Wild Geese — Mary Oliver

An old familiar poem that my friend Allister Hain recently reminded me of.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
    love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
    ~ Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

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Theme Catching & Theme Weaving

Next week I’ll be Master Theme Weaver at the University of Saskatchewan’s Leadership Conference 2011. I’ve been working with some fantastic people in Saskatoon to create a sense of what this is. This includes a team of Theme Catchers, who will be attending sessions and trying to catch the gist of things. Together, we’ll all huddle up a few times in the “Imagination Station,” thankfully renamed such from “the War Room,” at the suggestion of my colleague, Shannon Floer. I’ll share some of those insights at the end of the conference in 45 minutes before closing remarks by the conference chair.

In the conference brochure, I described theme weaving this way: “Working with a team of theme-gatherers, Tenneson will offer a narrative thread on some of this year’s key conference ideas. Look for some poetry on everything from the practical to emerging insights. Look for an invitation to turn to each other, notice next steps, and with deliberateness, seal and close the experience of this year’s leadership conference learning.”

I’ve loved working with the conference team to identify some key points in catching themes. It has included emphasizing these points, all grounded in skills of noticing what emerges:

  1. Welcoming a Punchy Attitude — it is really a truth-telling tone. I’ve encouraged to participate and observe, looking for “what really happened?” There will be some exec summary kind of gathering. But I also want to hear from them what they would tell to a friend at the bar.
  2. You Don’t Have to Get It All — this is busting the myth that you have to capture everything and summarize it. Of course it means paying attention to what is important. However, it also mean freeing ourselves from the pressure of “if you don’t get it all, you don’t get anything.”
  3. Everything is an Offer — This is also the title of an improv / leadership book by Robert Poynton. It is another principle of freedom that I find helpful to invite the team to stay in their creativity in what they offer.

I’ve also offered these guidelines for how to do the above. They are similar, and are all about reading the energy and reaction in the room. For example, “Follow the Spark of Yes” — this is a noticing of what comes alive in the room during the presentations. Or, “Watch for What Resonates” — an invitation to notice points at which there is affirmation or recognition of what is being shared. Sometimes these are obvious because they are marked by laughter or a spike in energy.

We are giving each Theme Catcher a worksheet, inviting words and or images in response, as well as some time to sit in the Imagination Station to notice what themes are emerging.

1. What’s practical? (two or three issues relevant to what leaders do now)
2. What’s innovative? (two or three ideas that point to emerging paradigms in leadership)
3. What’s the headline? (for the story of this presentation)
4. What’s the connection? (this headline to the practice of conversational leadership)
5. What’s the vibe? (that you heard from participants)
6.What’s the gem? (that you’ll remember, really, in ten years)

Really looking forward to this. And I’m admiring the creativity and courage that the conference committee is showing to innovate their conference and the way that large conferences are convened.

A Sleep of Prisoners — Christopher Fry

A poem that my friend Carla Kelley just reminded me of. The call to awake is one that I relate to.

A SLEEP OF PRISONERS

Dark and cold we may be, but this

Is no winter now. The frozen misery

Of centuries breaks, cracks, begins to move;

The thunder is the thunder of the floes,

The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring.

Thank God our time is now when wrong

Comes up to face us everywhere,

Never to leave us till we take

The longest stride of soul we ever took.

Affairs are now soul size.

The enterprise

Is exploration into God.

Where are you making for? It takes

So many thousand years to wake,

But will you wake for pity’s sake!

-Christopher Fry

Hosting Politicians / Politicians Hosting

A bit from my friend Matt Meyer in Calgary, Alberta on the national election process. From an email exchange among him, myself and many other colleagues in Calgary.

Your response sparks a few thoughts. The ability to create an
energetic hearth really is at the centre of where we play with
leadership. And embedded in this is the capacity to be a host; the
capacity to speak to and engage the head, heart and hands of a group.
I have so much energy these days for practicing this by working with
hosts, befriending hosts and playing as a host. It is as real blessing
to be provided with these great opportunities. It has me thinking that
we really have a great deal to offer in the political process,
particularly in campaigning. I have a deep respect for what the
Alberta Party is doing with their “Big Listen.” Building on this, I
often wonder how things we be different if instead of a “Leaders
Debate” we had a “Leaders Dialogue”? What if we had a politician be a
participant of a public converstion, not the centre of it? Perhaps
this would resolve apathy, and former “feel-good” votes become the
voices of the future? There are so many systemic force fields
“protecting” the political process but our knowledge can make inroads
to finding new solutions by tapping a new level of consciousness. We
just need more conversational leaders!

Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature
is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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asd
Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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