The Purposeful Warrior: A Conversation with Meg Wheatley

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Meg Wheatley has been a seminal influence on CPL since the publishing of her book, 'Leadership and the New Science', followed in 2002 by 'Turning to One Another'.

As a Conversation Starter at our Thought Leader Gatherings, Meg brought a provocative yet compassionate message on leadership. In addition, her books were foundational texts for early Art of Convening Training's.

This interview allowed us to catch up on her new book, 

Who Do We Choose To Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity. 

We saw it as an opportunity to bring together our work on activating purpose, as purpose shared, and her work "to reclaim leadership as a noble profession that creates possibility and humaneness in the midst of increasing fear and turmoil."

In a time of unprecedented volatility and disruption, Meg's fierce commitment to defining the new warrior as present and compassionate is what is needed today. It was a thrill and honor to be with Meg again.

[Click to Watch Full Interview]

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Purpose Moment

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#PurposefulLeadership #Purpose #Leadership #Convening #ArtofConvening #Engagement

2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Craig on tough situations when convening/hosting a meeting!

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

During a recent Art of Convening Training, some potent questions about convening skill and strategy were asked. In this video, Craig addresses some of them. (some are listed below)

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<•> When leading a work meeting, if there is an argument or discussion that has not been resolved, should we allow time for further discussion to have a harvest or find inspiration or follow the agreed upon timeline?

<•> What if I’m not leading/hosting/convening? (I'm just a participant)

<•> When leading a work meeting or conference, if participants start arguing or loudly disagreeing, what shall I do?  How do I keep inner calm and access my true power?

<•> Would you share some examples of how to respond when people challenge you during your convening?

Let us know your thoughts!

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Purpose Moment

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2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Purpose Shared: A Young Man With a “Big Heart for Society and the World”

[Click to Watch Full Interview]

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Ren Wei is a family man, OD consultant and convener sharing his purpose on a global level. I have the good fortune to work closely with Ren Wei, along with five of his fellow Chinese colleagues, in the current Art of Convening training. This brief yet inspirational interview captures the commitment he has for being an active catalyst for societal and global transformation.

#PurposefulLeadership #Purpose #Leadership #Convening #ArtofConvening #Engagement

2018 Center for Purposeful Leadership The Art of Convening

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Purpose Moment

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2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Purpose Shared: Igniting a Purpose Revolution

Photo Credit: Daniel Scotton

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"There are good companies out there, and a lot of work needs to be done by companies to tell their authentic story and build a firm relationship with customers based on who the company is..."

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I first got to know John Izzo in a tent on safari in Tanzania. Our 3-week journey led us to one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in Africa. Our leader was none other than our mutual mentor, Richard Leider, the "Pope of Purpose." John had already established himself as a global leadership author, speaker, and consultant. Little did I know that 11 years later CPL and John would be joining Richard in a global purpose movement, and John would write a defining book called The Purpose Revolution.  - Craig

The Purpose Gap

Dr. John Izzo

What is the Purpose Gap? It is both an opportunity and threat in the business world today. It exists because there a distinct difference between what people desire and hope for, and what is actually being delivered by businesses and organizations. Today a purpose gap exists for both employees and customers.

Seventy seven percent of employees say there is matters a great deal to work for a company they believe in and a job where they have a sense of purpose. Fifty percent of Millennials would take a pay cut to work for the right company, and almost forty percent cite purpose as the main driver of their engagement and retention at work. Yet the vast majority of people, 75%, say that they don’t work for this type of company- that the company they work for mostly cares about profit and its own self-interest. Therein lies the purpose gap for employees.

Customers around the world are asking for more purpose than companies are delivering. Eighty percent of customers globally want to buy from companies that they believe are doing a good job in the world. Yet they feel confident that only 6% of the companies they do business with are actually good. In other words, they have a deep desire to buy good, but have no idea if the companies that serve them are good or not.  There are good companies out there, and a lot of work needs to be done by companies to tell their authentic story and build a firm relationship with customers based on who the company is, and what positive good it achieves.

