Archive for December, 2009

What would Christmas be without Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer?  The original story was created in 1939 by Robert May an employee of Montgomery Ward. May is said to have created the story based on his own childhood where he was taunted for being shy and small.

In the tv special, Rudolph wasn’t allowed to play in the reindeer games because of his bright, shiny, red nose. It seemed that everywhere he looked, he just didn’t fit in. He and Hermey, the elf who wanted to be a dentist, didn’t fit in either and so they head out on their own. In one of their songs, they sing, “Why am I such a misfit? I am not just a nitwit … seems I don’t fit in.”

Boy oh boy, have I been in situations like Rudolph and Hermey. At times I felt like I was on the island of misfit toys. I knew I wasn’t a nitwit and neither were those other folks; it just wasn’t a good fit. That’s when I decided to be the leader of me and find/create a tribe that fits me. With a wonderful community of support, I charted my own course. If others want to laugh and tease me, so be it.

Seth Godin, in his book, Tribes, says what Karen & I have been saying all along – that everyone is a leader and we need you to lead – yourself first. I feel very strongly that when you determine what you want, you’ll be in a much better position to help others get what they want, and then you’ll create something extraordinary together as leaders.

Maybe you’ve been excluded from the proverbial “reindeer games,” or felt like you don’t fit in, or have encountered some monsters on your path. If you choose to, you can return back to your brilliant essence, shine brightly, and lead – with noses of all different colors, shapes and sizes. With a community cheering you on and supporting you, there’s no telling what you’ll accomplish – in your business, your organization,  your home, your school … everywhere!

I’ve been reading the poetry of Henry Walker for a while now, just waiting for the right poem to share with you. I saw it this morning. I thought it was perfect, especially since I’ve been noodling with a new level of understanding of this Winter/Christmas holiday season. Where I arrived: in giving gifts we are trying to remember that we ARE the gift.

Henry has been teaching for over 40 years at the Carolina Friends School where our sons attend school. He has been and continues to be a gift to so many people, including my precious family. Thank you Henry.

what is my gift?

what is my gift?
the light that is most mine to give,
that gift that can shine
while I use the tools I have within my kit?
my gift is my heart,
the caring within me
that wells up and overflows out of me,

that which powers me to see what I see in my photography,
the twinkle of the eye as the wonder within a person
gives me a flash of itself,
the angle, the moment, the possibility
that lets a waterfall, a sunset, a flower, a mountain
reveal its own heart,
and the possible becomes actual,

it is the caring that powers my teaching
so that I can touch a wholeness who can self-organize
if given space, foundation, encouragement, release,
while it needs so much to resist all
that pulls down at its reaching and that rewards the base,

for now words are my familiar, my agents,
the sous chefs who help me fathom the depths, encompass the breadth,
reach up and back to the source,

how relatively easy it is to know the “how” of action,
it’s the heart that gives the “why,” the “where,” the “when,”
and then the “how” knows what to do–

and there’s a picture, a learner,
and sometimes a poem.

by Henry Walker
December 14, ‘09

Thanks to Chris Scholle at Social SAM for making me aware of a new movement via Twitter:  Conscious Capitalism . The movement was launched with a conference on October 20-23 of this year. They say the reason they are launching this movement is:

What a thrill is was for me to read these words!

Our intention in developing the IAM movement is to transform the way we work and live so that everyone can be their best.  The basis of our work, the starting point of every product or service we offer, the point we revisit over and over again, is to bring people back to their “essential best.” We define “essential best” as the awake, infinite, abundant, expanding, conscious part of each of us.

The reason we landed with this approach for the IAM body of work can best be explained by the Einstein quote: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” I’ve also seen this quote where ‘thinking’ was replaced with ‘consciousness.’ Another way of looking at what Einstein was saying: there is nothing more important to address than the evolution or transformation of our consciousness if we are going to work and live in ways that move beyond the problems or struggles we experience (what we like to call drama!)

What I know is that Conscious Capitalism requires individuals that see the transformation of their individual awareness as the first priority of anything they do, whether in business or their family life. This very personal process of evolving awareness is necessary for Conscious Capitalism to be different than traditional capitalism, otherwise we will be recreating the same problems that currently exist, as Einstein so poignantly described.

