks, "What would Bill Gates do? Get into the OS and see what kind of upgrades are needed… What are the bugs that are causing the problem, and is it possible to fix those bugs?"

More on Peter's model and "The Challenge" he posed to the group....

The model of capitalism imagined by Peter—Capitalism 3.0—is a balanced system where you still have capitalism, pursuing their own profits, but you also have a Commons sector, and organized sector that consists of many different trusts that preserve common assets for future generations. Not only preserves them, but they charge rent and have the ability to recycle some of those resources back to the beneficiaries, all people – one person one share.

The implication of that is that although the corporations are maximizing their profit—5% of America owns most of the public stock—if you offset that with a more balanced sharing – one share one person – you begin to balance this economic equation. Now that it is harder and harder to make money through your labor, it is becoming more and more important to have some property to call on.

The Challenge: "You’re all imaginative, creative people. Think about some piece of the commons… that you feel a real affinity to, that isn’t being adequately protected, managed, What might you do to change that, or protect that particular piece? Say a creek, or a watershed, or maybe something more intangible… bicycle path, transportation, wi-fi system that serves everybody. This is a creative question. What’s missing where you could add something that would protect or enhance something that we all share?"

And last but not least: in considering these bigger questions: What is your personal legacy? What is our collective legacy?

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