My co-author Jeff Vanderwielen and I talk in The Purpose Revolution about how companies who close the purpose gap are going to

be the real winners. As employees and customers, we want more. The companies who listen and really deliver are going to be the ones we choose to work for and buy from. The Purpose Revolution is here. Are you ready?

Watch my Izzo on Purpose video to find out more about The Purpose Gap.

More here: https://drjohnizzo.com/purpose-blog/purpose-revolution/the-purpose-gap/

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Craig Neal @ Fusion 2.0 Conference: Leading a Learning Lab

Photo Credit: Fusion2conference.com

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Exciting news!

Craig Neal will be leading a Learning Lab @ the Fusion 2.0 Conference

The Art of Purposeful Leadership: The Future Leader

Wednesday

11/7/2018, 11:20 a.m.-12:35 p.m.

Get registered to join him! group rates are now available. Bring your teams. For the best rate, register now while the preview rate is still in effect. 

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Purpose Moment

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#PurposefulLeadership #Purpose #Leadership #Convening #ArtofConvening #Engagement

2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Purpose Shared: Leadership is Convening

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"Convening leaders create and manage the social space within which citizens get deeply engaged."

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Peter Block became a foundational mentor when we founded Heartland/CPL 22 years ago. His writing and thought leadership was invaluable.

'The Answer to How is Yes' and 'Community: The Structure of Belonging' were both primary texts for the early Art of Convening Training's. The essay below states the case for purpose shared as convening, and convening as a foundational characteristic of an on-purpose leader.

Leadership is Convening

Excerpt from Community: The Structure of Belonging, by Peter Block, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, May 2008

In communal transformation, leadership is about intention, convening, valuing relatedness, and presenting choices. It is not a personality characteristic or a matter of style, and therefore it requires nothing more than what all of us already have. 

This means we can stop looking for leadership as though it were scarce or lost, or it had to be trained into us by experts. If our traditional form of leadership has been studied for so long, written about with such admiration, defined by so many, worshiped by so few, and the cause of so much disappointment, maybe doing more of all that is not productive. The search for great leadership is a prime example of how we too often take something that does not work and try harder at it. I have written elsewhere about reconstructing leader as social architect.

The Art of Convening

The shift is to believe that the task of leadership is to provide context and produce engagement, to tend to our social fabric. It is to see the leader as one whose function is to engage groups of people in a way that creates accountability and commitment. In this way of thinking we hold leadership to three tasks: 

• Create a context that nurtures an alternative future, one based on gifts, generosity, accountability, and commitment.

• Initiate and convene conversations that shift people’s experience, which occurs through the way people are brought together and the nature of the questions used to engage them.

• Listen and pay attention. 

Convening leaders create and manage the social space within which citizens get deeply engaged. Through this engagement, citizens discover that it is in their power to resolve something or at least move the action forward. 

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Engagement, and the accountability that grows out of it, occurs when we ask people to be in charge of their own experience and act on the well-being of the whole. Leaders do this by naming a new context and convening people into new conversations through questions that demand personal investment. This is what triggers the choice to be accountable for those things over which we can have power, even though we may have no control.

In addition to convening and naming the question, we add listening to the critical role of leadership. Listening may be the single most powerful action the leader can take. Leaders will always be under pressure to speak, but if building social fabric is important, and sustained transformation is the goal, then listening becomes the greater service. 

This kind of leadership––convening, naming the question, and listening––is restorative and produces energy rather than consumes it. It is leadership that creates accountability as it confronts people with their freedom. In this way, engagement-centered leaders bring kitchen table and street corner democracy into being.

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Purpose Moment

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#PurposefulLeadership #Purpose #Leadership #Convening #ArtofConvening #Engagement

2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Purpose Moment

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#PurposefulLeadership #Purpose #Leadership #Convening #ArtofConvening #Engagement

2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Purpose Shared: "Making Happy" -Cindy Kent

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"So start tomorrow, right now. Welcome to the first few seconds of your bright, beautiful future."