Our contribution to Conscious Capitalism includes use of the IAM Maps: the Essence Map (a map of consciousness), the Energy Map (a guide to dynamic self knowledge and understanding energy flow) and the Navigational Compass (a way of navigating through personal development and business development – which links individual internal conscious to external practical realities).

Some of the key aspects of IAM movement that contribute to the Conscious Capitalism movement:

• Start with individual consciousness first: Group, societal and environmental factors are important and change begins within. As within, so without. Individual consciousness is needed to embody evolving conscious leadership.
• Anchor in abundance based thinking: Scarcity thinking is the root of all conflict. Teaching and practicing “both/and” thinking is required for foundational and incremental conscious action that will benefit the whole, rather than being reductionist and benefiting a few. Abundance based thinking is essential if we are to experience mutual exchange of value and mutual benefit.
• Develop awareness of self as energy: Without the ability to separate our awareness of self  from physical realities, shifting to awareness of ’self as energy’,  it is impossible to participate in the transformation of capitalism to conscious forms. Until we shift our focus from drama to our essential best (energy self), alignment of our efforts will only create more drama, recreating old patterns, instead of aligning our values, strengths and passions to create new realities.
• Connect personal and business: Business can not become conscious if people do not bring their whole, evolving, conscious selves to work. Personal growth is required for business growth, and we need language, concepts and maps for making these connections concrete and practical.
• Connect to nature: Being reductionist and overly profit driven has caused people and businesses to become disconnected from the natural rhythms of life, living and indeed the environment. Ways to connect to nature are critical in remembering our wholeness, in re-establishing a healthy relationship with our planet and in generating financial prosperity.
• Address defense mechanisms: Until we can consciously and actively participate as a collective in healing from defensive patterns, we will not be able to fully participate in the sharing of information and resources. Full transparency and openness in our processes requires the ability to ‘love our way through’ our patterns of separation.

There are many aspects of both IAM and Conscious Capitalism that we have yet to discover. Yet if you look at these aspects here, we have a solid foundation to start with! The IAM body of work quickly and easily helps people work with the capabilities I have described here.

There are more aspects of IAM that contribute to Conscious Capitalism, and I’ll continue to add to this list. For those of you who are familiar with IAM, help me draw the connection between the work we are doing and what you would like to see Conscious Capitalism be. Let’s participate NOW in carrying both of these movements forward!

I tend to attract clients who are ready, really ready, to change and influence how work gets done. They see how being unhappy in a job is detrimental to themselves and a business. They see how the surplus of chaos and stupidity in organizations has got to change. They are reluctant to participate in ‘business as usual.’

My clients include newly liberated free spirits (laid off people) who would do just about anything to not contribute to business as usual. Or people who are currently employed who have woken up to the reality that ‘business as usual’ is failing and they are proactively interviewing for new jobs or exploring startup options.

These folks are determined to contribute to a more evolved way of working and conducting business, for themselves and society. They are people who typically have the resources to take time to rethink how they’ve been working and are motivated to create better ways not just for themselves but also for generations to come. They are not going back to the way things have been!

Imagine these same folks interviewing for jobs with people who don’t get it, folks who are blindly ’sheep walking’  thinking the dinosaur they work for is still strong. I could focus on these businesses – how to attract top talent, how to survive in a radically changing economy, but I’ll leave that for another post!

Given how these interviews with sheep walkers are going, my enlightened clients are discouraged, wondering how to proceed, and asking ’should I look for a job or start a new business?’

My advice to these folks, initially, is to proceed as if the job or the business startup were one and the same. In both cases you start with the following questions:

• What is the work that will most fully leverage my essential best?
• What am I passionate about creating or contributing to in the world?

By flushing out the first question, you determine how you can best create value for others – eventually matching your gifts with a compelling need that people have.

By considering the second question, you determine the markets, areas of industry, and business you would target, either in a job search or business startup.

I have heard that outplacement firms are advising folks to consider what companies they want to work for. This is a nice idea, a start to considering what you want. But it doesn’t take things far enough for my clients. It leaves these questions hanging:

• How do I make sure that my next job or work is not business as usual?
• How can the next stage of my career contribute to creating more visionary, evolved, effective, dynamic ways of working?