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Cindy Kent was the lead Conversation Starter at our 20th Anniversary Conference in 2016. As a thought and purposeful leader, her values are central to all she does and how she does it. 

Making Happy

In nearly five decades of life, and too-many-experiences-to-count later, I have come to realize how misguided the notion of finding happiness is. You don’t really find happy, in truth, we make happy. Finding Happy is an ill-conceived notion, that inherently implies that happiness is some illusive by-product of luck or fortune or even, some edenic destination—a wistful, ideologue of a reward at the end of one’s diligent pursuit. Instead, I believe, we make happy—one decision, one choice, at a time.

The very idea that we make happy can be hard for some people to accept. Why? Because if we accept that we make our own happy, then it places the responsibility of our happiness squarely on our own shoulders. As such, it puts an end once and for all to the infamous “blame game” and the convenient opportunity to blame someone, anyone, for our failing to achieve the love, success and happiness that we desire. It would mean that the years we’ve spent blaming friends, parents, spouses, partners and employers for failing to make us happy were in fact, a bad use of our good and precious time. It does not mean that these individuals are abdicated from any wrong-doing, but it does suggest that we maintain absolute control over the effect that we allow their actions to have on our emotional and mental well-being. Fundamentally, happiness is much more about our reactions than it is about the actions themselves—reactions, which are completely within our own control. At some point we must make the choice to let go of the pain and hurt inflicted by others and choose to forgive them, let it go and MOVE ON. In fact today, or better yet right NOW, you can choose to let this very moment be the last bit of hurt that you ascribe to any event of your past. As you take deep cleansing breaths, you are releasing the bitterness of yesterday and taking in all the joy and hope that tomorrow brings. If you choose to wait, to have one final pity party or to savor the familiarity of pain’s bitterness one last time, then tomorrow will never come. So start tomorrow, right now. Welcome to the first few seconds of your bright, beautiful future.

So what is happiness? Happiness is the deepest level of contentment that you can possibly imagine, a sense of fullness that envelopes every fiber of your being. It is soul joy—a knowing that you are where you’re supposed to be, doing what you’re supposed to be doing at this very moment in time. It is not a feeling, for feelings are fleeting, but instead it is a sense of wholeness and being completely at peace in the moment. Happiness is inextricably tied to purpose. Walking in purpose and living life on purpose, by its very nature is a higher order of livelihood. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that many people go through their entire lives having never experienced the depth of peace that comes from a life truly lived. 

After years of “ordinary-ness,” the human spirit that is purposed for greatness will eventually take one of two paths. It will either grow dull and bitter, having convinced itself that ‘this is as good as it gets’ or two, the intensity of frustration will fuel the yearning to find ‘something more.’ It is at this point that one becomes increasingly aware that what you’re doing now, or even what you’ve spent the last twenty or thirty years doing is not fulfilling. This can be a frightening and overwhelming experience fraught with questions and self-doubt. What will I do instead? I don’t have the training or education to do what I really want to do. Will I be able to meet my financial obligations? I have a thriving career; people will think I’m crazy to leave this great job. Be assured that these feelings and questions are normal—and necessary—milestones as one endeavors to make happy.  

Cindy (Smith) Kent

Innovative Healthcare Executive. Focused Operational Growth Leader. Visionary Change Champion. Public Speaker.

President & General Manager, 3M Infection Prevention Division

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/making-happy-cindy-kent/

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Purpose Moment

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2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Purpose Shared: "Becoming a Wise Leader" -Richard Leider

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"It took all of his people wisdom to take a stand to serve the common good of all others."

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We're honored to publish this original essay by Richard Leider, the "father" of the Purpose Movement as our inaugural posting for our Purpose Shared Series. Who better than Richard to share his reflections on what is needed and wanted from our leaders in these days of destabilization?

Becoming a Wise Leader

“When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm.” ‐ African proverb

The ultimate test of wise leadership is this:

Can you regard your leadership, no matter how dire the challenge, as one of serving the common good of others? Do you have a purpose larger than yourself for leading?

Most of us have a keen awareness of wisdom when it is present in our leaders (and in ourselves). And, we have an uneasy feeling of distrust and disengagement with it is absent.

To become a wise leader, one must be “people wise.”

Have you recently heard an inner voice whispering to you things like: “I don’t think I can do it?” “I’m not enough.” “What if I fail?”

That is the enemy within you speaking to you. It is the voice that speaks to you when you need to step outside your comfort zone. It’s the voice of fear. We all hear it occasionally. It’s part of being human.

The answer is not to kill it or suffocate it – but, to dive head first into it! Identify the voice with choice, curiosity, and courage.

Why? Because what you resist will persist.

Nelson Mandela’s actions reflected the truth about becoming a wise leader ‐ “to lead wisely, one must be people wise.” When Mandela became President of South Africa on May 10, 1994, he faced countless challenges outside his comfort zone. And, he faced his inner voice of fear. Upon his release from prison, he was greeted with banners reading, “Mandela Go Home, to Prison” and “Hang Mandela.”

It took all of his people wisdom to take a stand to serve the common good of all others. To become the leader that South Africa needed, he chose to embrace the national rugby team, the Springboks. Popular with Afrikaners, to most blacks the Springboks represented the apartheid system that they despised. Nevertheless, Mandela chose South Africa to host rugby’s World Cup the following year with the slogan, “One Team, One Country.”

As the Springboks began to win in the fierce World Cup competition, the mood in the country shifted. When the players (all but one of them white) showed up in public, they were greeted not just by Afrikaners, but by blacks as well.

The Springboks made it to the finals. They were to play the New Zealand All Blacks, considered as one of the finest rugby teams in history.

Five minutes before the game played before sixty‐five thousand chanting and singing fans, Mandela walked in to the stadium wearing a Springbok’s jersey, the very symbol of apartheid that so many hated.

With millions more watching on TV or listening on the radio, the crowd of mostly Afrikaners went wild with a deafening chant of “Nel‐son,” “Nel‐son!” The country was united for the moment – “One Team, One Country”. It was a moment that many people realized that this country could work.

Mandel showed that he could forgive and become the wise leader they wanted.

The Springbok’s won the thrilling championship game in overtime.

Mandela’s stand embodied what it means to be “people‐wise.” After decades of apartheid and afte twenty‐seven years in prison, it would have been natural for him to focus on the wants of his black constituents at the expense of the broader interests of the country.

But, Mandela had become a leader with a people‐wise view. His actions toward the Springboks served as a powerful symbol of what the new South Africa might be like. They reflected his wise awareness of how others very different from himself would react to changes accelerating around them.

Nelson Mandela has two critical things to teach us about becoming wise leaders.

First, “becoming” means clearly understanding the difference between being smart and being wise.

They’re not the same. Wisdom demands insight and effectiveness with people. A leader can be very smart without being smart about people. Becoming a wise leader requires having a feel for people – their hopes, fears, passions, and purposes.

Second, becoming a wise leader means understanding “Why things are the way they are.” Aristotle claimed that wisdom comes from our understanding of “why” things are the way they are. To him, a smart person knows a lot about “what” and “how” but a wise person understands “why.”

It was Mandela’s understanding of the “why” of all South Africans that testifies to his greatness as a “people‐wise” leader. He had no enemy within. 1

What makes a Leader wise?

We like to believe that our leaders are smart people. But, as Nelson Mandela showed us, being smart is not enough in the long run. So, how does one go from being a smart leader to becoming a wise leader? Start by seeing the world differently – from the inside out. A wise leader is constantly becoming more self‐aware. Without self‐awareness, it’s very hard to move out of smartness. The “dean of leadership gurus”, the late Warren Bennis wrote: “The leader never lies to himself, especially about himself, knows his flaws as well as his assets, and deals with them directly.” Even though Bennis mentored CEOs, taught countless soon‐to‐be leaders while teaching at Harvard, MIT, and USC, and advised U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, he never pretended he knew everything. He wrote, “To an extent, leadership is like beauty:

It’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.” Do you see it in yourself? Do others see it in you? 