These are practical questions that, when carefully considered, will put you at the leading edge of the job seeking, business creating crowd – moving toward work that will be viable and sustainable in the future. These questions help you bypass or pull yourself out of the dying cycle of ‘finding that job or startup that pays the bills but is in a dying dinosaur business that will just lead to another layoff or struggle in a short amount of time …’

These are not questions that should land you in a dark corner, meditating on your navel, afraid to venture out into a scary world where people are still in a stupor or where uncertainty creates confusion.

Instead, these questions lead to the adventure of  explorative conversations with people about the unknown, or the chaos of our times … from which you can see new needs that uniquely match your gifts, perspective and vision … or from which new opportunities or order emerges.

I recommend a tight cycle of personal reflection/journaling/learning and venturing out to talk with people about what’s needed, what’s possible, what’s inspiring. Back and forth between reflection and action, that eventually leads to finding jobs or creating business that often didn’t exist before.

Some examples, based on personal and client experience:

• coach and consultant with background in technology, business and organizational change leverages new developments in social media and networking to contribute to the evolution in consciousness and business (that’s me!)
• technology marketing specialist participates in a startup business bringing a new, locally sourced bio-fuel to market as an alternative to petroleum diesel
• ICU nurse with MBA creates new job/startup helping doctors evolve their businesses so they can bypass insurance companies
• artist, knowledge management expert, change leader combines radically diverse gifts to move work toward business startup using artistic talents to capture learning and tell stories of successful change efforts, that will be used to inspire and guide new change efforts

From these examples, you can see people uniquely combining their gifts and experiences to meet a current need while also participating in creating a world they want to see emerge. The way forward demands ‘business as un-usual!’ And your strategy could include a job or startup, depending on what you bring, the need you are meeting, and the future you want to create both for yourself and for the world.

So what’s the next step for you?

I recently talked with a member of our IAM Learning Community about what direction he might take his work. So many possibilities! So little experience discerning what he really wants! One of his biggest challenges is simply knowing where to focus.

If you think about it, ‘too many choices’ would be a common challenge when connecting to the abundant, infinite space of our essential selves – what we like to call our essential best. When you break free of external limitations, when you realize that anything really is possible, the buffet table of options can be vast.

Except that the choices that are right for us are not infinite. What was interesting in this conversation was hearing how this person, like so many of us, was looking for ‘opportunities to be creative’. This is also a marker of transforming your work and life so that you can be your best: creativity becomes key. In looking for ”opportunities to be creative’, my friend identified what I like to call ‘the delay factor’: when creativity and joy is a destination, not an integral part of our choice making, a tool we can use to narrow our focus and prioritize our options.

Creating work and life that reflects our best selves happens when we start from creativity and joy:

• What brings you joy right now in this very moment?
• If your creativity was an energetic fuel that wants to move through you, what’s first thing you would do now?

When we tune into our joy and creativity now, we hone our ability to know what we want and make the choices that will create the future we really want. The wrong job or the poor business deal didn’t happen when things went wrong; it happened back in the beginning when we were unclear about our joy and creativity.

A friend of mine says that we vote every day. How true this is! We don’t create the results we experience in a singular event like an election. We create results every step of the way – in ways we participate in every day life.

The dark side of the ‘delay factor’ is the source of this pattern of thinking. Where does it come from? Many religious traditions have misinterpreted sacred teaching to go something like this: “if you are good, then, and only then, you’ll go to heaven.” I’m not interested in whether this idea is right or wrong. I AM interested in what this thinking does to people: “if you are good” is typically determined by some rule or dogma we are supposed to follow.

The thing I have an issue with is how these religions ideas have permeated society and created generations of us who have given our power to others who determine ‘what is good for us’. Heaven later instead of heaven now in the form of joy and creativity is the source of the delay factor. It is also the source of most oppression and persecution in the world.

So snapping out of patterns of delay become critical in several ways:

• It’s key narrowing focus and choice that leads to the right work and life for us: real success
• It contributes to a societal shift away from oppression to empowerment

Are you ready for joy and creativity now? Are you ready for heaven on earth here and now? Does it sound crazy to think about joy and heaven right now, this very instant? What ‘yea buts’ come to mind?

Curious about what you think …