Self‐awareness is the “soul” of wise leadership. Without a soul, a leader is nothing more than a smart suit.

The Big Idea: Becoming Self‐Aware

Self‐awareness is the “soul” of wise leadership. Without a soul, a leader is nothing more than a smart suit. For more information read “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation” by John Carlin, and watch the film Invictus starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Richard Leider, founder of Inventure – The Purpose Company, is one of America’s preeminent executive‐life coaches.

He is ranked by Forbes as one of the “Top 5” most respected executive coaches, and by the Conference Board as a “legend in coaching.” Richard has written ten books, including three best sellers, which have sold over one million copies and have been translated into 20 languages.

Repacking Your Bags and The Power of Purpose are considered classics in the personal development field. Richard’s PBS Special – The Power of Purpose – was viewed by millions of people across the U.S. 

©2018 Inventure ‐ The Purpose Company richardleider.com

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Purpose Moment

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2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Exciting new "Purpose Shared" series from Center for Purposeful Leadership

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"Subscribe now to get your 2x/week spark of purpose."

In the weeks to come your twice-weekly “Purpose Shared” will feature a beautiful inspirational photo and saying one day and an original article from one of our Purpose Fellows. Welcome to #1!

Could 2018 be the year that we start to see companies who embrace a more purpose-led strategy in an era of technological disruption start to win the war for the best talent?* Great question, but certainly not the only reason to consider why purpose plays a central role in culture strategy and alignment. Why focus on purpose? Purpose brings goodness into our everyday lives and more. 

As we evolved from Heartland to Center for Purposeful Leadership, we have been blessed with the presence, heart, and wisdom of hundreds of Conversation Starters plus thousands of attendees as clients and at our events. What did they have in common? A sense of purpose shared with those around them. 

Recently we realigned with Richard Leider, the "father" of the Purpose Movement that is exploding around us. It's a perfect fit. CPL has been known as the Convening Company. Marrying convening and purpose has become the sweet spot that defines us. We realized that at the heart of the matter is purpose. Convening activates purpose. 

• Purpose shared is core to great leadership.
• Purpose is our true north, our reason for being. 
• Purpose is fundamental to health, healing, and happiness. 
• Purpose is always about something larger than yourself.
• Purpose expressed is an activator and crucial for an alignment strategy.
• Purposeful leaders are constantly growing and “becoming” self-aware, self-led, and self-less.

We look forward to sharing reflections from the purposeful leaders that inspire us.

Next week we will feature Richard's newest writing on "Becoming a Wise Leader." Stay tuned!

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*A recent article in MARGINALIA: FUTURE OF WORK MAGAZINE, focused on "Future of Work Predictions for 2018". While a lot of the predictions focused on AI and technology, there were many comments about the role of purpose and this question: Could 2018 be the year that we start to see companies who embrace a more purpose-led strategy in an era of technological disruption start to win the war for the best talent? 

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Purpose Moment

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#PurposefulLeadership #Purpose #Leadership #Convening #ArtofConvening #Engagement

2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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Great Meetings - The Recipe: Part 2

PHoto Credit: Daniel Scotton

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Any convened meeting, gathering or even a conversation has at its core practical ingredients or “principles” that are essential to the creation of a safe and generative engagement leading to powerful outcomes that engage everyone.

As the convener, you have the unique role of creating the recipe then to lead or facilitate people through the engagement AND to introduce the essential ingredients that will inform and assist in achieving the desired outcomes.

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Any great meeting like a recipe only uses the best ingredients:

Starting with positive intent, the convener approaches each engagement as an opportunity to create possibilities. Suspending certainty allows for what we don't know to come alive.  We then listen for the wisdom in each voice and understand that slowing down the conversation will allow the spaces for creativity and innovation to occur. By hearing all the voices and perspectives we invite diversity and inclusion into the conversation. Then by looking for new ways of thinking and being, we are open to surprises and to new possibilities.

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Purpose Moment

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#PurposefulLeadership #Purpose #Leadership #Convening #ArtofConvening #Engagement

2018 Center for Purposeful LeadershipThe Art of Convening

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